Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think!snorkelwacker!apple!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: christm@thor.acc.stolaf.edu (Mark C. Christianson) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: re: open communion Message-ID: Date: 9 Feb 90 07:33:45 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 21 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu > Most, but not all, Lutheran chruches and the Catholic chruch >discourages members of other denominations from receiving Communion in >their church. They also discourage their members from taking Communion >in the churches of other denomination. It appears that I need to clarify what I meant by "Most, but not all, Lutheran Chruches." I intended it to mean "Lutheran chruch bodies," not "Lutheran congregations." The ELCA is the largest of all the Lutheran churches, and its congregaons do, by and large, practice open communion. However, bodies such as the Lutheran Chruch - Missori Synod, the Wisconsin Synod, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and the Lutheran Bretheran (or Brotherhood?) discourage people who are not members of their own congregation from taking communion, wether Lutheran or not, at least without first talking to the pastor. It is this that I find unneeded and uncalled for. Even between the other denominations, one should be able to take communion in any church without first talking to the pastor, for the physical divisions mean nothing to God and his saving grace. christm@stolaf.edu Mark C. Christianson