November 15, 2009
Swine Flu Communion
I recognize that the swine flu is no laughing matter but I’m calling hogwash on my church’s attempts at safe-guarding us from it. We are now no longer allowed to dip our bread in the communal communion cup of wine because it might spread the H1N1. However, we are still allowed to DRINK from the cup.
I didn’t go to medical school but HUH?! Yes, people commonly spread the flu with germs on their hands, but those germs start somewhere and that place is THEIR MOUTHS. To me, as a church, you have to take one of two stances:
1) Wine is alcohol and thus communion is swine-flu safe because the wine kills the germs. Continue your dipping or sipping as you see fit.
2) Until the whole swine flu thing passes, we’re switching over to individual cups. God totally understands.
But this strange halfway decision is just annoying. So now each week I have to get my little chunk of bread (from someone’s HANDS, I might add), then cross my arms over my chest, and have the communal cup PRESENTED to me but not dip my bread in it.
Sure, sure. I know what you’re thinking. May, this is the perfect time to move from being a dipper to a sipper. But here’s the thing, I can’t. It’s too distracting. I’d have to figure out how to drink from a cup I’m not actually holding WHILE pretending that 150 other people before me have not also drank from it and that’s just too much for my little brain to ignore WHILE staying focused on Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
And so until the end of swine flu season, I’m going to have to abstain from the cup, I guess. Is anyone else’s church changing up communion in light of the H1N1?
Have you seen this one? It’s an automated holy water dispenser… maybe your church could look into it, only with wine. Or, someone could pour the wine into your mouth, ala spring break.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/6547936/Holy-water-dispenser-combats-spread-of-swine-flu.html
My home church has switched to having individual cups of communion wine (like the Methodist church does normally in the UK). They are a source of slight amusement as they look like disposable shot glasses! My old church in the city doesn’t distribute communion wine but we can be anointed with holy oils instead if we wish. Both places still share the peace complete with hugs and handshakes.
This is really strange. I totally understand you.
In my church, we can choose between a common cup with wine and individual cups with juice, and most people prefer juice (or do they prefer the individual cup? I don’t know.) It has been that way for years. I think there is nobody with dipping habits, but we can hold the cup ourselves while drinking.
We’re just being adamant about having the servers santitize their hands before they break off the bread. We’ve got hand sanitizer on the altar right now. And about making sure that they break off a piece that’s big enough for intinction so that people don’t touch the wine.
We do individual cups with juice at my church here - but at my church in Oxford, you could dip or sip from one of five or six communal cups. I don’t know if they’re taking extra precautions at the moment. But I hope our “disposable shot glasses” are pretty safe.
Ug, I definitely sympathize. Communion is my favorite part of church. This distraction would be hard to take. Darn germs.
Having actually had swine flu this weekend (still on a sick day), I can tell you - BE THANKFUL FOR THE PRECAUTIONS. If you get this flu you will want to die.
Poor Felicity!
I LOVE doing communion with the common cup, but I guess now I appreciate our individual shot glass/thimbles of grape juice. The only thing that’s changed at my church is that when the deacons collect the glasses at the end, we wear gloves. And that feels unfriendly too.
I love communion. At my Baptist church we only do it once a month and its individual cups and matzo. But my old church used to dunk and I thought that was cool too.
And I never thought about illness until right now.
Feel better Felicity. You poor, poor thing!!
(warm fuzzies sent to Felicity… hope you feel better very soon)
As you know, I’m not a churchy type. On the logical side, I’m totally with you, May. The rules seem arbitrary, like they were made up by some overly busybody room mother in a second grade class who doesn’t really understand how germs work. On the less logical side, people drink from the same cup? And they’re not either (a) blood relatives or (b) at a frat party?
Also, help me with the theological aspect of this: I figure if God wants you to get swine flu, you’re gonna get it regardless of dip or sip, right? Or do viruses also get free will and can decide for themselves when to infect someone?
Hi PJD.
Yeah, at some churches people share a communal cup of wine. You get the bread first so about half the people just dip their bread in the wine, but some people actually sip from it. This mainly happens in Catholic, Lutheran, and Episcopalian churches.
Your theological question is a good one, but probably everyone must answer it for themselves. There’s no real consensus. I’m in the category of free will, myself.
My church hasn’t taken any special precautions, but I stopped drinking from the common cup a while back. It feels unfriendly, but they use cheap port in common cup anyway, whereas they have grape juice in the little shot glass cups, and I’d rather have cheap grape juice than cheap wine.
Thanks, pjd. Warm fuzzies received. And my very theological position is that sickness happens. God helps us deal with it. You know, rain falls on the just and the unjust. : )
May - a happy moment in my otherwise sick-y day was getting my copy of A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS in the mail. Thanks!
Our church only has communion once a year, which makes it super super special. It is on Good Friday, so not sure what will happen next year. But with communion normally I irrationally just tell myself that it can’t contain germs b/c it’s communion. But with H1N1 going around, I don’t think I’ll be able to convince myself of that this year…
Individual cups are served in my church and it’s only like once a month. Plus it’s grape juice–not alcohol–because they’re one of those uber conservative ones that things any form of alcohol is bad for you (which I disagree with, but I digress.)
“Things” should be “thinks.”
It’s been a long day….