Eucharist

===Open and closed communion===
{{Main|Open communion|Closed communion|Full communion}}
[[File:Eucharist001.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|In the [[Latin Church]] of the [[Catholic Church]], the administration of the Eucharist to children requires that they have sufficient knowledge and careful preparation to receive the body of Christ with faith and devotion.]]

[[Christianity|Christian]] denominations differ in their understanding of whether they may celebrate the Eucharist with those with whom they are not in [[full communion]]. The apologist [[Justin Martyr]] ({{c.|150}}) wrote of the Eucharist "of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0126.htm|title=Church Fathers: The First Apology (St. Justin Martyr)|website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref> This was continued in the practice of dismissing the [[catechumen]]s (those still undergoing instruction and not yet baptized) before the sacramental part of the liturgy, a custom which has left traces in the expression "[[Mass of the Catechumens]]" and in the [[Byzantine Rite]] exclamation by the deacon or priest, "The doors! The doors!", just before recitation of the Creed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oca.org/reflections/berzonsky/the-doors|title=The Doors|first=Vladimir|last=Berzonsky|website=www.oca.org|date=24 January 2010 }}</ref>

Churches such as the [[Catholic]] and the [[Eastern Orthodox]] Churches practice [[closed communion]] under normal circumstances. However, the Catholic Church allows administration of the Eucharist, at their spontaneous request, to properly disposed members of the eastern churches ([[Eastern Orthodox]], [[Oriental Orthodox]] and [[Church of the East]]) not in full communion with it and of other churches that the [[Holy See]] judges to be sacramentally in the same position as these churches; and in grave and pressing need, such as danger of death, it allows the Eucharist to be administered also to individuals who do not belong to these churches but who share the Catholic Church's faith in the reality of the Eucharist and have no access to a minister of their own community.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P2S.HTM |title=Code of Canon Law, canon 844 |publisher=Intratext.com |date=2007-05-04 |access-date=2019-05-16}}</ref> Some [[Protestant]] communities exclude non-members from Communion.

The [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]] (ELCA) practices open communion, provided those who receive are baptized,<ref>[http://www.religionresourcesonline.org/different-types-of-religion/evangelical-lutheran.php Evangelical Lutheran] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707222431/http://www.religionresourcesonline.org/different-types-of-religion/evangelical-lutheran.php |date=7 July 2011 }}. Retrieved 2013–03–23.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Ecumenical-and-Inter-Religious-Relations/Full-Communion-Partners.aspx |title=ELCA Full Communion Partners |publisher=Elca.org |access-date=2019-05-16}}</ref> but the [[Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod]] and the [[Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod]] (WELS) practice closed communion, excluding non-members and requiring communicants to have been given [[Luther's Small Catechism|catechetical]] instruction.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wels.net/faq/close-communion-and-membership/|title=Close communion and membership|website=WELS|date=14 May 2015 }}</ref><ref>[https://www.lcms.org/Document.fdoc?src=lcm&id=3285 "Guidelines for Congregational, District, and Synodical Communion Statements"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009175326/http://www.lcms.org/Document.fdoc?src=lcm&id=3285 |date=9 October 2016 }} ''www.lcms.org''. Retrieved 2016–12–28.</ref> The [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada]], the [[Evangelical Church in Germany]], the [[Church of Sweden]], and many other Lutheran churches outside of the U.S. also practice open communion.

Some use the term "close communion" for restriction to members of the same denomination, and "closed communion" for restriction to members of the local congregation alone.

Most [[Protestant]] communities including [[Congregational churches]], the [[Church of the Nazarene]], the [[Assemblies of God]], [[Methodism|Methodists]], most [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]] and [[Baptist]]s, [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]], and [[Churches of Christ]] and other [[Nondenominational Christianity|non-denominational churches]] practice various forms of [[open communion]]. Some churches do not limit it to only members of the congregation, but to any people in attendance (regardless of Christian affiliation) who consider themselves to be Christian. Others require that the communicant be a baptized person, or a member of a church of that denomination or a denomination of "like faith and practice". Some Progressive Christian congregations offer communion to any individual who wishes to commemorate the life and teachings of Christ, regardless of religious affiliation.{{efn|In most United Church of Christ local churches, the Communion Table is "open to all Christians who wish to know the presence of Christ and to share in the community of God's people".<ref>(Book of Worship). [http://www.ucc.org/worship/communion/ Holy Communion: A Practice of Faith in the United Church of Christ]</ref>}}

Most Latter-Day Saint churches practice closed communion; one notable exception is the [[Community of Christ]], the second-largest denomination in this movement.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cofchrist.org/sacraments/communion.asp|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226040957/http://www.cofchrist.org/sacraments/communion.asp|url-status=dead|title=Community of Christ: Communion|archivedate=26 February 2011}}</ref> While The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the largest of the LDS denominations) technically practice a closed communion, their official direction to local Church leaders (in Handbook 2, section 20.4.1, last paragraph) is as follows: "Although the sacrament is for Church members, the bishopric should not announce that it will be passed to members only, and nothing should be done to prevent nonmembers from partaking of it."<ref>{{cite web |title=20. Priesthood Ordinances and Blessings |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/handbook-2-administering-the-church/priesthood-ordinances-and-blessings/priesthood-ordinances-and-blessings |website=ChurchofJesusChrist.org |access-date=14 September 2018 }}</ref>

In the [[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]] the Eucharist is only given to those who have come prepared to receive the life-giving body and blood. Therefore, in a manner to worthily receive, believers fast the night before the liturgy, from around 6pm or the conclusion of evening prayer, and remain fasting until they receive Holy Qurbana the next morning. Additionally, members who plan to receive the holy communion have to follow a strict guide of prescribed prayers from the [[Shehimo]], or the book of common prayers, for the week.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ministry of Liturgical Development |title=Service Book of the Holy Qurbono |date= 2017 |publisher=Malankara Orthodox Church Publications |location=Devalokam, Kottayam |isbn=978-0-9972544-4-0 |edition=1st}}</ref>