July 19, 2023
Beloved in Christ:
Last week I wrote a note about the transition period that Calvary will undertake beginning on August 5, as we move back to sharing the Common Cup in the Holy Eucharist, and begin letting go of the compostable cups we have used since we re-gathered to worship in community towards the end of the height of the Covid pandemic. I have received some good questions. I will answer what I can here.
- There will be two stations to take communion, one with the Common Cup and one for the individual cups. Will there be bread and gluten free bread at both stations? Yes, there will be bread and wine at both stations.
- Before Covid, I was comfortable intincting the wafer into the wine (dipping the wafer into the wine). That seemed to be a pretty common way to have the wine and not use the Common Cup. Why are we discouraged from doing that now? The scientific community continues to learn and educate us in becoming safer in our public health practices. When we intinct, many of us, without meaning to, inevitably dip our fingers into the wine. We know that this deposits germs from our hands into the wine, thus sharing whatever we have on our fingers into the Common Cup. We don’t catch viruses like Covid from sipping from a Common Cup. However, since we carry so many germs on our hands, there are other uncomfortable things we can give one another through intinction.
- I get that about intinction, but I’m not ready yet to give that practice up. I really want to keep doing that. We can find an answer to this! If you want to continue to intinct, we will offer a practice that other faith communities did during the pandemic. The Celebrant will take the wafer from you when you let her know of your intention, and will intinct the wafer for you and give it back to you. While not a 100% perfect practice, this ensures that the Celebrant is being extremely careful not to touch the wine with her hands. She will have washed her hands before the service and used an antibacterial gel immediately before offering Communion.
- I need more time to pray and process this transition. I’m not sure I’m ready to return to the Common Cup. What are my options? As always, taking Holy Communion in “one kind” (bread only, wine only) is a perfectly good way to participate fully in the benefits of Holy Communion. So please feel free to take the bread only. If you cross your arms over your chest when the wine comes to you, the Eucharistic Minister will say the words applicable to the wine (The Blood of Christ, the Cup of Salvation) but you do not need to sip the wine.
- This is a much harder transition than I anticipated. I’m a little surprised at the anxiety this raises in me. I get that. It’s been a very tough few years, and we have all been at the mercy of change and rules that are outside of our control. Please let the anxiety become known to you – give yourself time. Check out how you feel. Do your research and keep asking questions. We are resilient, faithful people. In due time, we will worship together in the right way for us at Calvary, a beloved community of God and of one another.
- Any other advice? I have talked with some Infectious Diseases folks at the Mayo Clinic. While I didn’t ask them if they would speak on the record, they unanimously agreed that using the Common Cup was the right thing to do. Just don’t cough in someone’s face, don’t shake hands if you have been sick, wash your hands (remember how long?) and use Purell or something similar. We are all in this together.
In peace and gratitude; keep the questions coming!
Beth+
