Communion without the cup

During the week the Archbishops issued instructions to suspend the chalice. (So no drinking wine at Holy Communion.) The Times thinks this is unprecedented. It is not. It is historical, and first occurred during the Black Death 1348 to 1350, which killed at least 30% of the European population. Swine flu does not look like it will be that bad. The same thing occurred in the 1980's when the fear of Aids was at its peak.

Sharing food from the same vessel is one of the things our government recommends that you DON'T do.

One thing that is new is the addition of alcohol gel to the ceremony. This is odd, as so far as I can tell alcohol does not kill viruses (hence suspension of the chalice).

There is also the sharing of the peace. Hands are generally thought to be more contaminated than lips, so the peace ought to be stopped as well. It has not yet come to that, but we did offer soap and water for people to wash after the peace and before receiving the bread. That at least was logical, although I don't think anyone took up the offer.

It makes the ceremony very strange, there is the wine on the table and in the words spoken by the president and the people but it is not moved. We use real bread, so the option of dipping by the server is even less practical than if we had wafers.

It was a strange experience, but one that I suppose I will have to get used to.

Should we ignore the prevailing health threat? - No, clearly that would not be sensible. God has not promised to protect us from such things - we live in the world and are vulnerable. If you do succumb there may of course be healing available - maybe. So we have to respond - but we should respond reasonably and logically. I do not see the current response as either - more thought and explanation is required.

I have been thinking about this on and off since Saturday when the problem first arose (for me). It seems to be that we should act in the best interest of others - especially our brothers and sisters in Christ - so that anything we can reasonably do to protect them should be done.

Look on the loss of the cup as an act of love, at least that way it is a positive thing, rather than an imposition.