08/19/2026
I don’t use the term often, sometimes for some specific Eucharistic services, but this explains it well.
MASS OR HOLY COMMUNION: CAN AN ANGLICAN REALLY CALL IT “MASS”?
Suppose an Anglican parish announces: “SUNDAY MASS, 9:00 A.M.”
Would that sound strange to you? Would you immediately say, “Mass is Roman Catholic. Anglicans celebrate Holy Communion”?
But here is the question: Are Mass and Holy Communion actually two different services?
No. Mass, Holy Communion, the Eucharist and the Lord’s Supper are different historic names for the same central act of Christian worship. The Anglican Church itself has used different names at different periods of its history. So calling the Eucharist “Mass” does not suddenly make an Anglican Roman Catholic.
But where did the word Mass come from?
Jesus did not use the word Mass at the Last Supper. The New Testament gives us expressions such as the Lord’s Supper, the breaking of bread and communion. The word Eucharist comes from the Greek word for thanksgiving. The word Mass came later from the Latin-speaking Western Church.
At the conclusion of the ancient Western Eucharistic liturgy came the dismissal: "Ite, missa est."
In other words, Go. You are dismissed. You are sent forth.
Eventually, the Latin word missa, connected with that dismissal, became a name for the whole Eucharistic service. From missa we received the English word Mass.
And there is beautiful theology in that.
At Mass, we do not simply gather in church and remain there spiritually. We gather around the Word and the Table, receive grace, receive Christ, and then we are sent back into the world. We are sent into our homes, workplaces, schools, businesses and communities to shine the light of Christ.
That is the movement of the Eucharist: WE GATHER. WE RECEIVE. WE ARE SENT. The service ends, but our Christian mission continues.
So, is the word Mass foreign to Anglicanism?
Absolutely not.
Open the first Book of Common Prayer of 1549, and look at the title of the Communion service. It reads: “THE SUPPER OF THE LORDE AND THE HOLY COMMUNION, COMMONLY CALLED THE MASSE.”
Yes, you read that correctly. The first Anglican Prayer Book openly called Holy Communion “the Mass.”
This means an Anglican who uses the word Mass is not importing a modern Roman Catholic expression into Anglican worship. The word appears in the very first Book of Common Prayer.
What changed? When Archbishop Thomas Cranmer revised the Prayer Book in 1552, the title became: “The Order for the Administration of the Lord’s Supper, or Holy Communion.”
The word Mass disappeared from the title. As the English Reformation developed, Anglican reformers became concerned about certain doctrines and practices that had become associated with medieval Masses, particularly the idea condemned in Article ###I of the Thirty-Nine Articles concerning “the sacrifices of Masses.”
But notice carefully what the Article rejects. It does not say: “The word Mass is sinful.” It rejects a particular understanding of the Eucharistic sacrifice.
That distinction is important. Otherwise, we would have to explain why the 1549 Book of Common Prayer itself used the word Mass.
So what should Anglicans call the service today? Any of these can be perfectly legitimate:
THE LORD’S SUPPER reminds us of the Upper Room and Christ’s command, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
HOLY COMMUNION reminds us that we participate in Christ and are united with His Body, the Church.
EUCHARIST means thanksgiving and reminds us that thanksgiving lies at the heart of Christian worship.
MASS connects us with the historic language of Western Christianity and reminds us that after gathering around Christ, we are sent forth to serve Him in the world.
They are not four different sacraments. They are four historic ways of speaking about the same Eucharistic celebration, each highlighting something important.
And this is why saying “Mass” does not make an Anglican Roman Catholic, just as saying “Eucharist” does not make an Anglican Eastern Orthodox, and saying “Lord’s Supper” does not make an Anglican Presbyterian or protestant.
Our Christian vocabulary is much older than many of our denominational arguments. Perhaps, then, the real question is not simply: “Do you call it Mass or Holy Communion?”
The deeper question is: After receiving Holy Communion, have you actually allowed yourself to be sent?
We receive Christ and are sent to represent Christ. We hear the Gospel and are sent to live the Gospel. We receive mercy and are sent to show mercy. We receive peace and are sent to become peacemakers.
The Church gathers, the Church receives, and the Church goes.
So yes, an Anglican can call it MASS. He can also call it HOLY COMMUNION, THE EUCHARIST or THE LORD’S SUPPER.
And Anglican history itself gives us perhaps the simplest answer: “The Supper of the Lord and the Holy Communion, commonly called the Mass.”
Now let me hear from you: What do you normally call it in your church: MASS, HOLY COMMUNION, EUCHARIST, or LORD’S SUPPER?
And if your Anglican parish announced: “SUNDAY MASS, 9:00 A.M", would you be comfortable with it?
Let’s keep learning Anglicanism.
