Holy Communion in Contagious Times

“No one will finish reading this book without a deeply enhanced sense of the meaning of the eucharist. Painstaking and impressively well-documented and researched, it will be an invaluable resource, stimulating much debate and reflection.”


—Rowan Williams, former archbishop of Canterbury





“In this carefully researched and original book of quite extraordinary scope, the author brings to light the deepest meaning of the relation of God to a world that includes cyberspace.”


—Paul S. Fiddes, University of Oxford, Baptist theologian





“Renowned biblical theologian Richard Burridge’s arguments give us much to think about in this ongoing important debate.”


—Michael B. Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church





“A visionary eucharistic theology and ecclesiology for the future’s hybrid physical and virtual expressions of church.”


—Mitzi J. Budde, Virginia Theological Seminary, deacon in the Evangelical Lutheran Church





“A provocative, interesting, rich, and thoughtful book. It is well worth the read and furthers the discussion considerably.”


—C. Andrew Doyle, Episcopal bishop of Texas





“Reading Burridge’s material about online eucharists moved my theological goalposts!”


—Pierre Whalon, former bishop of the convocation of Episcopal Churches of Europe





“A fascinating study. Something all church leaders need to wrestle with!”


—Michael F. Bird, Ridley College, Melbourne





“Richard Burridge’s theological depth and willingness to be radical in his thinking make this book essential reading.”


—David Walker, bishop of Manchester








“Never content to do theology in an ivory tower, renowned biblical theologian Richard Burridge has forged ahead in a personal quest for possible ways to celebrate holy communion during the COVID-19 pandemic and similar health crises. Whether you or I agree with his conclusions or not, his arguments give us much to think about in this ongoing important debate for all who follow Jesus of Nazareth and his way of love in difficult times. I still use his 2008 commentary on John’s Gospel and have little doubt that this new work likewise will be one that I reread many times in the years ahead.”


—Michael B. Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church and author of Love is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times





“Richard Burridge brings his prodigious energy, theological and pastoral passion, and diverse network of colleagues to engage the vitally important issue of ongoing Christian liturgical tradition in the internet age. I’m grateful to Professor Burridge for putting this book into the world at this challenging moment.”


—Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, dean and president, Seminary of the Southwest





“Richard Burridge asks questions that the church needs to face. His theological depth and willingness to be radical in his thinking make this book essential reading for anyone wishing to explore the rapidly developing and expanding world of virtual church life with an even partially open mind.”


—David Walker, bishop of Manchester





“The global pandemic raised many questions for the church about how holy communion might be celebrated when we are unable to meet in person. With characteristic expertise, Richard Burridge guides us through these debates with close attention, both to the tradition of Christian teaching on the eucharist and developments in modern communication technology. He offers some provocative yet deeply considered proposals that deserve consideration by all who have wrestled with these issues.”


—Graham Tomlin, bishop of Kensington and president of St Mellitus College





“No one will finish reading this book without a deeply enhanced sense of the meaning of the eucharist. Painstaking and impressively well-documented and researched, it will be an invaluable resource, stimulating much debate and reflection.”


—Rowan Williams, former archbishop of Canterbury





“The Richard Burridge skill set is to provide magisterial, detail-orientated studies that explore all the issues from a full range of perspectives. This extraordinary book is no exception. With rigor and careful attention to detail, Burridge sets out a provocative argument while considering all the options. Read carefully, learn much, and think deeply.”


—Ian S. Markham, dean and president of Virginia Theological Seminary and professor of theology and ethics





“The pandemic has sharpened questions which Christians have been asking for some time about the celebration of the eucharist on digital media. In this lively and forceful book, Richard Burridge presents his informed perspective on the current state of the debate in the Church of England, and he offers some striking proposals for the future.”


—Michael Ipgrave, bishop of Lichfield





“As a fellow ‘zoomicant’ in lockdown’s wilderness, I appreciated not only the spiritual nourishment but also Richard Burridge’s thoughtful and detailed exploration, which helped me still be part of God’s people even when gathered at a distance.”


—Richard Coles, parish priest of Finedon and broadcaster





“The eucharist is the food that makes us hungrier for God. Each time the bread is broken, God unmasks his fidelity and love. Without it, as Burridge shows with his usual contagious love of scholarship and public theology, faith curdles into self-reference and we forget the call to model community life. Read this as a vaccine against a diseased Christianity.”


—Mark Oakley, dean of St John’s College, Cambridge, and canon theologian at Wakefield Cathedral





“A fascinating study. Richard Burridge tackles the moral sacramental question of your COVID-19 era, namely, how do you have sacramental communion during a pandemic. He canvasses the various options, weighs the pros and cons, and sets forth his own proposal for communion in a digital and contagious age. Something all church leaders need to wrestle with!”


—Michael F. Bird, academic dean and lecturer in New Testament, Ridley College, Melbourne, Australia





“When the pandemic led to lockdowns and the prohibition of in-person worship services, the Ecclesiology Committee of the Episcopal Church House of Bishops which I chair took up the question of online celebrations of the eucharist. In a paper that I wrote, I was adamant that consecration of elements online is impossible. I became intrigued, however, by Richard Burridge’s insistence that the question not be purely theoretical, but needed a thorough study, including a ‘Zoom communion’ group that I joined. Though I do not celebrate or communicate, I have come to think that, under strict guidelines and only during real emergencies, an online eucharist can be celebrated faithfully. The church’s newest mission field is cyberspace, and Richard Burridge’s book is a guide to its geography.”


—Pierre Whalon; until recently bishop of the Convocation of Episcopal (formerly American) Churches in Europe





“Burridge has put together a provocative, interesting, rich, and thoughtful book, even if I am not persuaded. It is well worth the read and furthers the discussion considerably. I believe we are at our best when we do Anglican theology together and am grateful for the invitation to the table and conversation.”


—C. Andrew Doyle, Episcopal bishop of Texas and author of Embodied Liturgy: Virtual Reality and Liturgical Theology in Conversation and Citizen: Faithful Discipleship in a Partisan World





“Sometimes it takes a crisis, sometimes a new technology, to drive the church of Christ forwards. In 2020, we had both on a global scale. The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the opportunities of near-universal access to the internet created a context in which congregations and their leaders had to address afresh the question of what it means to break bread and share wine in remembrance of Christ’s death. The dance between pragmatism and theology lasted eighteen months, with the lead swapping between these partners. In this book, Richard Burridge traces the developments in praxis and theory across a range of traditions, rooted in the deep question of what it means for the people of God to gather at the table of Christ. As congregations return to their buildings, and as pastors and priests resume their sacramental positions, the questions explored in this book have not disappeared, and Burridge offers some tantalizing challenges about the nature of gathering in a post-pandemic, internet-enabled age.”


—Simon Woodman, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, London





“This timely book makes a sagacious contribution to the global debate over whether and how Christians might partake of the Eucharist in a pandemic. It offers a visionary eucharistic theology and ecclesiology for the future’s hybrid physical and virtual expressions of church. After analyzing the eucharistic options that various parishes have chosen through the pandemic, the author makes a persuasive case for the validity of an online real-time Eucharist with participant-provided bread and wine. Burridge argues that Christ manifests himself in every human sphere, including the digital, and that therefore worship in the digital sphere is appropriate when gathering physically as a church is not possible. This book challenges Christians and churches to be theologically and liturgically imaginative in order to recognize the generative power of the Spirit at work, recreating and perpetuating the church anew in all seasons, places, and circumstances—even a global pandemic. I am part of the eucharistic community worshipping via Zoom technology that Burridge has convened. This Zoom group has become a eucharistic house church, with participants from three continents. Christ is truly present, as he promised, where two or three are gathered online.”


—Mitzi J. Budde, deacon of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, head librarian and professor, Virginia Theological Seminary, Arthur Carl Lichtenberger Chair in Continuing Education and Theological Research, Alexandria, Virginia, USA





“Recognizing that the Holy Spirit of God is fruitfully active among people and communities across the world and across the churches as they face the implications for Christian worship and witness of the restrictions of the 2020–21 pandemic, Burridge offers a theological analysis that is detailed, perceptive, stretching, and highly readable. A marvelous achievement that testifies to the liberating energy of God’s grace for a church which is too often hidebound in a world crying out in its suffering and need.”


—Gordon Oliver, formerly director of ministry for Rochester Diocese, and author of Ministry without Madness





“This remarkable book meets the need for Christian thinking to come to terms urgently with the challenge of the digital revolution. In this carefully researched and original book of quite extraordinary scope, the author does not only show a convincing way through the problems of celebrating the eucharist online: he also brings to light the deepest meaning of the relation of God to a world that includes cyberspace.”


—Paul S. Fiddes, FBA, professor of systematic theology, University of Oxford, principal emeritus and senior research fellow, Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford





“There are few more qualified to tackle the tangled question of what communion is and does than the Reverend Canon Professor Richard Burridge. Holy Communion in Contagious Times brings to bear his prodigious gifts as a Bible scholar, as a priest, and as a person considering how the church balances isolation and spiritual need. This book will challenge and maybe even shift your thinking about the most sacred acts in our faith.”


—Greg Garrett, professor of English at Baylor University and canon theologian at the American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Paris