Does anyone have any idea how the ministers would have been arranged at Holy Communion when there were three of them? For most of the classical Anglican period, when the priest celebrated alone he would have stood at the north end of the Table, and from what I’m aware if there was a second minister he would have stood at the south end, facing the priest. According to the 24th Canon of 1604, however, when Holy Communion was celebrated in Cathedrals there would have been three ministers: the principal Minister, Gospeller and Epistler. If the altar was against the east wall of the chancel and the ministers didn’t adopt the eastward position, which I assume they would not have done between 1552 and the Oxford Movement, where would the third have stood if you already had one at the north and one at the south?
I can't imagine the gospeller and the epistler being any different than in a modern anglican church, namely, sitting in the quire and standing to read the gospel or the epistle. Nor do I know if they possessed any ministerial authority. In the chancel and by the altar the minister would be by himself. On eastward orientation flipping through the new Anthony Sparrow book uploaded recently,there are some interesting points on the eastward orientation of the priest.
I have asked this question under a couple of assumptions, not all of which may be correct. I’ve assumed that during a north-side celebration of Holy Communion with two ministers there would have been one at either end of the Table throughout the service (or at least for more of it than just for the readings) based on pictures like the following which show a book (I assume a Prayer Book) at both the north and south ends, though I admit I’ve never actually witnessed a north-side celebration myself. I’ve also heard this setup likened to the two cherubim at the mercy seat. I’ve never witnessed a Eucharist where the priest has adopted the eastward position either, however based on the practice I’ve seen most often where the priest and two other ministers stand on the east side of the altar facing the congregation, I assumed that on occasions when the eastward position was used it would have been the same, just flipped around 180°. Also, I’ve seen snippets of footage from Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation service and from what I was able to make of them they seemed to show the Archbishop of Canterbury standing before the middle of the altar and facing east, with a bishop on either side of him. The one on the right turned to face west to read the Epistle, and the one on the left turned to face west to read the Gospel. It’s this sort of thing that having the altar against the east wall of the chancel but not taking the eastward position doesn’t seem to allow for. It’s interesting that Anthony Sparrow speaks, it would appear, of facing east during Morning and Evening Prayer, as this is something else I’ve never seen before. At Mattins and Evensong I’ve only ever seen the Minster, standing in the quire, turn east (with everyone else) for the Apostles’ Creed while facing the opposite quire stall (i.e. facing either north or south) for the rest of the service.