Editing Altar rail (section)

==History==
[[File:Corby Glen St John's - communion rail.jpg|thumb|English 17th-century wooden rails at St John's Church, [[Corby Glen]]]]

Barriers of various kinds often mark off as especially sacred the area of a church close to the altar, which is largely reserved for ordained clergy. The [[Temple in Jerusalem]] contained a barrier of this kind, which separated the Courtyard of the Israelites from the Courtyard of the Priests.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Scott |title=The Jewish Roots of the Altar Rail: The Origins of the Altar Rail in the Temple of Jerusalem |url=https://www.thescottsmithblog.com/2022/06/the-jewish-roots-of-altar-rail-origins.html |website=All Roads Lead to Rome |access-date=2 July 2022}}</ref> The [[templon]] was typical for the Late Antique period. In the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]], curtains are still drawn to cut off that area during the holiest moments of the liturgy. In [[Eastern Orthodox]] and related rites, this evolved into a solid, [[icon]]-clad screen, called the [[iconostasis]], that has three doorways which usually have doors and curtains that can be closed or drawn aside at various times.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Clayton |first1=David |title=Iconostasis, Rood Screen, Communion Rail...or Shag-Pile Carpeted Step? |url=https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2016/10/iconostasis-rood-screen-communion.html#.YsB1EnbMI54 |website=New Liturgical Movement |access-date=2 July 2022}}</ref>

Barriers demarcating the chancel, such as the [[rood screen]], became increasing elaborate. They were largely swept away after both the [[Protestant Reformation]] and then the [[Counter-Reformation]] prioritized the congregation having a good view of what was happening in the chancel. Now the low communion rail is generally the only barrier. Despite being essentially a [[Counter-Reformation]] invention, this has proved useful and accepted in the Protestant churches that dispense communion. The screen enjoyed a small revival in the 19th century, after the passionate urgings of [[Augustus Pugin]], who wrote ''A Treatise on Chancel Screens and Rood Lofts'',<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=qQSbbP1st6MC&pg=PR11 Online text]</ref> and others.

There were medieval structures like communion rails, but the various types of screen were much more common. A church in [[Hasle, Bornholm]] claims to have "a rare 15th-century altar rail";<ref>Sale, Richard, ''Copenhagen and Denmark'', Globetrotter : Guide and Map Series, 2007, New Holland Publishers, {{ISBN|184537634X}}, 9781845376345</ref> perhaps, like other examples, this is in fact a sawn-off medieval screen. The origin of the modern form has been described by one historian as "nebulous",<ref>Seasoltz, R. Kevin, ''The House of God: Sacred Art and Church Architecture'', p. 197, 1963, Herder and Herder</ref> but it probably emerged from Italy in the 16th century. The German Lutherans and the [[Church of England]] were not far behind in adopting it, perhaps without being aware of the Italian versions. In England the rail became one of the focuses of tussles between the [[High Church]] and [[Low Church]] factions, and in many churches they were added, removed and re-added at different times.

[[Archbishop Laud]] was a strong supporter of rails, but the common story that he introduced them to England is incorrect; he was trying to prevent [[Puritan]] clergy from continuing to remove them, and his pressure in favour of rails was bound up with his very controversial "altar policy", reasserting the placement of the altar in its medieval position.<ref>Cox, 249-255</ref> [[Matthew Wren]], Laudian [[Bishop of Ely]], was imprisoned during the whole of the [[English Commonwealth]]. Wren defended himself against charges of enforcing altar rails, which he pointed out had been found in many English churches "time out of mind".<ref>[https://archive.org/details/architecturalhi03willgoog/page/n138 <!-- pg=104 --> passage quoted in the notes]</ref> 

In both Catholic churches and Anglican ones following Laudian instructions, the congregation was now asked to come up to the rails and receive communion kneeling at them, replacing a variety of earlier habits. This too was controversial in England, and the Laudian party did not push too hard for this in many dioceses.<ref>Spurr, 78-79</ref>

In many of the parishes of the [[Lutheran Church]]es and the [[Methodist Church]]es, the use of altar rails have remained more common.<ref>{{cite web|title=His presence makes the feast|url=http://www.methodist.org.uk/downloads/conf-holy-communion-in-methodist-church-2003.pdf|website=methodist.org.uk|publisher=British Methodist Conference|access-date=18 January 2017|date=2003}}</ref> There is typically no specific regulation concerning their presence or use, although they remain a common feature even in newly constructed churches. Their continued popularity results from a preference on the part of many to assume a posture of kneeling to receive the [[Eucharist]]. For those sanctuaries without an altar rail, in some cases a portable rail with attached [[kneeler]] is used for those who wish to kneel to receive the Eucharist.