Friends,

A monumental shift is about to occur in our worship on Sunday mornings. We are going back to the common cup!! Starting this Sunday, you will have the option to drink from the chalice if you feel so called. If you are really confused as to why I’m making a big deal out of this, let me give some context.

We believe that participation in Holy Eucharist is the primary form of worship every week, and it is not a private affair. Our worship is public and it is communal. Consuming the wine, either through drinking or intinction (dipping) from the common cup, is one of the ways in which we live into this belief. Even during the pandemic, Bishops made it clear that we could not use individual cups that are common in other Churches, because we did not want to give any ground from this outward and visible sign of our communal worship. During the Eucharistic Prayers the wine is blessed in one chalice and one flagon that is shared with everyone. We are one people with one salvation, so we eat the same bread and drink the same wine.

To understand this next part, it is important to point out that the Church has always acknowledged that there are good reasons to not drink the wine. As a people who have wine as a central part of their worship, our early Church leaders were highly skeptical of drunkenness, and in many areas where Christianity spread, wine was very hard to come by and was often prohibitively expensive. Whether the reason was noble, or just practical, a very old teaching of the Church is that receiving communion of “one kind” is equal and valid. Growing up in a conservative Roman Catholic Church, I was even told that the wine was very much optional. Christians don’t agree on much, but we’ve always seemed to be in the same boat that no one should lose sleep if they opt out of receiving the blessed wine during Holy Eucharist.

So, during the pandemic, the overwhelming teaching in the Church was to hold off on the wine for the foreseeable future. We were not going to use the individually wrapped communion cups, we’ve been telling people who don’t drink that just the bread is just as good for centuries, so we just offered the bread to the people. At St. Luke’s, our associate priest made a box on the end of a pole to give people their bread through their car windows. We were determined to make communion available and safe, and for just that season that meant leaving out the wine.

Then two years ago we opened up! We still had to wear masks, but we were together and things were starting to ease up. At this time, we started the practice of the priest or the Eucharistic Minister dipping the bread for all of those who desired it. In the midst of this transition, we got a new bishop, a bunch of life happened, and somewhere in the mix the Bishop sent out instructions that we had to offer the common cup again, though the congregation was not allowed to dip their own bread. To be honest, I missed this or maybe subconsciously chose not to see it because I couldn’t emotionally deal with yet another paradigm shift. Now that the Bishop is coming on March 30th, we are going to hunker down and get used to our new way of doing things!

Let’s go over things bit by bit. First of all, I am relieved that everyone can’t dip their own bread. Anyone who has ever held the chalice for people can attest that fingers often get dipped in addition to the bread, and it is super gross. Many may question whether or not drinking from the common cup is hygienic either. There is a study that shows it is way more hygienic than dipping probably due to the anti-microbial properties of the silver of the chalice and the alcohol in the wine. With that being said, I doubt finding that study and showing it to you will convince anyone, and as always, you will have a choice and it will be expected.

Option A: Like always you may come to the altar rail as normal to receive the bread. If you would like to drink from the chalice, consume the bread and drink from the chalice at the rail if you are at 8:00. If you are at the 10:00 am service, consume the bread, and go to the common station to the side to drink from the chalice.

Option B: Like always you may come to the altar rail as normal to receive the bread. If you would like your bread to be dipped just like how we’ve been doing it for the last two years, simply say “dip” or point to the chalice, and the paten bearer will dip the bread for you before giving it to you.

Option C: Like always you may come to the altar rail as normal to receive the bread. If you prefer not to receive the wine at all, that is fine! Simply consume the bread, and go back to your seat.

Option D: If it would be best for you to not receive Holy Eucharist you can skip the rail all together and receive a blessing by me or another clergy person at the side. We are also available for special prayers.

If you are confused, then you are just going to have to trust me that it’s not going to be that hard. Regardless of what you do in Church, you’ll be fine if you do it slowly and pretend like you know what you are doing. Receiving the blessing bread and wine from Holy Eucharist is the holiest moment of our week. We want it to be safe, but we also want it to be communal, meaningful and available. I have every expectation that we are going to have to fine tune our new rhythm, and regardless of how we tweak things in the near future, I hope you can come and just be.

Blessings,

Nick