Communion token

[1] Communion tokens were first suggested in 1560 by John Calvin and Pierre Viret in Geneva, and although the city council rejected the practice, the following year their idea was implemented in Nîmes and Le Mans.

Tokens were also issued by Presbyterian churches in Corfu, Florence, Hartslog, Madeira, Port Louis, Bombay, Cochin, Berbice, Demerara and Kingston, Jamaica.

[7] The issuing of these tokens is dependent on the practice of closed communion, in which only members of the church are allowed to participate.

Raymond Mentzer says that "to avoid profanation of the Eucharist, the elders in the role as moral watchdogs distributed these entry counters to those members of the faithful whom they deemed qualified by virtue of correct belief and proper conduct.

The Glens of Antrim Historical Society notes that "from the end of the nineteenth century metal tokens were gradually replaced by communion cards and rules regarding admission to the Lord’s Table were eased, allowing visitors who were members of other denominations, on profession of their faith to communicate.