Of the Arrival of Bishop David, Reader day and a poser about Communion....
Chaplain’s blog Stardate 17- 05-2025
I write this while watching the installation of Bishop David, and feeling rather glad it is being live steamed so that I can sit in my study in relative comfort and protect my dodgy hips and knees!
Watching online has a few downsides, like getting distracted by writing a blog, interruptions by Mr Dog wanting attention or he possibility of the phone ringing on the other hand the different camera angles allow seeing much more of the wondrous goings-on! The Anglican church really does do a wonderful ceremonial service on these occasions- the good folk of the cathedral staff will be exhausted afterwards!
Of course, as Readers we got a privileged preview of Bishop David’s ministry last week in St Petroc’s in Bodmin for Reader Day when those of us listened to his views on Lay Ministry and took part in a question and answer session. For those of you who missed it.. Reader Tim Symons said it was, “an interesting and encouraging day last Saturday. It was great to hear from such a range of speakers from such a wide variety of ministries, especially the bishop, and the refreshments were excellent too!” Which just about sums up the mood of the room I think! Claire Salzmann- deserves a huge vote of thanks for all the work she put in to organising the event.
But back to the cathedral…
A full cathedral and 206 people online listened to Bishop David’s first sermon in the Cathedral beginning with thanks to Bishop Hugh, our warden to Readers which received well deserved warm applause from the congregation. It looks like Truro, for the moment, has a wonderful team at the top! We will indeed pray for Bishop David, and indeed Bishop Hugh as they pray for us.
My prayer is that as Readers we will be inspired, motivated and warmed by the fire of their faith.
Readers and Communion…. Or one sort and another.
In various conversations with Readers I have gleaned a variety of opinions and practices from across the diocese.
Reader involvement in the Eucharist falls into three categories
- The service of the word part of the communion service up to the ‘Peace’
- Taking communion to those who are unable to leave home or to groups in Care Homes.
- Communion by Extension.
Personally I am reluctant to do communion by extension
- I feel my ministry is distinctive to that of a priest and somehow communion by extension seems a second-class option.
- The diocesan rules; (links below) are clear and quite specific about wat must or must not be done.
- https://trurodiocese.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/CbE-in-DoT-policy.pdf
- https://trurodiocese.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Training-liturgy.pdf
Going to a service early on a Sunday to collect the blessed sacraments and then going on to take a service of extension makes for a very long morning which, as I plough on into my 70s is more than I want to do.
I was going to quote some bits of these two documents but instead I will put them at the bottom of this article as well as the links. Local practice in may places struggles follow the spirit of these documents. Some folk are not specifically trained, some, (I hear), are worship leaders, and far from being a practice that the bishop licenses for a year and restricted to Sundays, it is used widely to cover weekdays from the reserved sacrament. I even heard of a reader being offered a box of wafers for use in home communions etc by another church member. My own training was that if one was taking sick communion, one only took the right number of wafers from the reserve and one had left over would be consumed!
I have to confess that I like to follow the rules!
A valid question is…. How often do people need to have communion? If the answer is weekly, daily or often then there needs to be more priests to preside. This is not the time to discuss the possible ordination of readers so they can preside at communion – but at my age, and after 37 years as a Reader – I really could not face 2 years of essays and trips to Plymouth – let alone examining my calling once more!
I suspect that there will be a mixed response to this blog piece :
- “On the way” consequences making C by E ‘the only’ option for folks to receive communion .
- Readers have been told to do it by their incumbents
- Some won’t see what the fuss is about and have a very relaxed attitude to the ‘Lord’s Supper’
- …… and so on….
What do you think? What is your position? How would you change the rules if it were in your power to do so?
THE DIOCESE OF TRURO
Public Worship with Communion by Extension
What it is:
- ‘Communion by Extension’ is a provision that allows a congregation to be
nourished with the consecrated bread and wine of Holy Communion by taking
part in a prior celebration of the Eucharist, joining together in sprit both with
the members of that congregation, and as part of the One, Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church.
- It is a provision for which the Diocesan Bishop’s explicit permission is
required. The permission will be granted on the assumption that when
additional priestly ministry is available it will be so used.
- Communion by Extension allows for bread and wine, consecrated at a service
in one church to be taken to another church (usually in the same or a
neighbouring benefice, and on the same day) where an authorised service
called ‘Public Worship with Communion by Extension’ is celebrated. This service is
led by a lay minister authorised by the Diocesan Bishop, and during which the
consecrated elements are shared, as an ‘extension’ of that prior celebration.
- It is intended that this provision be used only on Sundays and Principal Holy
Days. It is an alternative to a celebration of the service of Holy Communion,
rather that a substitute for it. For this reason, the circumstances in which it
should be used are limited (for example a limited number of churches within a
benefice on any given Sunday, and a limited number of Sundays per month).
- Where Communion by Extension is used in the Diocese of Truro, it should
always be advertised as ‘Public Worship with Communion by Extension.’
What it is not:
- It is not a provision for taking communion to the sick or housebound in their
homes using reserved sacrament (which any Reader may do without further
licensing, and for which other lay people may be authorised by the parish
priest).
- It is not a means of introducing a sacramental element into the life of home
groups, or other parish groups, whether on an occasional or regular basis.
- The House of Bishops recognises the value of an occasional celebration of
Holy Communion in such circumstances, when a priest must preside.
- It is not ‘Holy Communion’: whilst it is sharing ‘by extension’ in a celebration
of the Eucharist, that term is deliberately not used so as to make clear that
this service should not be confused with a ‘regular’ celebration of Holy
Communion.
CofE Policy:
- It is not a convenient way of ‘covering’ mid-week services of Holy
Communion. The guidelines envisage its use only on Sundays and Principal
Holy Days, as a sharing in the wider worship of the people of God.
- It is not intended as a means to avoid some hard thinking about service
provision in a particular locality, nor to avoid the need to develop new
patterns which may provide a better match between parish needs and
available resources.
Guidelines
The guidelines for this provision, together with the forms of service to be used, are
clearly set out in ‘Public Worship with Communion by Extension’, Church House
Publishing, 2001. Any parishes wishing to make use of the provision needs to have
studied this booklet.
Authorisation for the use of Communion by Extension is dependent on prior
teaching, training and preparation in the parish. It is not therefore designed to meet a
short term emergency.
It is important that Communion by Extension never becomes the normal setting in
which people receive the consecrated elements. In a multi parish benefice or cluster,
the use of Communion by Extension must be fairly rotated so that no single
congregation is deprived of a regular service of Holy Communion.
Procedure
The procedure to be followed in introducing Communion by Extension in this
particular case, is as follows:
- The PCC discusses ‘Public Worship with Communion by Extension’, and
consider whether to agree to its use, in the broader context of a discussion
about the nature of worship. Any PCC resolutions should be recorded,
including the name(s) of any lay ministers agreed to be trained and authorised
to lead such services.
- Training will be given to those who will minister at such services. It will
include study of the House of Bishops’ Notes and Guidelines, and the texts for
Orders of Service, and a session from the Pilgrim course on ‘The Eucharist’.
- All those ministering in this way will be expected to have an appropriate level
of safeguarding training.
CbE Policy:
- Teaching about Communion by Extension is to be given in the parishes, in
sermons, articles and any other feasible methods.
- Sufficient copies of the authorised forms of service will be produced locally for
the congregations, having been tailored to the context as appropriate.
- The Diocesan Bishop to receive confirmation that all the necessary
preparation has been completed, and be asked to approve the names of those
to exercise this ministry. The Archdeacon will approve the pattern of services
within which Communion by Extension is to be a part.
- The Diocesan Bishop issues the necessary authorisation whereby Communion
by Extension becomes part of the worship provision in the parishes/benefice.
- Permission will be given for a specific period, normally one year. This will be
reviewed with the Archdeacon, the lay ministers and parishes after the first
year.
- Following the review, the Bishop can either extend his permission for this
practice, or decide to withdraw it. Part of the review will involve assessing the
extent to which the pattern of worship has blessed the life of the churches of
the benefice, and also the extent to which the guidelines have been followed.
- Readers who are authorised to lead ‘Public Worship with Communion by
Extension’ will include a list of the number of such services they have led in
their annual Return to the Warden of Readers.
Services of Public Worship with Communion by Extension
‘Public Worship with Communion by Extension’ is published by Church House
Publishing and contains orders of service appropriate to this provision. It is envisaged
that the Eucharistic elements and ministers where possible will be ‘sent out’ from an
earlier service of Holy Communion, so that the service in the ‘receiving church’ is
truly ‘by extension’.
The services from which ministers could be sent out are:
- a mid-week service the previous week in the benefice
- an earlier service the same Sunday in the same or (in the case of benefice in
- transition) a neighbouring benefice.
+Philip June 2021