Is it okay for me to partake of the holy Communion on my own at home, rather than in a church where an ordained pastor or church leader ministers it to me?

Many people fear partaking of the holy Communion on their own at home because they have been taught, or they assume after having partaken of the Communion in church, that only a qualified pastor can minister the elements and this should be done in a church. They may even have been taught that to do it on their own is to invite punishment from God.

Nowhere in Scripture do you find these conditions and prohibitions.

What you do find is that on the night Jesus instituted the holy Communion, He said directly to His beloved disciples, “Do this often in remembrance of Me” (1 Cor. 11:24–25). And He didn’t add, “But make sure you get a qualified pastor to do it for you, and do it in a church.” If Jesus didn’t give these conditions, why would we want to add to His words?

If you are still concerned about not being “qualified,” then let me show you just how perfectly qualified you are—not through anything you have done but through what the Lord Jesus has done for you.

The Bible says that Jesus “loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father” (Rev. 1:5–6; 5:10). Christ has made you not just a king but also a priest.

Beloved, you are a priest to God, fully qualified by the Lord Jesus, who has washed from you all your sins with His own blood. If Jesus Himself has qualified you to be a priest to God, surely you have the blood-bought right to partake of the Communion on your own.

You are also a priest to your family, to your children. You have the God-given anointing and authority to pray for them, to bring them up in the ways of God (Prov. 22:6), and also to minister the holy Communion to them. Jesus paid a heavy price for you to have this position of authority and influence, so never apologize for it or take it lightly.

What about partaking of the meal in the comfort of your own home?

Scripture tells us the early church “met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity” (Acts 2:46 NLT). They partook of the Communion in their own homes. If you think about it, how else were they going to partake often as instructed by the Lord?

Today, many churches have Communion only once or twice a month or on special occasions like Good Friday. But how can you partake often if you are to partake only at those times and in a church? Of course, you can invite your pastor over to minister to you the Communion, especially if you are too sick to travel to church. However, if you want to partake of the Communion, say two or three times a day when you take your medication, can you see how impractical it would be if your pastor or church leader needed to be there each time to minister it to you?

My friend, our God is a loving and practical God, and if He invites you to His table, He doesn’t place obstacles in your way. His table of grace is not encumbered with restrictions. Christ has qualified you to partake on your own, and it is not so much where you partake of the Communion as it is with whom you partake.

The Lord’s Supper is a special meal in which you have intimate communion with your Savior, remembering with thankfulness all He has done for you. And you can certainly do that not just in church on Sundays but also at home, in your hotel room, or even in your hospital room, any time of the day, any day of the week.

Adapted from

Joseph Prince, Eat Your Way to Life and Health—Unlock the Power of the Holy Communion (Nashville: Emanate Books, 2019), pp184–186.