Has anyone else's church decided not to use the communion challice during the swine flu epidemic

[Reallytired]

Our (C of E) church has and I suspect that the priest is using swine flu as an excuse to become more and more anglo catholic than ever. For a lot of reasons I am feeling more and more uncomfortable. I feel torn in that I have a lot of friends at this church, but at the same time I do not feel it is developing my family's spirtually. I feel that they are worshipping the literagy rather than God.

We had a sermon today when our priest made it clear that he believed in transtantiation of the bread and wine.

Is this a decision in all C of E churches or is our priest an exception.

Our priest has decided to no longer offer the challice. We have been told to dip our bread into the wine.

Our church also asks people to dip the bread into the wine. And when I acted as godmother at my friend's church recently, the vicar there did the same thing.

I think it is fairly standard at the moment. I haven't noticed anyone being uncomfortable with it.

It is the guidlines from the anrchbishop of canterbury. We are also not intincting either as tchnically that carries a similar amount of risk as sipping form the chalice.

Some curches have also got rid of the holy water in the doorway ro wherever and the peace has been simplified!

Ott? yes - a lot of preists feel so, but it is the advice.

btw - anglo catholics tend to have both bread and wine (dh is a prriest - anglo catholic charismatic).

our vicar who is not at all anglo catholic has decided to offer the one kind as thats the diocesan recomendation

no intinting either as that is so gross ( dirty finger nails bleurrgh)

I think we are not doing the peace either ( which I love!)

It is a whole Church of England thing at the moment - directivs from the Archbishops.

We have real bread in our church, so are receiving only the bread. The president has the wine on behalf of all of us. Theologically, it is fine to have communion of one kind, and it is standard in the Roman Catholic church.

I find it much harder not to shake hands and hug during the Peace.

This is all C of E.

A month ago, we had self-intincting, this was before the archbishops' advisory came out.

Then I went on 2 weeks holiday to Devon, and the priest there gave us the choice as to whether we wanted to receive from the chalice. Most people did receive.

Last week in our church, we received under 1 kind only. This morning, the priest intincted for us.

I'd much prefer to receive as normal . Failing that, under 1 kind only is the most dignified.

The first week, with self-intincting, I was holding the chalice, and one man with large hands said to me 'how do I get my hand in there without touching the sides?' Well of course, he couldn't.

How much easier in our Baptist church where we always have small individual cups and non-alcoholice wine.

alcoholic, no lice involved

We're having no wine, no peace greeting and there are bottles of antibacterial germ everywhere along with bags for used tissues to be disposed of and tied up.

Our vicar is away at the moment so we're all doing the peace greeting anyway.

To be fair, he said himself (privately) that he's doing as the Archbishop's said as otherwise the Church will be critiscised for not taking the threat seriously.

The best thing our church has done is set up a Flu Buddy system so if you get ill, you call the Vicar (or other priest) and he'll put you in contact with another parishoner who will get your tamiflu and do your food shopping.

BTW-my BIL works in a hospital and is no longer allowed to wear a tie or watch and has to roll his sleeves up 'just in case'. It's lunacy everywhere!!

We're baptist and use lots of tiny glasses like DO's church.

recently we have also been using a whole loaf of bread and taking a little bit from it each - not sure if we are going to be going back to the cut-up-for-us bread - but woudl suspect not!

Reallytired - it does sound like your priest is on the anglo-catholic end of the spectrum. Protestant churches generally don't believe in transubstatiation and I don't (its been a long time) think it is part of the 39 articles. It does sound like you have some issues with the church you are attending and maybe need to look at that seperate form the swine flu issue.

alittlebitshy - anglo-caltholic charismatic priest for a dh? Sounds cool. I bet he is interesting to talk to!

We are at a Free church and have also just switched to trays of tiny glasses (we used to pass the cup + napkin around).

Also, the bread had been cut up so no pulling bits off.

Seemed odd, but if it helps keep infection down & people happy whilst still celebrating communion then that's fine by me.

I'm CofE and we're still doing the chalice (actually 2 chalices, I suppose that's less mouths on one!) and the peace with everyone, but our vicar is quite the rebel! And obviously people are free not to partake if they personally are worried about infection... give people some credit I say!

i think you're right commonnortherner - people should be allowed to take responsibility for theirselves.

However, i guess that a lot of clergy are under pressure from advice from on high (ho ho ho, i mean the archbishops rather than swine flu guidelines from God!). I know my dh takes enouggh flack in his career already to want to risk the "well, you were advised to and didn't, just look what happened" kind of thing.

I don't think it is standard in the RC church to only receive the sacrament in one kind. I've received both for the last 20 years. Fewer taking the wine now though.

In my mother's RC church, they are receiving under one kind only.

I was brought up in the URC and they always had little cups and cut up squares of white bread.

I always thought the bread looked awfully - well - banal. The 'wine' was sickly sweet grape juice.

Hygenic and teetotal and rather lacking in symbolic resonance somehow.

*URC== United Reformed Church, the result of amalgamation of Congregational and Presbyterians, if the TLA isn't familiar. Shares only a couple of letters and ecumenical friendship with RC

my church (CofE, anglo-catholic) is bread only under a directive from the bishop. Our priest thinks it's OTT, but he's doing as he's told. As he said if it was a major issue then priests would be dropping like flies as they have the "pleasure" of finishing off what's left in the chalice once everyone has -spat- -in- -it- had their turn

I think the flu friend thing is a good idea, I might suggest it to him

of course that should have been spat in it, I never get strike out right

At our catholic church there is no wine and no sign of peace.

I visited a C of E church on Sunday, not particularly high, not low either, "middling" I guess . They were still shaking hands and still had the chalice - which you could drink from, intinct, or avoid, as is your wish.

Our church is now intincting, but the priest is doing the intincting.

Our church asks people to dip the bread into the wine. CofE. There are people who attend the church known to have contracted swine flu.

My DS has had swine flu, although I doubt he got it from the church as we only go once a month to the services where they don't mind toddlers running around.

I'm c of e, but brought up a baptist with the tiny cups. We are doing the wafer dipped in the wine thing at the mo, but our vicar asked the diocese if we could do tiny cups and was told it was 'against church law'. What? Actually I'm on pcc and we had to discuss this at the last meeting. I lost the plot a bit when we were told that if things get really bad we'll have to stop using service/hymn books and have photocopied sheets that are burnt after each service. Do I sense a teeny tiny overreaction?

yes indeed, not allowed to do tiny cups!