The House of Bishops of the Church of England has dismissed the idea that lay people can preside at Holy Communion.

In a report just published, entitled, Eucharistic Presidency, the bishops affirm the distinctive ministry of the ordained. This report is put forward for study and reflection and will be debated at the forthcoming General Synod of the Church on 13 July. The report is the Bishops' response to a request made by the General Synod in 1994 for a statement about the theology of the Eucharist and the respective roles of the clergy and the laity within it.

The bishops state that there is an "essential link", between leadership in the community, for which a bishop or priest has been chosen, and presiding at the Eucharist. The report concludes that there are strong theological arguments for sustaining the inherited tradition that the person who presides at the Eucharist needs to be an episcopally ordained priest.