Comunicant: A communicant of the Episcopal Church is a member who has received Holy Communion in the church at least three times in the past year. An adult communicant is someone who meets the basic requirement and who is also sixteen years of age of older. A communicant in good standing is one who has received Holy Communion at least three times (“unless for good cause prevented”) and who has also been “faithful in working, praying and giving for the spread of the Kingdom of God.” One must be a communicant in good standing to be eligible for election to the vestry or mission committee. All parishes and missions are required to keep rosters of their members and communicants. See member.
Member, Membership: Because the church is both the Body of Christ and a very human institution which has to care about membership numbers, the definition of what makes one a member of the Episcopal Church has recently undergone change. At one time, only those w ho had been confirmed by and Episcopal bishop could receive communion. Those who had been baptized as Episcopalians were m embers of the church but were not communicants until they were con firmed. Those baptized in non-Episcopal churches were considered Christians but not Episcopalians until they were confirmed by an Episcopal bishop (or received into the Roman Catholic or Orthodox Churches). Recently, however, we have recovered the full implications of Baptism as the full rite of initiation into the Body of Christ. The institutional consequences of this are still being worked out, and consultation with the rector or vicar is recommended. At the moment, however, a member of the Episcopal Church is one who has been baptized by water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in the Episcopal Church or in another Christian church and whose Baptism has been duly recorded in the Episcopal Church. An Adult member is a member sixteen years of age or older. The Episcopal Church also expects that its adult members will have made, after appropriate instruction a mature public affirmation of faith and commitment to the responsibilities and promises made by or for them at Baptism and have been confirmed or received by a bishop of the Episcopal Church or a church in communion with the Episcopal Church (such as another member church of the Anglican communion). Members who have received Holy Communion at least three times in the past year are also considered communicants. See communicant. Comments are closed.
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