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Age?
There is no minimal age for Communion. Communion is the community meal - in which Christ is sacramentally present with the community. Since one enters the community at baptism, every baptized member is invited. No member of the community is to be excluded. The idea that one should be excluded from baptism "until one is old enough to fully understand" fails on several levels: First, no one fully understands at any age. Second, communion isn't about "understanding" but about Christ's welcoming of us all into His community. Third, the exclusion of anyone who is baptized creates false impressions, eg., that some are not welcome, that others are more worthy, that infants and children are not fully members of the Kingdom or the Church, etc.
Altar rail?
In ancient times chancels (lattice barriers or fences) were erected in official building to keep animals away from the area of official business. Altar rails were first used in England during the reign of Elizabeth I, to protect the Communion Table against desecration by animals. William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, directed the Table to be fenced with a lattice, as Bishop Wren of Norwich noted that were "so thick with pillars that doggs may not gett in." By the 18th century, animals no longer commonly wander in public buildings. The fences having lost their function, came to be used as communion rails at a time when the Eucharist infrequent. Current liturgical usage has emphasized the shared participation of celebrant and people in the Eucharist, so tends to remove barriers between the Table and the congregation. Standing to receive the sacrament is returning with increasing frequency, and altar rails have been removed from some churches. Altar rails may become obsolete as standing to receive communion becomes more widespread. Post-Vatican II Roman Catholicism strongly discourages them.
Common Cup?
A strong symbol of fellowship: we share the same cup with one another and with our Lord. Concerns about health risks have prompted numerous studies that have found, whereas the common cup is not risk free, there is no greater incidence of health issues among those who share the common cup and those who don't. Shaking hands has been shown to be far more risky, and does carry a greater incidence of health issues among those who do so.
Intinction?
Intinction refers to the priest dipping the bread into the cup to offer bread and wine simultaneously to the communicant without assistance from lay Eucharistic ministers. A second purpose was to prevent superstitious hoarding of the host as a talisman against bad luck or evil. In the Eastern church the priest administers it with a spoon. "Self-intinction" is discouraged as it diminishes the symbolism of the Lord's supper, and is known to be less sanitary than a shared cup wiped by purificator. "Self-intinction" is actually counter-productive and inhospitable to those who follow Where there is a concern of health risk, individual cups or abstention are preferred over "self-intinction."
Kneeling or Standing?
Standing symbolizes our having been raised with Christ and was the normal posture for receiving communion until the 13th century, when kneeling to receive the sacrament became customary. English clergy continued to move among the people to administer the sacraments until the 18th century, when altar rails came to be used as communion rails. While standing is preferred, kneeling is permitted for those who feel that kneeling better expresses their emotions and devotion.
Lay Eucharistic Ministers?
All Christians are called to ministry - to serving Christ by serving others. Scripture and Tradition tell us there are varieties of ministries, and that not everybody does the same thing. While all Christians are called, authorized and gifted, some are gifted for one sort of ministry, and others are gifted for another. Also, there is an orderly distribution of ministries throughout the Church. Some ministries are more appropriate for laity and some for clergy. In Sacramental ministry, priests are called "ordinary" ministers, and laity are "extraordinary." Thus, at communion, were there sufficient number of priests and deacons for the orderly and timely distribution of the bread and wine, there would be no lay Eucharistic ministers. However, there are usually an insufficient number of clergy present. Thus the orderly and timely distribution of the bread and wine depends either on intinction or on the laity. (At St Marks we prefer the latter.)
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Leavened or Unleavened Bread
(Passover or Fellowship Meal)?
After several centuries, an assumption arose in the Roman Church that the Lord's Supper was the Passover Sedar meal. This led to the change from leavened bread to unleavened in the West. However, attention to detail in the Gospels shows that Passover began at sundown following the crucifixion of Jesus (note: the Lamb of God was slaughtered on Golgatha while the Passover lambs were being slaughtered in the Temple). Jesus and his disciples had gathered together in Jerusalem on the eve of Passover week to celebrate Passover week together. On eve of Passover week they ate their weekly fellowship ("communion") meal of bread and wine - what turned out to be their LAST supper. Had that meal been the Sedar, the early Church would have celebrated it annually, with lamb and unleavened bread. But because it was the weekly fellowship meal, the early Church continued weekly, with normal bread and wine.
Real Presence or Memorial?
The Roman medieval church became concerned with defining in what way Christ was present with us in the Eucharist. The Roman doctrine "transubstantiation" is highly nuanced, based on Aristotilean philosophy, and misunderstood by most. While rejecting "transubstantiation," the Reformers continued to hold that Christ is truly present with us in communion. In contrast, Zwingli argued that rather than being truly present with us in the Eucharist, Christ is but memorialized, a view considered heretical by most Reformers, but typical of many modern Protestants. The Anglican church never defined "Real Presence," but together with Luther and Calvin, held that Christ was truly present whenever "we faithfully receive this Holy Sacrament."
Red or White Wine?
Altar guilds often prefer white wine to avoid unsightly stains from spills on the fair linen, corporal and purificator. Some communicants may prefer for the same reason. However, most people feel that something is lost when that which symbolizes the blood of Christ is white rather than red.
Stations?
When possible, it is preferred for a congregation to gather literally around the Table, as close as possible. (In small gatherings, that would be inside an altar rail if such a rail exists.) In very large gatherings, stations may be conveniently established for the orderly and timely distribution of communion. Remember that it was the norm in Anglican churches for the Eucharistic ministers to move among the people until people began to use altar rails as communion rails in the 18th century.
Touching the Sacrament?
By all means! Take the bread in your hand and guide the cup! To avoid touching the cup may make sense if you have just come from working in the field without opportunity to wash your hands. It would have been more hospitable to those who follow you if only your clean lips had touched the cup. But to avoid touching the cup does not show respect to God or the sacrament, but a misunderstanding or disregard for the intent of communion. This sacrament is about God's gracious acceptance, presence and close intimacy with us. To avoid touching the bread or cup negates the meaning of communion exactly the same way that to avoid touching another person negates the meaning of an embrace.
Wafers or Bread?
Wafers provide a convenient way to store and carry bread to the sick. They are more convenient in a setting in which the priest intends to intinct. Because individual wafers fail to symbolize "one bread, one body," they are a poor substitute for a loaf that is broken and shared by the community. Because they are not typical bread, they tend to confuse understanding of "sacrament."
But what does it mean?
We are invited by God to a great, festive banquet in celebration of his accomplished salvation. We are not saved by the eating and drinking of bread and wine. Rather the Kingdom of God is imagined in Christianity as a festive banquet at which no one goes hungry, no one is excluded, and no one is alone. We are together, with one another and with God. Communion is about community: the community of God, in communion with God and with one another. Communion is the great "love feast" of the Fellowship of God. It is all about our redemption and reconciliation, captured by the motto: "All for one, and one for all!"
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