Why Closed Communion in the Orthodox Church?

Many people, especially from Protestant backgrounds, may wonder why the Orthodox Church practices closed communion. In other words, why does the Orthodox Church administer the sacrament of Holy Communion only to those who are baptized members of the Orthodox Church? In some Protestant confessions, there is a practice of open communion, as they believe that Christ's death and resurrection was for all people. The Orthodox understand also that Christ's resurrection was for all people as well. However, they look at the practice of Communion differently.

To gain a better understanding of the concept of open and closed communion better, one must go back to the pages of the New Testament. In the book of John, at the Last Supper, which is the institution of the Eucharist, or Communion, Christ prays that his Apostles would be one and that there would be no division among them. The celebration, therefore, of Holy Communion from the time of the New Testament came with the understanding that those who were partaking shared the same faith and beliefs, and that they were not divided by disagreement or argument.

In Christian history, there were many instances of certain groups with divergent beliefs breaking from the Church. In the process of breaking away, communion was also severed. The most notable example in Church history of this was the Great Schism, dated to 1054, in which the Eastern and Western Church split from one another. In reality, the roots of the schism can be traced to a much earlier point in time, and the schism continued gradually well after 1054, but the date continues to be marked at 1054 as the most significant moment in this estrangement between East and West. One of the consequences of this split in the Church was that both the Eastern and Western church ex-communicated each other, meaning that they disallowed each other to receive communion in the other's churches. Significantly, Orthodox Christians are also not allowed to receive Communion in non-Orthodox Churches, for that would mean that they would be proclaiming that they shared the same faith as the people in whose church they were receiving.

It is crucial to point out that the Orthodox practice of "closed" communion is not a judgment against a person or their standing in God's eyes or the potential of their salvation. It is not a way of saying that some are "good" and others are "bad". The practice of receiving communion together is the outward expression of having all things in common, in faith and worship. It is the fruit of unity.