WHY RESTRICTED COMMUNION?

[This is an excerpt from an eBook by Welsh Tract Publications on the different views of the Lord's Supper- ed]

WHERE DID WELSH TRACT CHURCH STAND ON THE LORD’S SUPPER?

The Welsh Tract Baptist Church in Delaware, founded in 1701 by Welsh Particular Baptists who had emigrated from Wales, held firmly to a strict closed communion position — one of the earliest and clearest examples of this practice in colonial America.

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1. Strict Closed Communion

The Welsh Tract Church believed that the Lord’s Supper was to be observed only among the members of the same local church who had been baptized by immersion and held the same doctrinal views. This went beyond Restricted Communion (which allows members of like-faith churches to partake) and adhered to Strict or Local Church Communion.

They did not admit even members of other sound Baptist churches to their communion table.

This practice caused controversy even among other Baptists in the early 18th century, as many Baptist churches were more open to interchurch fellowship.

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2. Historical Testimony: Morgan Edwards

In his 18th-century writings, Morgan Edwards, an early Baptist historian, described their position this way:

“The Welsh Tract Church do not commune with other churches, nor receive members from them at the Lord’s Table, unless they join their particular fellowship.”

This means they required membership in their local body as a condition for communion, regardless of a visitor's baptism or doctrine.

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3. Conflict with the Philadelphia Association

• The Welsh Tract Church had a long-standing tension with the Philadelphia Association, which endorsed Restricted Communion (allowing members of like-faith Baptist churches to commune).
• Though the Welsh Tract Church was affiliated with the Association, they disagreed on the terms of communion, defending a stricter localism.

In their own records, they argued:

“The table of the Lord is not common; it is not the table of any man, but belongs to the house of God... not to be opened to all, but guarded according to gospel rule.”

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4. Doctrinal Roots in Wales

Their practice was inherited from Welsh Particular Baptist churches such as Ilston Church (from which many members emigrated). These churches were heavily influenced by the Calvinistic Separatist tradition, which emphasized:

• Strict church discipline
• Doctrinal purity
• Local church autonomy

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Summary

Aspect	Welsh Tract Church View
Type of Communion	Strict Closed Communion
Participants	Local church members only
Baptism required?	Yes, by immersion
Visitors allowed?	No, not even baptized visitors
Relationship to Association	Tense on this issue; remained affiliated
Doctrinal roots	Calvinistic Particular Baptists from Wales

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OLD SCHOOL BAPTIST VIEWS ON THE LORD’S SUPPER

The Old School Baptists (also called Primitive Baptists), who formally distinguished themselves in the 1830s from the rising missionary and “New School” movements, were unequivocal in their stance: they practiced Strict Closed Communion—not merely restricted, but local church-only communion, fenced and guarded with intentionality.

Here’s a detailed account of their position:

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1. Strict Closed Communion

Old School Baptists taught that only baptized members of the local church, in good standing and under the discipline of that body, may partake in the Lord’s Supper. They denied communion to:

• Members of other churches, even of like faith
• Those baptized by other modes or in other communions
• Paedobaptists and Protestants outside Baptist circles

This view was rooted in their understanding of church authority, regenerate membership, and the local visibility of the New Testament church.

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2. Key Statements from Old School Baptist Elders

Gilbert Beebe (editor of Signs of the Times)

“We believe that the communion of the Lord’s Supper is a church ordinance, and therefore it cannot be extended beyond the local church.”
— Signs of the Times, 1844

Beebe viewed open or even inter-church communion as an unscriptural breach of church discipline and order.

Samuel Trott

“It is not a communion of saints generally, but of the church as a visible body... The table is spread in the house, and not abroad in the street.”
— Trott’s Writings, “Communion and Church Order”

Trott argued that the Supper represents the unity of the local body, and should not be made into a generalized Christian ordinance.

Elder Wilson Thompson

“We invite no stranger to our communion. We have but one fellowship, one discipline, one body, and one table.”
— Autobiography of Elder Wilson Thompson, 1867

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3. Biblical Basis They Cited

Old School Baptists often referred to:

• Acts 2:41–42 – Baptism and church membership precede the breaking of bread.
• 1 Corinthians 11 – The Supper is addressed to a gathered body under discipline (“when ye come together”).
• Romans 16:17 – Mark and avoid those who cause divisions, implying doctrinal unity before table fellowship.

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4. Why Not “Restricted” or “Open” Communion?

• Restricted Communion (admitting baptized believers from other churches) was rejected because it undermined the local church’s authority to examine and discipline.
• Open Communion (admitting all professing Christians) was condemned as unscriptural sentimentality and confusion of the visible and invisible church.

Beebe: “To invite all Christians, regardless of baptism or doctrine, to the table, is to make the church invisible and unaccountable—a thing Christ never instituted.”

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[i] The Ilston Church (also spelled "Ilston" or sometimes “Elston”) was a Particular Baptist congregation in Wales, formed in 1649, and is notable as the first Baptist church in Wales organized along Calvinistic (Particular Baptist) lines. It became a foundational church in the history of Welsh and American Baptists, especially those who later founded the Welsh Tract Baptist Church in Delaware.

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1. Founding and Background

·        Founded: 1649, near Swansea in South Wales

·        Founder/Pastor: John Myles (1621–1683), a Puritan preacher who became a convinced Baptist and Calvinist

·        Theological Identity: Particular Baptist (holding to sovereign grace, believer’s baptism, and Calvinistic soteriology)

·        Confessional Basis: Closely aligned with the 1644 and 1677/1689 London Baptist Confessions

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2. Covenant and Church Order

The Ilston Church Book (a record preserved by John Myles) contains:

·        The church covenant

·        Member rolls

·        A record of discipline, ordination, and communion practices

·        Affirmations of strict church purity, regenerate membership, and closed communion

Their covenant included this type of language:

“We do solemnly covenant to walk together in the fear of God... observing all his holy ordinances and commandments... to keep ourselves from all defilements of flesh and spirit, and not to communicate in the ordinances of the Lord with any but such as are orderly members of a true gospel church.”

This reflects Strict Closed Communion.

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3. Emigration to America

In 1662, due to increasing persecution under the Act of Uniformity, John Myles and several church members emigrated to the American colonies, specifically to Rehoboth, Massachusetts, where they founded a Baptist church (though they eventually moved to Swansea, Massachusetts due to pressure from the Puritan establishment).

Later descendants of the Ilston tradition would immigrate to Delaware, where in 1701, they established the Welsh Tract Baptist Church—carrying over Ilston’s strict views on communion and church order.

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4. Communion Practice

·        The Ilston Church did not admit unbaptized persons to the Lord’s Supper.

·        They practiced fencing the table carefully, only allowing baptized believers who were in fellowship with the church.

·        Communion was seen as an act of church fellowship, not just personal devotion.

This practice shaped the Welsh Baptist tradition and was transplanted to early American Baptist churches.

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5. Legacy

·        The Ilston Church Book was brought to America and is preserved today in the Rare Books Division at Brown University.

·        Ilston’s strict ecclesiology influenced:

o   Welsh Tract Baptist Church (Delaware)

o   Philadelphia Baptist Association (through tension and dialogue)

o   Closed communion traditions in Baptist life, especially among Old School and Reformed Baptists

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Summary Table

Feature	Ilston Church (1649)
Founding	1649, near Swansea, Wales
Pastor	John Myles
Theology	Particular Baptist, Calvinistic
Communion	Strict Closed Communion
Influence	Welsh Tract Baptist Church (1701), early American Baptists
Document	Ilston Church Book (preserved at Brown Univ.)