Isn’t Communion in one kind unAnglican?
A. No. Communion in both kinds – the bread and the wine – has since the Reformation been the norm in the Church of England and will be again when the medical advice permits. The administration of Holy Communion in the Church of England is principally governed by section 8 of the Sacrament Act 1547, which provides that: ‘… the… most blessed Sacrament be hereafter commonly delivered and ministered unto the people… under both the kinds, that is to say of bread and wine, except necessity otherwise require…’ It is thought that the permission for administration of the sacrament in one kind only in cases of necessity was included in the Tudor legislation because communicants were unwilling to drink from a common cup in times of plague. Section 8 of the 1547 Act recognises that while communion in both kinds is the norm in the Church of England, in faithfulness to Christ’s institution, when it is received only in one kind the fullness of the Sacrament is received none the less.
