Comments on: On virtual communion: A tract for these COVID-19 Times (Part II)

By: Rene Ressler

Rene Ressler — Sun, 04 Apr 2021 12:14:15 +0000

Buzz Aldrin took the eucharist on the surface of the Moon on the Apollo 11 Mission. Nary a priest in sight…

By: David Van Blarcom

David Van Blarcom — Tue, 26 May 2020 17:06:06 +0000

This is the kind of bloodlesss sophistry that will be the death of the Anglican church. Brittain begins by setting up a number of condescending and insulting “straw persons” supposedly setting out reasons for virtual communion, which he then purports to strike down. What he misses is that a very important part of the Anglican liturgy is its appeal to the senses, whether in the colours of the season, the music of the liturgy, the smell of the incense, or the taste and feel in the mouth of the bread and wine. Taste and see that the Lord is good. At a time when we are kept away from our fellow worshippers, from the special presence when two or three are gathered together, at least allow us join with our community on-line in the very tangible experience of the bread and wine as, together, we do this in remembrance of Him.

By: Diana Butler Bass

Diana Butler Bass — Mon, 25 May 2020 22:40:27 +0000

I would appreciate a fair accounting of what I said instead of the lack of context regarding my words — which were not any sort of attack on clergy. The specific quote from the article is:

“I’ve worried that in withholding communion, the church has been, in effect, hoarding the bread and wine, restraining the healing beauty of Eucharist when hungry people most need to feast.”

“I’ve worried that” and “in effect” is hardly an anti-clerical statement. And my words were both qualified and restrained, using old-fashioned term “hoarding” was a plain term meaning “to withhold or reserve,” with no malice intended. Indeed, my very conservative argument is that clergy should be celebrating at this difficult time, not that they are unimportant or otherwise a problem to the liturgical life of the church. That my name is under the heading “Deliver us from clergy” misrepresents not only what I wrote, but it also misrepresents two decades of faithful, beautiful, and thoughtful work I’ve done to envision and enliven the life of the church for the future.

Please don’t ascribe views to me that I do not hold.

(Also, this is not an invitation to debate. This is a correction to the record.)

By: Kate Newman

Kate Newman — Mon, 25 May 2020 20:46:28 +0000

This feels a like Witchhunter General language, “…she expresses a curious understanding of the sacraments. The worship of God doesn’t “make space” for the God who is already present; instead, eucharistic worship is an embodied participation in God’s presence and pattern of relating to Creation. The Eucharist doesn’t conjure God’s presence like a magic spell…”

Can’t we do better than publicly calling each other out right now? It doesn’t matter how you dress it up academically, the lack of kindness is obvious and degrades this writing significantly.