Countrymouse
Country exile in the city
I don't know how many of you have thought of this, but today my adult son and i are out of town where he'll be participating in an organ scholarship competition tomorrow. Since the church where he'll be playing is Episcopal, we got here in time to attend the services.
I grew up Methodist, (but a very evangelical Methodist church---a friend of mine who visited once said it was "the most Baptist Methodist church I've ever seen"), but had also visited / attended Baptist and Presbyterian churches, and of late have visited Episcopal, Anglican, and Catholic as well. Of course, Methodist ritual comes down FROM Episcopal / Anglican which derives from its Catholic origins.
In the Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches, communion is served by offering tiny little wafers of unleavened bread, about the size of a saccharine tablet, which each parishioner picks up for him / herself off a tray (platen). In Episcopal or Catholic churches, there is a round, thin wafer marked with a cross (the Host), usually put on the tongue or into the hands of the communicants by the priest / pastor. In one Episcopal church I visited, they had an actual LOAF of bread (regular bread, not unleavened, which kind of destroys the whole point) and each communicant handled the loaf and pulled off a piece for themselves.
As for the 'wine' (which is NOT wine but grape juice in Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches I have visited but actual wine in Episcopal / Anglican / Catholic), in the first three Protestant churches mentioned I usually see the liquid served in trays that are passed around, which contain tiny one-sip-size plastic disposable cups--you pick one up, drink, and return the empty cup to the tray. Sometimes the cups are passed out and you hold yours till everyone has theirs, then all drink at once and put them in the little "cup-holders" on the back of the pews.
But in Episcopal churches I have visited (I understand Catholic only allows the PRIESTS to drink from the cup; the congregation only gets the bread / Hosts), the wine is SHARED IN A COMMON CUP THAT IS PASSED AROUND TO ALL COMMUNICANTS, and the servers only WIPE THE RIM OF THE CUP BETWEEN EACH DRINKER WITH A CLOTH.
Today I was "going" to take Communion---until I realized we would all be drinking from the same cup.
I did not dare.
I wonder if folks have thought about the dangers of this as a disease vector?
I also wonder if the CHURCHES themselves have thought of it?
I grew up Methodist, (but a very evangelical Methodist church---a friend of mine who visited once said it was "the most Baptist Methodist church I've ever seen"), but had also visited / attended Baptist and Presbyterian churches, and of late have visited Episcopal, Anglican, and Catholic as well. Of course, Methodist ritual comes down FROM Episcopal / Anglican which derives from its Catholic origins.
In the Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches, communion is served by offering tiny little wafers of unleavened bread, about the size of a saccharine tablet, which each parishioner picks up for him / herself off a tray (platen). In Episcopal or Catholic churches, there is a round, thin wafer marked with a cross (the Host), usually put on the tongue or into the hands of the communicants by the priest / pastor. In one Episcopal church I visited, they had an actual LOAF of bread (regular bread, not unleavened, which kind of destroys the whole point) and each communicant handled the loaf and pulled off a piece for themselves.
As for the 'wine' (which is NOT wine but grape juice in Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches I have visited but actual wine in Episcopal / Anglican / Catholic), in the first three Protestant churches mentioned I usually see the liquid served in trays that are passed around, which contain tiny one-sip-size plastic disposable cups--you pick one up, drink, and return the empty cup to the tray. Sometimes the cups are passed out and you hold yours till everyone has theirs, then all drink at once and put them in the little "cup-holders" on the back of the pews.
But in Episcopal churches I have visited (I understand Catholic only allows the PRIESTS to drink from the cup; the congregation only gets the bread / Hosts), the wine is SHARED IN A COMMON CUP THAT IS PASSED AROUND TO ALL COMMUNICANTS, and the servers only WIPE THE RIM OF THE CUP BETWEEN EACH DRINKER WITH A CLOTH.
Today I was "going" to take Communion---until I realized we would all be drinking from the same cup.
I did not dare.
I wonder if folks have thought about the dangers of this as a disease vector?
I also wonder if the CHURCHES themselves have thought of it?
