The Vesture of the Lord’s Table

I wrote this article for readers who want to learn more about how Anglicans "did church" in the three centuries before the Catholic Revival of the nineteenth century and who are interested in reviving the practices of the reformed Church of England from what was a formative period for classical Anglicanism.

A “naked table,” to use Percy Dearmer’s description of a communion table that is bare save for a white fair linen tablecloth was the practice of the Western Church from at least the third century AD to the nineth century AD. This included the papal chapel from the seventh century AD on.

In his 1928 edition of The Parson’s Handbook Dearmer notes that it was the practice of the Roman Catholic Church in Belgium and France and the Italian Mission, a Roman Catholic mission, in the United Kingdom in his day.  He also notes that a naked table was a Puritan practice. It was not, however, as we shall see, the mandated practice of the reformed Church of England during sixteenth and seventeenth centuries or later. To see what was the required practice, we need to take a look at three key documents.

The first document is Archbishop Matthew Parker’s Advertisements of 1566. This document was a series of articles governing public worship drafted by Archbishop Parker with the other bishops at the direction of Elizabeth I. Elizabeth, however, refused to sign the initial draft or the subsequent revision. She insisted that Parker and the other bishops issue them by their own authority. Parker’s Advertisements contain this provision:

“Item, that every minister saying any public prayers, or ministering the sacraments or other rites of the Church, shall wear a comely surplice with sleeves, to be provided at the charges of the parish; and that the parish provide a decent table standing on a frame for the Communion Table.

Item, that they shall decently cover with carpet, silk, or other decent covering, and with a fair linen cloth (at the time of the ministration) the Communion Table, and to set the Ten Commandments upon the east wall over the said table.” [1]

The second document is the proposed canons of 1571. The following comes from my article, “A View of the English Reformation and the Elizabethan Settlement: The Canons of 1571.”

“The Convocation of Canterbury put forward a new Book of Canons, also known as the Book of Discipline, for the reformed Church of England in the spring of 1571. They were signed, in person or by proxy, by all the bishops of the Southern province. A copy of the Canons in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge shows that they were also signed by the Archbishop of York and the Bishops of Durham and Chester who may have been acting as proxies for the other bishops of the Northern province. However, they were not signed by the Lower House of the Convocation of York and therefore their placement before that body is questioned.”

“William Edward Collins argues in his introduction to The Church Historical Society’s 1899 edition of The Canons of 1571 in English and Latin that the canons derive their authority from the bishops in synod and not from the advice and consent of the clergy. In any event the Canons never received the royal assent and consequently they possessed no legal force. While the Canons were thus lacking legal validity, they were accepted as authoritative in the Province of Canterbury and were acted upon in the dioceses of the Southern province.”

The proposed canons of 1571 contain this provision:

“Churchwardens shall see, that the churches be kept clean and holy, that they be not loathsome to any, either by dust, sand, or any filthiness. They shall also see, that the holy Bibles be in every church in the largest volume …], (if it may conveniently be) such as were lately Imprinted at London: that the book of common Prayers, that the holy Homilies, which lately were written against rebellion …, be in every church. It is meet that these books be whole and clean, not torn or foul in any wise, lest it breed irksomeness or contempt amongst the people. They shall see, there be a joined handsome table, which may serve for the administration of the holy Communion, and a clean carpet to cover it: a convenient pulpit, whence the heavenly doctrine may be taught. Moreover they shall see, that all sollars …, in which wooden crosses stood, and all relics of superstition be clean taken away, that the walls of the churches be new whited [= whitened], and decked with chosen sentences of the holy Scripture, that by the reading and warning thereof, the people may be moved to godliness. Last of all they shall see, that in every church there be a holy font, not … a basin, wherein Baptism may be ministered, and it be kept comely and clean.” [2]]

Th third document is the Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiasticall of 1604. According to the staff of anglican.net, they “are the most important item of ecclesiastical law in Anglican Christianity. Ratified with the great object of setting the Church upon a new systematic and universal basis of ecclesiastical law, they remain in force (with amendments) to this day, and have affected the law of every Province of the Anglican Communion.” They contain this provision:

LXXXII.A decent Communion-Table in every Church.

Whereas we have no doubt, but that in all Churches within the Realm of England, convenient and decent Tables are provided and placed for the Celebration of the holy Communion, We appoint that the same Tables shall from time to time be kept and repaired in sufficient and seemly manner, and covered in time of Divine Service with a Carpet of Silk or other decent Stuff thought meet by the Ordinary of the place, if any question be made of it, AND (my emphasis) with a fair Linen Cloth at the Time of the Ministration, as becometh that Table, and so stand, saving when the said holy Communion is to be Administered. At which Time the same shall be placed in so good sort within the Church or Chancel, as thereby the Minister may be more conveniently heard of the Communicants in his Prayer and Administration, and the Communicants also more conveniently and in more number may communicate with the said Minister: and that the Ten Commandments be set up upon the East-end of every Church and Chapel where the people may best see and read the same, and other chosen Sentences written upon the Walls of the said Churches and Chapels in places convenient: And likewise, that a convenient Seat be made for the Minister to read Service in. All these to be done at the Charge of the Parish.” [3]

The “carpet” to which these three documents prescribe is what is known as a Jacobean frontal, a large tablecloth which covers the entire top of the Holy Table and falls almost to the floor on all four sides of the table. It is typically deep crimson in color and is made from jacquard fabric. For a celebration of Holy Communion, the “fair linen” is laid on top of the frontal. It covers the top of the table and hangs partway down the ends of the table. 

Only non-conforming Puritans during the sixteenth and seventeenth century (and the larger English church during the short-lived 1552 Prayer Book and the 15 year hiatus of the Westminster Directory from 1645 to 1660) did not observe this practice. Non-conforming Puritans also refused to wear the surplice, and they served communion to a seated congregation. They championed Presbyterianism as the only divinely ordained form of church governance. At the Restoration they refused to use the 1662 revision of the Prayer Book and as a consequence lost their livings due to their non-conformity. We may sympathize with them. However, we must also recognize that they chose a different path from the “Anglican Way.” What began as a movement within the Church of England would eventually part ways with that church.

As for the Lord’s Table it should be a wooden table, a “godly board,” the top of which should at least 3 feet, 3 inches and no more than 3 feet, 4 inches from the floor. The table should be no longer in length than twice its height and should be deep enough to hold a service book, a small cushion (not a book stand) to support it, a chalice, a wine flagon, and a bread platter without appearing cluttered. It should also be portable.

Too many communion tables are too long or too low or both. When the table is too long, the chalice and the wine flagon and the platter of bread are apt to be crowded together at the north end, frequently overshadowed by a book stand which draws the eye away from the symbols of bread and wine and diminishes their sign value.  

When the communion table is too low, which is frequently the case, the officiating minister is forced to stoop to order the bread and wine, read the prayers, lay his hands on the bread and wine vessels, and to perform the manual acts.  It detracts from the solemnity of the occasion when a very tall minister must bend over a table no larger than a side table and no higher than a coffee table, a table that does not reach his thighs, as I observed on the photo page on ANiC parish website. The minister looked ludicrous and from the expression on his face, he thought so too!

A small cushion to support the service book is preferable to a brass or wooden stand which, as previously noted is apt to draw the eye away from the bread and the wine and to become the visual focus of the table in their place. It also tends to contribute to the cluttered appearance of the table. The cushion can be made from the same fabric as the Jacobean frontal.

[1] https://history.hanover.edu/texts/engref/er81.html

[2] https://anglicansablaze.blogspot.com/2010/10/view-of-english-reformation-and.html

[3] https://www.anglican.net/doctrines/1604-canon-law/

Addendum: 

From the Injunctions of 1559--

"For tables in the church.

Whereas her majesty understands that in many and sundry parts of the realm the altars of the churches be removed, and tables placed for administration of the Holy Sacrament, according to the form of the law therefor provided; and in some other places the altars be not yet removed, upon opinion conceived of some other order therein to be taken by her majesty's visitors; in the order whereof, saving for an uniformity, there seems no matter of great moment, so that the Sacrament be duly and reverently ministered; yet for observation of one uniformity through the whole realm, and for the better imitation of the law in that behalf, it is ordered that no altar be taken down, but by oversight of the curate of the church, and the churchwardens [Page 440] , or one of them at the least, wherein no riotous or disordered manner to be used. And that the holy table in every church be decently made, and set in the place where the altar stood, and there commonly covered, as thereto belongs, and as shall be appointed by the visitors, and so to stand, saving when the communion of the Sacrament is to be distributed; at which time the same shall be so placed in good sort within the chancel, as whereby the minister may be more conveniently heard of the communicants in his prayer and ministration, and the communicants also more conveniently and in more number communicate with the said minister. And after the communion done, from time to time the same holy table to be placed where it stood before."

https://history.hanover.edu/texts/engref/er78.html