Communion table

Communion table is in the Reformed Church and many evangelical free churches the name of the table on which the Eucharist is celebrated. The name of this table as an altar as well as the celebration of worship at an altar is rejected in these churches.

Biblical- theological justification

With this the urgemeindliche name table of the Lord (1 Corinthians 10:21) reminds one expression sets itself apart from the Roman Catholic theology of sacrifice, after which the body and blood of Jesus Christ in an unbloody manner in any so-called measurement victim is present. This contradicts according to the Reformed understanding of biblical statements that emphasize the uniqueness of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross of Calvary.

Other features

To emphasize the character table of the Last Supper table, many of the mentioned churches have set up chairs behind the table. In some churches here take the Lord's Supper participants in small groups place. In other churches (for example, the Baptists, see picture ), the seats are intended for the community members who serve at the table of the Lord and take care for the end of the Lord's Supper and the distribution of communion. In the Moravian Church of the middle seat remains empty - a symbol of the invisible presence of the actual table Lord Jesus Christ.

Celebrated not a sacrament in worship, the liturgical line usually happens only from the pulpit, where this tradition decreases at least in the Reformed churches in Switzerland. On the communion table is then often an open Bible and a simple floral arrangement. Burning candles are an extremely rare occurrence as table decorations in these denominations.

Add originally reformed, but now Uniate churches now blurs the distinction between communion table and the altar.