09 | June | 2026 | The St. Bede Blog

The Texts

In order to talk about the 1789 Communion Office, we’ve got to get familiar with it. I’ll offer a set of introductory comments here, then put in the full text afterward. If you’d like to use this office or have a copy for reference in another medium, I’ll include two different versions in Microsoft Word:

Here is a “script” version of the Communion Office formatted for 8″x11″ that we used to put in a presider’s binder.
Here is a bulletin version of the Communion Office formatted for a folded bulletin printed on legal size paper for congregational use.

For the purists in the audience, here is the start of the Communion Office in the First Standard Edition printed in 1793.

Standard caveats apply: For the base text I used the Chad Wohler’s HTML edition that I checked against the First Standard edition printed in 1793. The hymn included is from the unattributed hymnal (but of course it’s Tate & Brady) bound into the Hall & Sellers first printed edition from 1790 (pp. 208-9 in the very back). I added some items in brackets, particularly in terms of people and action; you’ll see that we went with a North-side celebration following the plain sense of the text. I also added two lines where the clerk introduces the Gloria in excelsis and the hymn using the standard form of introduction recommended in The Parish-clerk’s Guide from 1709. I can’t guarantee that it is 100% error-free, but I certainly did my best!

One note on this… I was concerned that there was an error in the form of the Confession because it was lacking the phrases “there is no health in us” and “miserable offenders.” This led into a rabbit-hole deep-dive where I discovered that there are two different textual traditions of the Confession–one for the Communion Office and a different one for Morning & Evening Prayer. In short, the original form without the two phrases appears in the Communion Office of the 1549 BCP; 1552 book added those two phrases when the Confession was appended to the start of the Daily Office, but never added it into the Communion Office. As far as I can tell, the first time these phrases got into the Communion Office itself was the American 1892 BCP!

For the sermon, we decided not to have a modern homily on the Gospel, but rather to read a sermon befitting the celebration of America’s 250, so we used a greatly abridged version of “A sermon, preached before the Honorable the Council, and the Honorable the Senate, and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, May 28, 1800, being the day of general election” by Joseph McKeen. Although a Congregationalist minister, the Rev. McKeen was regarded as a learned man, moderate in both politics and theology, and we thought this would be appropriate to give a sense of how a minister of the time would preach to elected officials of our young Republic.

Additional Standard Caveat

Furthermore, as I warned the congregation ahead of the liturgy itself and as I re-iterated at the beginning of my talk, my great specialties in the history of the prayer book are the times before and after this edition! As a catholic-minded Anglican, I consider this book and its predecessors as part of our “protestant phase” where the Anglican Churches openly embraced a more Calvinist perspective on liturgy and ceremonial–and I have not put in nearly the time and effort on understand and reconstructing that ceremonial as much as I have the catholic versions. Thus, I can’t claim that our ceremonial reconstruction was error-free, but it was based on solid research. (As always, the more you learn, the more you realize just how much you don’t know!!)

Ceremonial Choices

As our ceremonial North Star, we leaned into its protestant character wherever possible. Thus, as indicated above, we went with a North-side celebration as described in the initial rubrics where the priest stands at the north, short end, of the altar with his right side to the people where they can see, side on, what he is doing with the bread and wine in the consecration.

When I say “we,” I’m referring to our two ministers, the priest and the clerk. The priest was the wonderful Rev. Eric Bailey; the role of the clerk was taken by me. No acolytes, of course! With no candles, acolytes didn’t start showing up in Episcopal churches until after the middle of the 19th century. Rather, the clerk was an essential minister. A lay position, the clerk had two main roles: to say the parts that the people were supposed to say and to start (or do) the singing of the psalms and hymns. More on the clerk to come…

17th cent. Pulpit from Frenze, Norfolk; photo by Simon Knott

In terms of the space, we had no altar candles, no frontals, and only a fair linen on the altar. Lacking a classic double-decker pulpit, we used two chair & prie dieu combos on each side of the chancel, facing one another choir-style. (Had we had a double-decker pulpit, the priest would have occupied the top position with the clerk below.) The priest officiated from the chancel until we reached the Communion proper whence he ascended into the sanctuary.

Because we did a North-side celebration, we realized that using a South-side credence table didn’t make much sense so we moved a small table to the North end of the sanctuary for the vessels before the priest moved them to the altar. No water was needed as neither a lavabo nor mingling of water with the wine were done. Our only intentional anachronism was using wafer bread instead of a loaf of fine wheat bread.

We also distributed communion by tables, filling the altar rail, distributing the elements silently, then the priest dismissing the whole group with the words of administration. (Well, sort of… We hadn’t walked through this and so while the priest had the Bread words to hand, I didn’t have the Cup words so we left these out. Had we thought through this better, he would have said both sentences.)

Manual gestures were stripped to the bare minimum. No bowing during the Sanctus, Gloria, or Creed. No signs of the cross at any point. We did bow to the altar when we entered and left, the priest performed the manual actions as described in the consecration (and we did have to practice breaking the bread during the words of Consecration a couple of times!). The only manual action retained was the bowing of the head at the name of Jesus. While I usually only see this now in High Church or Anglo-Catholic establishments, it is famously the only physical action required in canon law, added in 1604. I noted a reference to this practice in The Parish-clerk’s Guide linked above indicated that a century later it was still a recommended practice among the lay ministers of the Church of England.

The 1789 American Communion Office

The ORDER for the

ADMINISTRATION of the LORD’s SUPPER,

or, HOLY COMMUNION.

(Book of Common Prayer, 1789)

¶ If among those who come to be partakers of the Holy Communion, the Minister shall know any to be an open and notorious evil liver, or to have done any wrong to his neighbours by word or deed, so that the Congregation be hereby offended; he shall advertise him, that he presume not to come to the Lord’s Table, until he have openly declared himself to have truly repented and amended his former evil life, that the Congregation may thereby be satisfied; and that he hath recompensed the parties to whom he hath done wrong; or at least declare himself to be in full purpose so to do, as soon as he conveniently may.

¶ The same order shall the Minister use with those, betwixt whom be perceiveth malice and hatred to reign; not suffering them to be partakers of the Lord’s Table, until he know them to be reconciled. And if one of the parties, so at variance, be content to forgive from the bottom of his heart all that the other hath trespassed against him, and to make amends for that wherein he himself hath offended; and the other party will not be persuaded to a godly unity, but remain still in his forwardness and malice; the Minister in that case ought to admit the penitent person to the Holy Communion, and not him that is obstinate. Provided, that every Minister so repelling any, as is herein specified, shall be obliged to give an account of the same to the Ordinary, as soon as conveniently may be.

¶ The Table, at the Communion-time having a fair white linen cloth upon it, shall stand in the body of the Church, or in the Chancel. And the Minister, standing at the north side of the Table, or where Morning and Evening Prayer are appointed to be said, shall say the Lord’s Prayer and the Collect following, the People kneeling; but the Lord’s Prayer may be omitted, if Morning Prayer hath been said immediately before.

[Minister alone]

OUR Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. [All] Amen.

The Collect.

ALMIGHTY God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name, through Christ our Lord. [All] Amen.

¶ Then shall the Minister, turning to the People, rehearse distinctly the TEN COMMANDMENTS, and the People, still kneeling, shall, after every Commandment, ask God mercy for their transgressions for the time past, and grace to keep the law for the time to come as followeth.

Minister.

GOD spake these words and said; I am the Lord thy God Thou shalt have none other gods but me.