22 May 2026

Whereas bread and wine are the primary symbols in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the secondary symbol is the Table. In the First Book of Discipline, it’s clear that the Reformers wanted to recover the simplicity of sharing a meal together albeit a last supper.

‘Plaine it is, that at supper Christ Jesus sate with his Disciples.’ they wrote. ‘And therefore do we judge that sitting at a table is most convenient to that holy action; that bread and wine ought to be there; that thankes ought to be given; distribution of the same made.’

One of the most striking features of our celebration of the Sacrament is the invitation we extend to ‘all who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ’ to come and share the feast. Whereas we see our unity stemming from the love of God in Christ and celebrated primarily in the Sacrament, others see the Sacrament as the final celebration of that unity.

Today it is a symbol of disunity – but it needn’t be as Queen Victoria found out. In an essay on the Sacrament at Crathie Kirk, Owen Chadwick discusses the controversy which arose in 1871 when the Queen wanted to partake of the Sacrament with her loyal Presbyterian subjects on the kirk.

She sought out the advice of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Archie Tait, a Scotsman,  counselled caution but went on to declare his desire for intercommunion with the Church of Scotland. Arguments centred around the Queen’s membership of the Church of England, the validity of Scottish orders and the fear of disestablishment.

In November 1871, she decided not to partake but observed the Sacrament from the gallery. ‘It would be impossible to say how deeply we were impressed by the grand simplicity of the service.’ she wrote. ’It was most touching and I longed to join in it.

To see all these simple good people in their nice plain dresses (including an old woman in her mutch) so many of whom I knew and some of whom had walked far old as they were, in the deep snow, was very striking.’ Her longing to participate wasn’t fulfilled for another two years.

In 1873, the Queen received the bread and the wine in Crathie Kirk. And her motive? She wanted to nourish her soul and to receive the Sacrament with her own people. Interestingly enough, others didn’t see it that way and the Queen suffered abuse through the Royal Mail!