Unity in the Meal: The Church and Communion

In addition to its unifying power, proponents of intercommunion conceive the Eucharist as a foretaste of the Heavenly banquet pictured in Revelation 19. The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church write, “The Anglican practice of extending an invitation to share in Eucharistic fellowship to baptized communicants of other Christian churches can be seen as a proper pastoral anticipation of the eschatological summons to the marriage supper of the Lamb and as a foretaste of full visible unity,” (House of Bishops, 7). The House further iterates that the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist both possess a proleptic nature in that both point to an ultimate fulfillment. The Supper looks forwards to a “more wonderful fellowship meal” in God’s presence in the future. There, man’s original fellowship with God, which he held in Eden, will be restored (Grudem, 986).Thorogood argues that all the actions of the church on earth are done as interim actions, anticipating the fullness and fulfillment in heaven. Furthermore, the practice of intercommunion is “a means which prefigures the end, just as the elements themselves prefigure the bridal feast of the Lamb. Such means are creative, they help us to move towards the conclusion of God's purpose to unite all things under the Lordship of Christ,” (Thorogood, 12).