Communion table
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
File:Schaffhausen Münster Abendmahlstisch.jpg in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.]]
{{Portal|Christianity}}
Communion table and Lord's table are terms used by many Protestant churches—particularly from Reformed, Baptist and low church Anglican and Methodist bodies—for the table used for preparation of Holy Communion (a sacrament also called the Eucharist). These churches typically prefer not to use the term "altar" because they do not see Communion as sacrificial in any way. However, in colloquial speech, the word "altar" is often used interchangeably with "communion table".{{cite book |last1=Keene |first1=Michael |title=Christian churches |date=2001 |publisher=Nelson Thornes |location=Cheltenham |isbn=978-0-7487-5288-1 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DG8cm43l7jIC&pg=PA58}}
Terminology
The use of a simple table, generally built of wood, instead of an altar made of stone reflects these churches' rejection of the suggestion of sacrifice in the rite: they believe that the Passion of Jesus Christ was a perfect sacrifice for sins made once for all ({{bibleverse||Hebrews|9:25|NIV}}-10:4).
Many Protestant churches that choose not to use the term "altar" may still have an "altar call", in which visitors wish to make a new spiritual commitment to Jesus Christ are invited to come forward to the front of the church.{{cite book |last=Cox |first=Harvey |author-link=Harvey Cox |title=Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-First Century |date=2001 |publisher=Da Capo Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=978-0-7867-3134-3 |page=274 |edition=1st |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rIQO6nnUbhkC&pg=PA274}}{{cite book |last=Lawless |first=Elaine J. |author-link=Elaine J. Lawless |title=God's Peculiar People: Women's Voice and Folk Tradition in a Pentecostal Church |date=1 January 2005 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |location=Lexington, Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-9141-6 |page=57 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=60oHksliJYEC&pg=PA57 |language=en}}{{cite book |last=Bouma |first=Gary |author-link=Gary Bouma |title=Australian Soul: Religion and Spirituality in the 21st Century |date=15 March 2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-45938-9 |page=95 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BVhLNYT732AC&pg=PA95 |language=en}}
Having or not having a Communion table was a subject of dispute within Scottish Presbyterianism in the 17th century, with the Independents opposing its use.{{Cite web |last=Begg |first=James |url=http://www.fpcr.org/blue_banner_articles/begg_communion_table_4.htm |title=A Treatise on the Use of the Communion Table, in Celebrating the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper |access-date=2017-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030622/http://www.fpcr.org/blue_banner_articles/begg_communion_table_4.htm |year=1998 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}
While some Methodists use the term "altar",{{cite book |author=Cuyahoga Falls (Ohio) First United Methodist Church History and Records Committee |title=The History of the First United Methodist Church of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 1830–1969 |date=1968 |publisher=F. W. Orth Company |page=115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mBvrAAAAMAAJ |language=en}} the United Methodist Church states, "[s]trictly speaking, United Methodists do not have an altar", because Methodists do not celebrate mass. It advises that the traditional terms are "Lord's table" and "Communion table" for the table upon which the bread and wine are placed during Holy Communion.{{cite web|title=Glossary: altar|url=http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/glossary-altar|publisher=United Methodist Communications|date=21 October 2013 |access-date=30 April 2022}}
Location and adornment
File:Pulpit and Communion Table in Duirinish Church - geograph.org.uk - 1548755.jpg church in Duirinish, Skye has a small Communion table in front of a prominent pulpit, illustrating the church's dual ministry of Word and Sacrament.]]
The table may be very simple, adorned perhaps with only a linen cloth, or with an open Bible or some receptacle to collect an offering. In modern use many Protestants adorn their tables with candles, though the use of candles was historically rejected among some Protestants. Some Communion tables bear the inscription Do This in Remembrance of Me from the Last Supper ({{bibleverse||Luke|22:19|KJV}}, {{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|11:24|KJV}}) or the words Holy, Holy, Holy as a recollection of the union between the whole of creation in worship.
Such a table may be temporary, being moved into place when there is a Communion Service, but generally holds a permanent (or semi-permanent) position of some prominence in the worship space. Instead of a high altar, the sanctuary may be dominated only by a large, centralized pulpit.[http://www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk/downloads/newspaper/2005/AllSaintsMar05.pdf Huldrich Zwingli's minister church in Basel] (PDF). All Saints Margaret Street, London. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
Some bring in a Communion table only when needed.{{Cite web |url=http://www.trinitybaptist.org/assets/1056/wedding_policies1-09.pdf |title=Trinity Baptist Church |access-date=2017-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111226035145/http://www.trinitybaptist.org/assets/1056/wedding_policies1-09.pdf |archive-date=2011-12-26 |url-status=dead }} For example, St Andrew's Anglican Cathedral in Sydney does not have a prominent Communion table.{{cite web|title=The Mystery Worshipper: St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, Australia|url=http://shipoffools.com/mystery/2003/708Mystery.html|publisher=Ship of Fools|accessdate=15 January 2017|year=2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310053205/http://shipoffools.com/mystery/2003/708Mystery.html|archive-date=10 March 2018|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|last=Farrelly|first=Elizabeth|title=How great thou aren't|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/Elizabeth-Farrelly/How-great-thou-arent/2004/12/21/1103391752137.html|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|accessdate=15 January 2017|date=21 December 2004}} The strongly Evangelical church leadership decided that the table should be placed in a more forward position in the chancel and that it should be easily portable so that it might be removed when not required for Holy Communion, to clear a space for presentations and musical performances.