In this guest post, the Revd Professor Andrew Atherstone, a member of the General Synod’s House of Clergy, reviews the origins of Canon B17 and summarises the Convocation debates of the 1940s and 1950s which led to its current framing’; he concludes by proposing that Synod should look again at this question for the changed world of the 2020s.

The Church of England’s General Synod in February 2025 generated media headlines for many reasons. Perhaps the least expected was a sudden furore concerning gluten-free bread and alcohol-free wine at Holy Communion. In response to a question from Canon Alice Kemp, General Synod was instructed that wheat and alcohol are essential components of Holy Communion, as confirmed by an opinion from the Legal Advisory Commission.[1] This news shocked many parishes across the Church of England which routinely make provision for communicants with gluten or alcohol intolerances.

The apparent ‘ban’ was picked up by national newspapers from The Guardian and The Independent to The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail. Even The Sun covered the story. Trying to avert another PR disaster, the Church of England quickly issued a clarification – what it meant to say was that ‘gluten-free’ bread and ‘alcohol-free’ wine are permitted, provided they contain ‘tiny traces’ of wheat and alcohol. In other words, canonically speaking, the wheat and alcohol content may be substantially reduced but not entirely removed.[2] Continue reading →