>> How far back do you want to go with "innovation"? So much has been added to the Last Supper. The early church would gather, hear a word (They didn't have holy Canon, or a priest, so who knows what they talked about?)
O yes they did! Perhaps your bible leaves certain terms untranslated (Presbyter is where we get the word for priest.).
Where did you get these presumptions? Read the Didache ("[the writing of] the twelve"). Written in the first century (some insist by the apostles themselves), it describes how to conduct a Eucharistic service. It was probably left out of the canon, because it addressed not doctrine, but practice. It is *not* one of those new-agey gnostic "gospels," or pseudoepigraphia. Paul cites it in a couple of his letters.; and the Church fathers quoted it often.
It was probably left out of the canon, because it addressed not doctrine, but practice. Hmmmm...so...practice is not considered a part of doctrine? That's a good thing! No argument from me! We'll all be judged by our deeds and not our doctrine, anyway. May God have mercy on me.
You know, my point is this. The Church is in deep crisis. Its leadership bears the brunt of the responsibilty for the crisis. So, they issue instructions to the leadership about "zero tolerance" of sexual crimes, only after a huge public outcry. They're embarrassed. Now they want to move on.
So, their most recent response has been to make the sheep shape up---to suppress any natural urges towards enthusiasm or delight or beauty, because it's, well, messy. "Yep. Looky here. Our historical practice says you sheep need to get back to being reverent and restrained!"
Beating the sheep is an old ploy to keep the focus off of the shepherds.