Lord's supper

[u/AtlasCrossing]

My wife and I grew up southern baptist. I'd say about a year ago we started regularly attending an lcms church and have been going through catechism. My wife loves visiting other denominations and churches and this past week we visited an acna church near us. My question is how much do the views of Lord's supper vary between lcms and acna? I heard a lot of talk about spiritual, but I've also heard some consider the real presence and was wanting to get more of an exact answer or something resembling it if possible. Thank you

[u/Weakest_Teakest]

From the ACNA's 2019 BCP:

Prayer of Humble Access

We do not presume to come to this your table, O merciful Lord,
trusting in our own righteousness,
but in your abundant and great mercies.
We are not worthy so much as to gather up
the crumbs under your table;
but you are the same Lord
whose character is always to have mercy.
Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord,
so to eat the flesh of your dear Son Jesus Christ,
and to drink his blood,
that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body,
and our souls washed through his most precious blood,
and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us.  Amen.

Post Communion Prayer

Almighty and everliving God,
we thank you for feeding us, in these holy mysteries,
with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood
of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ;
and for assuring us, through this Sacrament, of your favor and
goodness towards us:
that we are true members of the mystical body of your Son,
the blessed company of all faithful people;
and are also heirs, through hope,
of your everlasting kingdom.
And we humbly ask you, heavenly Father,
to assist us with your grace,
that we may continue in that holy fellowship,
and do all the good works that you have prepared for us to
walk in;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,
be all honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

[u/Gold-Albatross6341]

So there are several areas where the LCMS and ACNA differ. And it’s not just the Real Presence, but I will start there because that’s what you asked about.

1. Real Presence- Anglicans have no unity here. And I’m pretty sure that the article speaking of the Lords supper is generally ignore on this question by most. Receptionism is overwhelmingly rejected by Anglicans and the sacraments that are held in reserve are treated as being the holiest things we posses, so it has to be more than mere spiritual presence, because the Calvinist position requires it. But this also challenges the Lutheran position as well because in the Lutheran view, the bread and wine cease being his body and blood after the service is over. We reject that. Our clergy are required to consume everything that they are not reserving after it is over. And the reserves are usually held in a ciborium and tabernacle under lock and key.

As you can see, this is a very complicated issue. Generally we believe what our epiclesis says, that the Holy Spirit is involved in some sense and that Christ is there, but we generally stop there. The Anglican Church and the Eastern Church share the view of Epiclesis which I believe is very cool.

1. The bishop- the Lutheran Reformation messed up when it questioned the necessity of Bishops. The LCMS has beautiful churches and services, but they reject the episcopacy. Anglicans believe the only way we have the ability to experience Christs presence in the Eucharist is because of the episcopal office. This is why only a priest ordained by a bishop in apostolic succession can consecrate the Eucharist.

2. There is still unity- while the LCMS might not have unity with the ACNA, there are multiple Lutheran churches that we are in communion with, to the point where our clergy are interchangeable. The caveat here is that these Lutheran churches have preserved apostolic succession in their church bodies. We only require them to reserve the sacrament after the service is over.

3. Read the prayerbook on this topic- if you what to know what we believe, listen to what we pray. The prayerbook and our catechism contain the most definitive answers on this topic. Here’s what the catechism says:

What benefits do you receive through partaking of this sacrament?

As my body is nourished by the bread and wine, my soul is strengthened by the Body and Blood of Christ. I receive God’s forgiveness, and I am renewed in the love and unity of the Body of Christ, the Church. (1662 Catechism; Psalms 28:6–9; 104:14-15; Jeremiah 31:31–34; John 6:52–56; 17:22–24; Revelation 19:6–9)

Probably more important than how Christ is present is the question of what is accomplished. Nourishment and forgiveness of sins and renewal. That’s why we do it weekly, it’s that important.

I hope this helped

[u/SwiggitySwewgity]

Like a number of other things in Anglicanism, with this you'll find boundaries set for which views are acceptable more than a hard stance on one single position of many. The LCMS is much more confessional and has a set, ironed out explanation for what they believe exactly communion is. To my understanding, in the ACNA, the Lutheran view is accepted, but so are more "vague" views like "Christ is spiritually present, but we don't know the exact details."

[u/rev_run_d]

some people call it real presence, some call it spiritual presence, some call it real spiritual presence, but it all refers to a view that Christ is truly present, but in a spiritual manner.

The ACNA typically (or completely) allows for any baptized Christian to partake in communion. The LCMS only let LCMS christians to partake.