Online Communion, Christian Community, and Receptive Ecumenism: A Holy Week Ethnography during COVID-19

A significant liturgical controversy of the COVID-19 pandemic is whether Christians should celebrate communion online. Much of the discussion of online communion has been based on theological and theoretical claims, rather than concrete observations and experiences, and much of this reflection has b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Studia liturgica
Main Author: Johnson, Sarah Kathleen (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage Publishing [2020]
In: Studia liturgica
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Communion / Internet / COVID-19 (Disease) / Pandemic / Holy Week / Ecumene / Kirchengeschichte 2020
RelBib Classification:KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
KDA Church denominations
KDJ Ecumenism
NBP Sacramentology; sacraments
RC Liturgy
ZG Media studies; Digital media; Communication studies
Further subjects:B Easter
B Ethnography
B Covid-19
B Receptive Ecumenism
B Ecumenism
B Holy Week
B Pandemic
B Online communion
B Eucharist
B Community
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Summary:A significant liturgical controversy of the COVID-19 pandemic is whether Christians should celebrate communion online. Much of the discussion of online communion has been based on theological and theoretical claims, rather than concrete observations and experiences, and much of this reflection has been directed toward specific denominational contexts. In contrast, this ethnographic study centers on participant observation of twelve worship services that included communion, or would ordinarily have included communion, that occurred between Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday of April 2020 in Free Church, mainline Protestant, Anglican, and Roman Catholic settings. It takes the approach of receptive ecumenism and asks what gifts Christians from various traditions can receive from one another in relation to online communion both during and beyond times of crisis. Rather than making a case for or against celebrating communion online, it explores the ways in which community is demonstrated and effected in online communion practices.
ISSN:2517-4797
Contains:Enthalten in: Studia liturgica
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0039320720946030