Pandemic will alter Communion rituals for many US Christians

From AP-

The Episcopal bishop of Washington, D.C., Mariann Budde, said she and about 60 of her fellow bishops will meet Wednesday to discuss possible adjustments to Communion and other worship.

“I do think new practices emerge from crises like this,” she said. “They come from communities experimenting, pushing the boundaries. You don’t know how that process will turn out.”

The biggest denomination in the U.S., the Catholic church accounts for the bulk of Holy Communion services nationwide.

Under its governance system, decisions on logistical details of Communion are largely left to individual bishops.

Over the past three weeks, at least two sets of guidelines have been issued to Catholic clergy by high-level bodies. There’s one main difference: the guidelines from the Washington-based Thomistic Institute says communion wafers could continue to be placed on a parishioner’s tongue or be placed in the hand. Guidelines from the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions says there should be a temporary ban on receiving the wafer on the tongue.

More here-

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/health/pandemic-will-alter/5DZDU6UP2LY57Y4UEPOT7ALY4U/

Bishops Withhold Common Cup in Response to Coronavirus

From The Living Church-


Touching on centuries-old theological controversies, bishops across the Episcopal Church have issued pastoral letters recommending changes to worship practices to prevent infection from the novel coronavirus.

Bishops in the Dioceses of California, Dallas, Olympia, and Los Angeles ordered that Holy Communion be administered to the laity in bread only, although historically Anglicans have often insisted on administering the Eucharist in both bread and wine. The Bishops of Albany and Newark have banned the use of non-alcoholic juice, and others have warned against the practice of intinction, the use of leavened bread and ceramic vessels, and the passing of the peace.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the highly contagious pathogen spreads through respiratory droplets.

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/2020/03/09/bishops-withhold-common-cup-in-response-to-coronavirus/

‘No fingers in the cup’: Coronavirus prompts Maryland Episcopal Church leader to suggest communion changes

From Maryland-

The leader of the Episcopal Church in the diocese of Maryland is asking congregants to alter some of their worship practices to minimize the chances of contracting or spreading COVID-19, the coronavirus first reported in China in December that has spread to 70 countries, including the United States.

The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton issued a statement encouraging the more than 44,000 members of his 117 congregations to refrain from shaking hands while “passing the peace” during services.

And he discouraged the practice of “intinction,” a ritual observed in many Episcopal churches in which congregants dip a piece of communion bread into a common cup. The process poses a risk “especially when the bread is handled with unwashed hands of children and adults," he wrote.

More here-

https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-episcopals-coronavirus-20200302-mmmpdygscvf25lkrljy6rabq2a-story.html

The Reason for Baptism before Communion

From The Living Church-

In Up With Authority, Victor Austin asserts that rules and authority are needed for us to be our best selves ([T&T Clark, 2010], p. 1). His argument’s foundation comes from Thomas Aquinas, who says that rules, “properly speaking, regard first and foremost the order of the common good” and should reflect God’s nature and purposes (Summa Theologiae, Part I-II, Q. 90, A. 3). “Authority does not come upon us because of some tragic flaw in human beings,” Austin writes. “Rather … authority is [the] manifestation of the glory of being human” (p. 1).

I cite Austin and Aquinas because of the debate occurring throughout the Episcopal Church regarding Communion without baptism, allowing or actively inviting unbaptized persons to receive the Eucharist. This practice has become known by many throughout the Church as Open Communion, which is the wrong terminology. (Open Communion involves allowing baptized Christians from all Christian churches, baptized in the Name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to receive the Eucharist in the Episcopal Church.)

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2019/03/07/the-reason-for-baptism-before-communion/?fbclid=IwAR3JCJpRRCCAXvCfwYVke0WXfKYdWKx8ay7Lp3QY65M_ubhb4ey1ni09ZJg

Why I Would Refuse Communion to the President

From The Living Church-

As a priest I would happily welcome President Trump to any service, but I would refuse to give him Holy Communion.

When President Trump is in Palm Beach he occasionally attends services at Bethesda-by-the-Sea Church, where he and Melania were married and where his son Barron was baptized. In the capital he sometimes attends services at St. John’s Church on Lafayette Square and at Washington National Cathedral, both of which are Episcopal churches.

For a priest to refuse anyone Holy Communion is not only unusual but practically unheard of. Most view Communion not as something to be earned, but as a sort of medicine for the soul — something that will help us deepen and strengthen our relationship with God.

So, why would I refuse to give Communion to President Trump? Not because I think he needs no medicine for his soul, but because he is a notorious sinner whose biography — and sins — are quite well known.

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2019/02/28/why-i-would-refuse-communion-to-the-president/?fbclid=IwAR3P3JOwKqLnpKeQjYKNCW3C79rZArb_csZKbGIuuomIuauH8abDkRmIGCA

Vatican stalls German bishops’ plan to give Protestants Communion

From Salt Lake-

Disagreements between Catholic bishops in Germany about plans to give Communion to Protestants have spilled out into the wider Roman Catholic Church.

Last Monday (June 4), the Vatican’s doctrine chief, Archbishop Luis Ladaria, informed senior members of the German Catholic hierarchy that the pope believes their plans to make it easier for Protestant spouses of Catholics to receive Communion are “not ready” to be published. The letter signaled that top leaders in Rome were not prepared to let these guidelines become accepted practice in the German church — at least not yet.

The dispute highlights Pope Francis’ plans to move the church away from obsessing over doctrinal purity while giving bishops on the ground more decision-making power.

More here-

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900021295/vatican-stalls-german-bishops-plan-to-give-protestants-communion.html 

The adoration of a body snatcher

From The Living Church-

I was called to the hospital to administer last rites. Sarah was dying, and her husband, Sam, was keeping vigil. Sarah was unconscious, and I told Sam that I’d like to say some prayers together, anoint Sarah with oil, and then celebrate Communion.

And so we did. As I’ve learned to do, I broke up one of the wafers into tiny pieces, and invited Sam to place a small piece in his unconscious wife’s mouth. We stood in silence at the bedside for some time, until finally, when I felt the moment had landed, I turned to begin cleaning up the Communion supplies. Then something odd happened.

Sam cut between me and our makeshift altar; he grabbed the paten still laden with the broken host, and said, “Oh, I’ll clean this up for you, Father,” and proceeded to the sink. I panic-froze. I didn’t have the presence of mind — or, more accurately, the courage — to stop him. I winced inside, and decided to let it happen. But then something even less expected happened.

More here-

http://htl.li/44PH30fJRoo

Behind the Rail

From The Cafe-

They come as supplicants, lining up at the rail, hands cupped to receive the bread, some with their eyes down, some looking up at the altar, a few making eye contact. Most kneel, those with rickety knees stand, some hold infants or fuss with toddlers squirming beside them. I speak softly, gently, crouching down to allow a child to dip the wafer in the cup, instructing a visitor about what to do, clasping someone’s hands to help steady their hold on the chalice. These are intensely private moments and it’s as though we are meeting each other in a place that no one else can see.

There is nothing slapdash about communion in the Episcopal church. We are a denomination steeped in tradition, so we tend to do things properly, respectfully and with reverence. There is an exquisite beauty in the formal ritual, in the reciting of ancient words, in the vestments and organ music, in simply occupying a space that does not look like the commercial world we inhabit the rest of the week. Our church offers a brief respite from the constant bombardment of the secular.

More here-

https://www.episcopalcafe.com/behind-the-rail/

Gluten in Holy Communion wafers causes problems for some

From Columbus-

The Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio also takes Holy Communion, but it allows members to consume gluten-free wafers, said Canon Lynn Carter-Edmands.

“We’re taking this sacrament seriously in the Episcopal church,” Carter-Edmands said. “The sacrament is meant to be life giving and not a burden and not a health hazard.”

One to two percent of people worldwide have celiac disease and up to 10 percent more might have a heightened sensitivity to gluten, said Dr. Marty Meyer, a gastroenterologist at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.

Celiac disease is characterized by damage to the small intestine from ingesting gluten, according to the Celiac Disease Foundation. The only treatment is a gluten-free diet.

“It doesn’t take a whole lot of gluten to incite the intestinal damage,” Meyer said. “I would tell someone to potentially just see how they feel after taking in a Communion wafer. ... See if over time that’s leading to an issue.”


More here-

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170714/gluten-in-holy-communion-wafers-causes-problems-for-some

No, You Can’t Have a Sip

From Huffington-

My mother, by her own admission, pretends to be an alcoholic every Sunday. She contemplated converting to Catholicism, not because Pope Francis was such an inspiring faith leader, but because forgoing the wine during communion is much more commonplace in the Catholic church, as opposed to the Episcopal. Why is she not so inconspicuously shooing it away in the first place? Germs.

Growing up, my mother forced me and my brother to dip our communion wafer in the wine, rather than take a full sip, hoping this would somehow cut down on the transference of germs. During flu season, she would tell us to “just pretend” to dip. Basically, my brother and I were encouraged to be deceitful while in the midst of taking the sacrament of communion.

More here-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/teresa-carlton/no-you-cant-have-a-sip_b_10121238.html

Communion Rites May Be Putting Nigerians At Risk For Ebola

From Huffington-

Nigerian Christians are fearful that practicing one of their religion’s most sacred rites might lead to death by Ebola.

In response to the spread of the deadly virus, prominent Nigerian churches have asked parishioners to stop taking the Communion elements in the mouth and refrain from shaking hands as a ceremonial sign of peace.

Nigeria’s Catholic and Anglican churches issued statements in August asking priests to deliver communion elements into parishioner’s cupped palms, instead of placing the wafers on the tongue. The churches also approved the practice of “intinction,” or dipping the communion wafer into the cup of wine before placing it in the mouth.

More here-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/17/nigeria-religion-ebola_n_5832344.html?ir=Religion

Online Communion? Methodist Church Debates Offering Virtual Service

From Huffington-

As online worship becomes more common in some churches, leaders within the United Methodist Church are debating whether the denomination should condone online Communion.

About 30 denominational leaders met last week after Central United Methodist Church in Concord, N.C., announced plans to launch an online campus that potentially would offer online Communion. Some nondenominational churches already offer online Communion, according to United Methodist News Service, but leaders urged the denomination’s bishops to call for a moratorium on the practice and do further study of online ministries.

The majority of the leaders agreed with the statement that Communion “entails the actual tactile sharing of bread and wine in a service that involves people corporeally together in the same place.” Not everyone, however, agreed that congregants must be in the same place.

More here-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/11/online-communion-methodist-debate_n_4084854.html?utm_hp_ref=religion&ir=Religion