Distribution of Holy Communion
by Lay Eucharistic Ministers
to persons who are ill or infirm

Concerning the Rite

The Book of Common Prayer affirms the place of the Holy Eucharist as “The principal act of Christian worship on the Lord’s Day and other major Feasts,” and thus the foundation of the corporate prayer of the Church. As an act of the whole community of faith, the Eucharist is a summons to all the baptized to share in the table of the Lord. This form for the distribution of Holy Communion by licensed lay persons is intended to foster a corporate sense of the Eucharist among those who, by reason of illness or infirmity, are unable to be present in their church’s assembly on Sunday or some other principal feast.