Eucharist

====Reformed (Continental Reformed, Presbyterian and Congregationalist)====
{{Main|Lord's Supper in Reformed theology}}
In the [[Reformed tradition]] (which includes the [[Continental Reformed Church]]es, the [[Presbyterian Church]]es, and the [[Congregationalist Church]]es), the Eucharist is variously administered. The Calvinist view of the Sacrament sees a real presence of Christ in the supper which differs both from the objective ontological presence of the Catholic view, and from the real absence of Christ and the mental recollection of the memorialism of the Zwinglians<ref>McGrath, Alister E. ''Reformation Thought'' Oxford: Blackwell (2003)</ref>{{rp|189}} and their successors.

[[File:South Leith communion token reverse.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Many Presbyterian churches historically used [[communion token]]s to provide entrance to the Lord's Supper.]]
The bread and wine become the means by which the believer has real communion with Christ in his death and Christ's body and blood are present to the faith of the believer as really as the bread and wine are present to their senses but this presence is "spiritual", that is the work of the Holy Spirit.<ref>Hendry, George S. ''The Westminster Confession for Today'' SCM (1960) p. 232</ref> There is no standard frequency; John Calvin desired weekly communion, but the city council only approved monthly, and monthly celebration has become the most common practice in Reformed churches today.

Many, on the other hand, follow [[John Knox]] in celebration of the Lord's supper on a quarterly basis, to give proper time for reflection and inward consideration of one's own state and sin. Recently, Presbyterian and Reformed Churches have been considering whether to restore more frequent communion, including weekly communion in more churches, considering that infrequent communion was derived from a memorialist view of the Lord's Supper, rather than Calvin's view of the sacrament as a means of grace.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.opc.org/OS/html/V6/4l.html|title=The Lord's Supper: How Often?|author=D. G. Hart and John R. Muether|journal=[[Ordained Servant]]|volume=6|issue=4|date=October 1997}}</ref> Some churches use bread without any [[leavening agent|raising agent]] (whether [[yeast]] or another [[leaven]].) in view of the use of [[Matzah|unleavened bread]] at [[Passover seder|Jewish Passover meals]], while others use any bread available.

The [[Presbyterian Church (USA)]], for instance, prescribes "bread common to the culture". Harking back to the [[regulative principle of worship]], the Reformed tradition had long eschewed coming forward to receive communion, preferring to have the elements distributed throughout the congregation by the presbyters (elders) more in the style of a shared meal. Over the last half a century it is much more common in Presbyterian churches to have Holy Communion monthly or on a weekly basis. It is also becoming common to receive the elements by intinction (receiving a piece of consecrated bread or wafer, dipping it in the blessed wine, and consuming it). Wine and grape juice are both used, depending on the congregation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Question & Answer: The Orthodox Presbyterian Church |url=https://opc.org/qa.html?question_id=138 |access-date=2022-09-26 |website=opc.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>[https://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/42392/ialc_report_on_elements_used_in_communion.pdf Eucharistic Food and Drink / A report of the Inter-Anglican Liturgical Commission to the Anglican Consultative Council1] anglicancommunion.org</ref> Most Reformed churches practice "open communion", i.e., all believers who are united to a church of like faith and practice, and who are not living in sin, would be allowed to join in the Sacrament.