My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I have a question please. I have been attending my current church for over 3 years but I am not a member.
I have just been informed that The Lord’s Supper will be closed from now on. Only church members will be allowed to participate.
Can anyone tell me if this is Biblical? Why closed Communion? .
I would appreciate your input since I am not familiar with “closed communion” practice.
Blessings.
WALKING BY FAITH 
The only guideline in the bible is in 2 Corinthians 13 where we are told to examine ourselves to make sure we are in the faith- “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”
Anything other than that would be due to a church’s leadership feeling led to do so such as having a closed communion for members only.
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Ok, thank you for responding. I appreciate it. Blessings.
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You’re welcome. The leadership of you church may have chosen to have it only for members to try to make sure everyone who does partake is of the faith
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Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. God bless you.
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You’re welcome little sister 🤗
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Sorry I missed your question, Crissy. But it’s ok. I tend to agree with “jesusluvsall.”
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Thank you GW . Trusting God for wisdom with what to do going forward .
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Very wise, Crissy. I would take much the same position, I do believe.
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No, it is not biblical. It is the Lord’s table, not ours. All that He requires is that we do not come to the table with unconfessed sin in our hearts. The Lord specifically tells us not to judge the hearts of other believers, but that is exactly what these “closed” things have done in advance. Shame on them! Forgive my bluntness, Chrissy, but this one kinda irked me. Shame on them!
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Thank you Hope . I appreciate your comment. This was exactly my reaction when I was told last night by my church member friend . When she asked the pastor yesterday he told her that if Communion was opened then even Muslims could partake so it has to be closed to members only.
Looks like this is another door the Lord is closing in my life.
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Some of my best Communion services have been on my sofa in my pajamas. I join in on a few online services, too!
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That’s a great idea . I may do the same. Thank you Hope. 💜
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He has a better one
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Sorry, I’m on a roll now… Communion is for the Body of Christ as a whole. I don’t recall Jesus ever saying that only a particular part of the Body, if approved in advance by church staff, are welcome to “Do this in remembrance of Me”.
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Good point . Besides how do they know that ALL members are truly born again?
Maybe they should not accept anyone unless they are members . Is only Communion that is closed to members only . The rest ….. is not .
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I do believe that Pastors should warn about the consequences of wrongly taking Communion, but after he does that, it is ultimately the individual’s actions that either excuse or bring God’s judgement upon themselves. It is not up to the Pastor to make that judgement call.
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I agree. This is how it’s always been in the previous churches I have attended.
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I agree with the other comments. I have never heard of a closed communion. That sounds odd. Shame on them for passing judgment.
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Judgement ! Of course it is a judgement !
Thank you for your comment . God bless you .
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I have never heard of that. If a person is a believer in Jesus Christ, then that person should be allowed to take communion. The church is the body of Christ, not some building where people shut other believers out just because they’re not members of their particular church group. I don’t like that at all. Jesus said in Luke 22:19 to “do this in remembrance of me,” so every believer in Jesus Christ should receive the blessing of communion. My church always says, “if you believe in Jesus, please join us in taking communion.” It is not closed to non members. Hope that helps. God bless!
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Thank you Ryan for taking the time to answer my question. As a non member I can partake in the cakes and coffee with the members but they deny the most important. The Lord ‘s Table .
No fear of God anymore.
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Every church I’ve been at has had open communion. The only way to know what your church is thinking is to talk to them about it. They could have a good reason.
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I am planning to have a chat with the pastor before I make my decision. The reason given to the church member in our evangelistic group was so that not just anyone would partake including Muslins. I am yet to see Muslims in a Christian Church. I pray they come.
Thank you David.
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I hope many will be saved
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I don’t know why but ask the church members. I do believe if you come to communion with an unforgiven heart you can expect an unhealthy reward.
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Yes. The Bible tells us to examine ourselves. Thank you sister. God bless you.
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To you also. 🙂
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Hi Crissy. I have heard of some churches doing that but I’m of the thinking that all those who profess Christ according to the Gospel of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone should be able to participate in the Lord’s Supper.
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Yes I agree. As a non member I can participate in EVERYTHING ELSE, except what Jesus told us to do in memory of Him. It saddens me greatly. But then again the Lord my be moving me on. Since everything else is also changing.
Thank you Tom .
Blessings
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The only explanation I’ve been given has to do with the church not being guilty of a nonbeliever participating and thereby coming under judgement. Members have to usually state their belief before being received into the church. Might check 1 Corinthians 11: 23-32. Better yet ask your church leadership why they choose to have closed communion.
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Thank you . I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question. I will go and speak to the pastor before working on my next step as the Lord leads me.
God bless you.
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Roman Catholicism will shut you out if you don’t practice their “faith”-
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Which by the way is FINE with me 😉
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Right, Beth. The Roman church doesn’t want me to have their wafer god and I definitely don’t want it. It’s sad that unwitting evangelicals knock the RCC for not allowing them to receive their wafer god.
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Yes! Because they have no idea! The priest can bless you if you go up during their wafer god communion if you’re not practicing their religion-no thank you!
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The Catholic bishop here previous to the current one was very liberal. At the funeral mass of my mother-in-law (she accepted Christ by faith alone a few weeks before she died) way back in 1984, the priest invited everyone who had been baptized to come up and receive the Jesus wafer.
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Yes agree. 😊
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Good point . They do.
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😲
Father, forgive them for they obviously do not know your Word.
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😢
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🙏 very sad
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Yes !
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We celebrate closed communion. It’s not to judge a persons salvation as only God can judge that. On the other hand, churches can and should exercise accountability and discipline on members. Note how Jesus sent Judas out before the supper. Now, having said that, I have no issue with open communion either if that is what a congregation chooses.
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Thank you Wally . I truly appreciate your comment.
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Btw I agree with you. To see a Muslim in church hearing the Gospel would be awesome.
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AMEN!
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Good day
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That is not Biblical at alk!! They are not truly a Bible based church. They care about money.
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The previous churches in my experience celebrated open Communion for any and all believers. I am currently not a member of my current church, but I am allowed to take Communion.
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That’s how it should be. We belong to the Body of Christ not a man made denomination with their own doctrine.
Thank you Big Sky.
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My view is open communion to all believers. I know more confessional churches would typically be closed communion (Lutheran, Presbyterians, Reformed, Reformed Baptist). I try to be sympathetic. Yet I feel that communion should be for all true believers. I see the exclusion of communion has to do with unbelief and sin, not Church confessions per se. I’m praying for you, this is difficult…
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Thank you Pastor Jim. Looks like the Lord is shaking the ground from under me.
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Man I’m so sorry to hear that 😢
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I can’t share any additional insight than others. Congregations which hold “closed communion” do so to protect the sacred nature of the Table from being profaned by those who are not in the family of God and protect them from the judgment of God (1 Cor 11:29). The Table, after all, is for those of genuine faith alone. Many “closed communion” churches also choose to serve the Lord’s Supper in an evening service (or mid-week service) because fewer non-believers are likely to be present.
Those who practice “open communion” rely on the individual to know whether he or she is born again and act honestly.
As a pastor for nearly 40 years, I admit I’ve seen people take the Lord’s Supper who I know are not saved. They do so out of tradition, expectation from others, and sometimes out of willful rebellion. With all due warning, if they still choose to participate, I leave them as “sinners in the hands of an angry God.”
As some here have stated, pastors must be careful of judging the hearts of others, but we must also be just as careful of judging the heart of the pastor. Your pastor may have a very good reason – which we are unaware of – for the decision he and the elders have made. Don’t be too quick to judge until you’ve talked with him.
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Your comment went to the spam folder. I just found it now. Thus the late reply.
I appreciate your comment and I understand what you are saying. I haven’t as yet spoken to the pastor. There are no elders in this church just the pastor.
One of the members explained that there are two types of closed Communion in this congregation, one is closed for members only, the other is closed for believers only. Not sure which way this pastor will decide to go. He is newly appointed after the previous pastor retired due to ill health.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write a comment.
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I’ve never heard of anything like that. (Of course, I haven’t been to church in MANY years.)
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Interesting! There are so many Christians meeting in houses these days.
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There is no scriptural precedent for closed communion. A believer in Christ is a believer in Christ. You may want to have your own time of remembering our Lord’s death in your home, maybe daily.
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I have a meeting with the pastor this week. If things don’t work out I will be doing just as you suggest .
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I know a number of people who have communion kits in their homes. Such a kit can be a blessing, and can draw you to deep fellowship with our Lord, more than “quarterly.”
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That’s a great idea . Thank you so much .
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You are very welcome. If God should lead you in this matter, you might someday have someone to be with you. You can make this a ministry of spiritual intimacy.
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“A ministry of spiritual intimacy “ I love the sound of that. Thank you Equipping.
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You are very welcome.
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