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The altar rail (also known as a communion rail or chancel rail) is a low barrier, sometimes ornate and usually made of stone, wood or metal in some combination, delimiting the chancel or the sanctuary and altar in a church, from the nave and other parts that contain the congregation. Often, a central gate or gap divides the line into two parts. Chancel rails are a very common, but not universal, feature of Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, and Methodist churches. They are usually about high, with a padded step at the bottom, and designed so that the wider top of the rail can support the forearms or elbows of a kneeling person.
The altar rail is a modest substitute for earlier barriers demarcating the chancel, the area containing the altar, which was reserved, with greatly varying degrees of strictness, for officiating clergy, including boys as choristers and altar servers. Although it only emerged after the Protestant Reformation, it has been found convenient by both Roman Catholic and more traditional Protestant churches, such as the Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist churches. After the Second Vatican Council, a number of Roman Catholic churches removed their chancel rails, which fell into disuse; on the other hand, Lutheran churches continue to retain many features of medieval church architecture and normatively have chancel rails at which communicants receive the Eucharist. (2004). 9780195154665, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195154665
For those chancels 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.
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, Online text 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";Sale, Richard, Copenhagen and Denmark, Globetrotter : Guide and Map Series, 2007, New Holland Publishers, , 9781845376345 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",Seasoltz, R. Kevin, The House of God: Sacred Art and Church Architecture, p. 197, 1963, Herder and Herder 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.Cox, 249-255 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". passage quoted in the notes 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.Spurr, 78-79
In many of the parishes of the , the use of altar rails have remained more common. 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.
Chancel rails are found in a number of Methodist churches and in addition to Holy Communion, they are used for worshippers to seek the New Birth and Entire Sanctifiction.
Some Catholics and many architects and planners criticised some removals, often on liturgical, historical and aesthetic grounds. While in some states, the Roman Catholic Church has adopted a minimalist approach towards the removal of altar rails; in other countries, for example in Ireland, almost every re-ordering eliminated altar rails. Many Catholics resisted the changes: some took legal action to try to prevent the removal of altar rails and of other traditional features in pre-Vatican II sanctuaries.
Not all Catholics supported the changes to sanctuaries. Some disputed the belief that the altar rails were a barrier, claiming that many churches were able to allow full participation by the laity in the Ordinary form without removing altar rails. In recent times, a number of restorations of historic churches have re-introduced altar rails, since the idea that Vatican II required their removal is a misconception.
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal states that the sanctuary "should be appropriately marked off from the body of the church either by its being somewhat elevated or by a particular structure and ornamentation". General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 295
Some people who have already had the New Birth go to the chancel rails to receive entire sanctification. Others go there repent of their sins, as well as Christian prayer. During this time, a Methodist minister attends to each person at the chancel rail, offering spiritual counsel.
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