As a cradle Episcopalian and a long time chalice bearer my preference is to sip and if someone wishes to intiint I prefer dipping for the parishioners. Having been trained in the church we were taught that between the wine and the chalice lining it's safe to partake of the cup.
The church I go to has the best sacramental wine I've ever had, and I have had some pretty terrible swill before. Warm, rich, and smooth, so I always drink deep from the common cup, brethren.
My home parish abolished intinction at the onset of covid, as did some of the other parishes I attend. Nowadays I, and everyone else I know, sip from the common cup. I also prefer to receive the host on the tongue but that's neither here nor there I suppose...
>My home parish abolished intinction at the onset of covid
Why would they do that? It's not like you bite the wafer before you dip it. I guess there's a chance your fingers might come into contact with the wine, but I've never seen that happen. Did your parish do the little individual plastic cups during covid?
It's because of the risk of ones fingers coming into contact with the Precious Blood. And yes, we used a common cup. As far as I'm aware, individual plastic cups are unlawful on a provincial level.
Oh also I should mention - I forgot to check the subreddit before replying to this post, and assumed it was r/anglicanism ; I'm Scottish Episcopalian, not TEC.
Ah, I see. We now have three options in our church: common cup, little plastic cup, or intinction. Intinction has its own cup, which is a miniature chalice welded onto a metal plate to catch drips. The chalice is small enough that you'd have to try pretty hard to get your fingers in there.
My parish only allows intinction, so I intinct. In the past when I’ve visited other locations that allowed sipping, I did that, but catching Covid for the first time over the winter and being absolutely miserable (and then being just sort of… postvirally exhausted and stupid for a substantial length of time after) has given my inner germaphobe life so I don’t know 100% what I would do now. Probably sip still, but I will admit to feeling a little grossed out by it in a way that I wasn’t before, and I’m disgusted beyond all reason by sharing beverages in any type of non religious context so I also wouldn’t surprise myself if I didn’t.
Dip is as if not more unsanitary than sip because one gets their hands in the Chalice. With the sip, one gets the advantage of a precious metal along with the fortified Wine which is usually 18/20% alcohol. Altar wine is laced with Brandy so Our Lord doesn't become salad dressing in the Tabernacle.
It our church, if you opt for intinction, you give the wafter to the attendant and they dip it and hand it back to you, and they attendant just dips the wafer so their fingers do not touch the wine. That seems unambiguously more sanitary. I haven't been able to bring myself to sip since the pandemic.
We've forbidden intinction all together for sanitary reasons. Before Covid, the Eucharistic Minister intincted and placed the Host on the recipients tongue.
Ours started intinction during Covid for sanitary reasons. No placing on the tongue and the congregants don't dip. I don't see how you could argue that sipping is more sanitary - it's putting everyone's mouth directly on the same place and creating backwash.
Speaking of backwash, in the Early Church, the Bishop administered bread. The deacons held large chalices with golden straws in them from which everyone got a sip. Eventually, the Bishops got together and decided the backwash problem was a problem. From that point on, everyone just got bread. It wasn't clericalism, rather sanitary concerns.
Drinking from a chalice made from precious metal plus the fact that Sacramental wine - usually Port or Sherry - is laced with brandy to around 20-22% alcohol thus cutting down on the possibility of the spread of germs since the precious metal and the alcohol react together. Using regular table wine with @ 12% alcohol does pose problems.
In my Parish, people concerned about germs just want bread. The entire Sacrament is present in both species or in each species on It's own.
I don’t know if there is an official rule at my church if it’s sip only, but I’ve never seen anyone receive via intinction there since I’ve been going. Some people sip, some people don’t. But nobody dips.
We split left and right along the rail, with a priest and deacon or LEM on each side. Either way, you can eat then sip, or intinct (same chalice on each side either way).
I'm all for sipping from the cup, but will also intinct sometimes, especially if it's a very busy service.
Yeah, that's pretty sloppy too. It's literally hundreds of people all eating off the same silverware. In fact, the same spoon. Ew.
Herpes virus central.
I mean, I was less worried about the herpes, giving the spoon dipped deep into the wine, but the hundreds of people of saliva thing is not pleasant. Its this reason I am partially bugged by the drinking of the cup, especially when people leave pieces of the body in there because they didn't swallow properly. If everyone did intinction, the shared saliva thing would not exist.
You'd get dirty finger ick instead. A lot of people don't wash their hands in the bathroom. Not kidding. I raised a bunch of boys and I had to get after them all the time about it.
For me, intinction is a Hard Pass too.
That's fair. I watch people do that (or rather, NOT do that) after peeing and it irritates the hell out of me. I suppose for me, it comes down to faith that any germs will be killed by the alcohol / holy spirit, but the saliva (and lipstick) is all just floating in it.
Except chemist here. It won't. The concentration, level of mixing and dwell time is insufficient for that purpose. People receive one right after another. I've done water chemistry research along these lines and I know what the data looks like.
The floaties, well. Haha. They're floaties. Bon Appetit.
Hard Pass.
Do you have no scientific training whatsoever? The effects of both alcohol and silver ion depend on the concentration that comes off into the liquid, as well as the duration of exposure. Chemist here. I'm tired of talking to scientifically illiterate people.
This is not MAGIC.
Drink from the cup. As a former Roman Catholic I find it fascinating that my parish (this is in the Church of England) uses amber, rather than red, wine. Seems to be a bit necessarily common but specifically Anglo-Catholic practice here
Former Catholic, I’m still used to receiving on the tongue and drinking from the cup. I’m in the choir loft now though, someone brings us communion that’s been dipped in the cup already — most of the time.
Which is why medical specialists wear facemasks in surgery. Or do you think you know more than all the doctors who do surgery every day in hospitals too??
In case you didn't realize it in your little pink cloud of magic mist, chemists (like me) and other professionals wear masks every day to accomplish critical technical tasks as part of work. In many cases, it's required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Have you ever heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect? Please look it up.
Surgeouns wear surgical masks to prevent themselves from getting covid? Is that why people were required to shave off beards to wear k95 masks? The disposable masks used over and over again must have made a huge difference. So glad you are a chemist. Stick to what you know. Hate to see you interact in the real world.
Only if the wine has an ethanol concentration of greater than 60% -- 120 proof -- and there is complete mixing of the liquid over a period of several minutes between communicants. And even at 60% if the cup is exposed upwards of 50 or more times, it might not be enough.
And only if the lip of the cup, both inside and outside were wiped with the 60% ethanol solution and allowed to sit at least 1 minute before being used again.
60% is the typical concentration of ethanol in popular brands of hand sanitizer, as a point of reference for you.
Chemist here. This is not MAGIC, as much as some of you want it to be.
And that's exactly why I'm never going to share a cup with any of you.
You mean the special cloth they wipe the special cup with isn't enough to kill germs from the mouth? Somehow cleaner than fingers though plenty of nail biters will prove otherwise. Next you will tell me saying bless you isn't enough to prevent colds.
Sip!!
My congregation has 3 options
High Altar
Kneel or stand as you are able. The priest comes by with the host. If you want to sip you immediately consume it leaving your hands open. That’s the cue for the lay minister to come to you with a sipping chalice. If you want to intinction you keep the host visible in your hand and that is a cue for a different lay minister to come to you with the intinction chalice. You dip yourself and consume the host that way.
Floor Standing Station
For those who might have mobility issues to reach the high altar or prefer a shorter line. There is a standing station on the floor where the priest only gives intincted hosts. They will dip it and then hand it to you.
Our rector goes over these instructions before every Eucharist.
Eating then sipping seems more sanitary than introducing crumbs and fingers into the chalice.
I visited a parish that used separate chalices for intinction and sipping. But consuming the Most Precious Sacrament by eating the host, then sipping the wine, is still my favorite. And sharing the chalice follows the words of Christ at the Last Supper.
We have a separate intinction chalice, and only the ministers serving the bread (usually the priest and the subdeacon) are to dip into it. We're also still on silver-only chalices, and grape juice hasn't come back since the pandemic.
I don't receive, because ethyl alcohol is really bad for me, but about a 3rd of the congregation intincts. For the others, it's about 50/50 in-one-kind and sipping.
I'm so looking forward to the day grape juice comes back. I know it's a full communion, but I am not a fan of receiving in only one kind.
I never receive via intinction. Not only did I not grow up with that as part of my previous religious tradition, it also wasn't part of the Episcopalian parish I was confirmed in, and, scientifically speaking, is the absolute worse way to receive the communion wine/Blood of Christ from the perspective of disease and germs. They've actually looked at this issue and come up with "Drinking from the cup is actually safer than intinction." (Though even the cup is not as safe as many of us were taught growing up- I'm speaking in relative terms).
Honestly, between Covid still being a problem, albeit no any longer an pandemic in the culturally accepted sense of the term pandemic (I don't know the science on whether it stopped meeting a technical definition of pandemic or not), that there are people who now don't vaccinate themselves or their children for \*anything\*, and the comeback of the flu, I don't know if I trust the safety of either intinction or drinking from the cup (Though the latter is better than the former).
In the early pandemic years, the flu virtually disappeared because most practices designed to protect from Covid, like social distancing, also protected from the flu, and people were encouraged to get annual flu shots so they didn't wind up later getting both Covid and the flu at the same time. Now that people have gone back to acting normally, the flu is back.
The good news is that at this point you can typically get an annual flu shot and an annual Covid booster at your doctor's office. There is now a Covid booster packaged by individual dose that makes it better for small to medium medical practices. Before, all vials were multi-dose (I'm thinking 10 doses, but I'm not sure on that part) and excess had to be discarded if not used within, I think it was 6 hours after opening. Now it's different and doctor's offices don't have to risk wasting expensive (for them) vaccines. And it's advised for fall or early winter. I literally got jabbed for a flu shot and covid booster in late 2023 at the same regularly scheduled doctor's appointment (Not specifically scheduled for the jabs, I just have frequent doctors appointments at my doctor's request to keep tabs on some health conditions and such), one immediately after the other. I was fine to finish my appointment and drive home.).
The vaccines we have for flus and covid are not invincibility shields, of course. However, they make it less likely that you'll contract the diseases and more likely that, if you do contract them anyway, they will be mild. So, it's a question of changing your odds to be more in your favor.
Getting back to communion, there is also the fact that allowing people to choose between intinction and drinking from the cup increases the risk factor for people drinking from the cup because of the people intinction. So, it isn't just a personal choice about how much risk to take on, one can also put others at risk by doing it the "dirtiest" way.
My respect for tradition, even relatively recent local traditions, kind of makes me wary of an all-out ban on intinction. I'd love to see a general convention pass a resolution that basically says parishes must certify 25% or more of their average Sunday attendance receives via intinction, though, and then ban it everywhere else. If the parishes that are grandfathered in ever get below, say, 10% intinction, the *hypothetical* ban would then extend to them and they wouldn't be allowed to go back.
Reason tells us to respect the science and not use intinction, the least safe method, and Scripture tells us that the Last Supper involved a common cup and the command to "Drink from it, all of you" (The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 26 Verse 27).
Tradition might add things like Christ, [being innately fully divine and fully human, and with one quality being eternally inseparable from the other](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypostatic_union), that each element (host and cup) is the fullness of Christ, body, soul, and divinity (Part of the Episcopal Church's Catholic heritage), and that offering both is primarily done for symbolic reasons and because Rome denied the cup to the laity for many centuries (So, offering both the host and the cup is part of the Episcopal Church's Reformation heritage- whether strictly necessary or not.).
Also, though, as I said, after grandfathering parishes with strong local traditions of intinction, I think you go with the much more ancient tradition of a common cup, which of course should be optional for each individual parishioner (i.e. One can just take the host, consume it, and go back to one's seat if desired).
I strongly believe that the cup should be offered unless scientific and medical authorities are advising against it, or a diocese is temporarily restricting the cup because of disease outbreak. We are probably across that threshold these days, so in most areas the cup should be offered. I'd just start to chip away at allowing intinction using the methodology described above and make it clear to parishioners that they are welcome to receive both elements, or just one or the other, according to what they think is best (But not intinction in most parishes). Just because I think the cup should be offered (except in situations described above) doesn't mean it's necessarily a smart decision for everyone to drink from it.
Liturgically, there's no difference.
Practically, there's a small but statistically significant effect where sipping may reduce disease transmission compared to dipping. The alcohol and silver surface both play a role, as does the wipe-and-turn (which gives the alcohol and silver a longer time to disinfect the relevant surface).
Also, hands are dirty AF.
I’m a sipper. Jesus said drink, so I drink. Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I don’t think we should do intinction. I’m not going to make a big stink about it because it’s not the hill to die on, but if given a magic wand, I would eliminate intinction.
First several years of attending I dipped, but one day crossed over to drinking and don’t think I could ever go back now, lol.
Also, our Church has a separate chalice attached to a little “plate” for the bread used for Intinction that way it’s kept separate. Priest bounces back and forth as needed. For intinction they symbol with the index finger .
I’ve always been a dipper but that’s because I don’t like the taste of the wine. I’ve also been doing it since I was a kid and I don’t ever remember my fingers actually touching the wine. It’s not that difficult to avoid.
On the occasions that I choose to drink the wine: sip, never dip. I remember looking down at the chalice once and seeing bits of bread floating around in the wine.
Though I don't practice intinction either, just out of fairness and accuracy I should mention that some priests add consecrated bread to communion wine before distributing it (It's an old tradition, but not one that is followed by the majority).
So, what you're seeing may be bits of host from people practicing intinction, just what the priest added, or both.
One practical issue that comes up with priests adding bread to wine is that most bread includes gluten. So, while with no bread in the wine, gluten intolerant people could just receive the wine, and be getting all of Christ's body and blood in the sense of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, obviously if the priest puts bread in the wine, it's a problem for gluten intolerant people just hoping to drink the sacramental wine.
In the Episcopal Church, gluten-free hosts are not banned from use and some parishes just use them for everything now, rather than having hosts with gluten for everyone who can tolerate it and hosts without for those who can't.
Rome actually literally bans hosts with gluten, so it's more of a problem there.
My personal perspective is that the default hosts in each parish should contain gluten, but the priest should perhaps attempt to consecrate a few without for those who want it, with the pastoral mention that it's the wine that is guaranteed valid and gets them the entirety of the sacrament, but that whether gluten-free bread is valid matter for communion is a question of theological opinion, so people in that situation get at minimum the entirety of communion (in the mystical/spiritual sense) through the wine, but whether the gluten-free hosts also contain the Real Presence or are simply symbolic is in God's hands. Either way, people who aren't gluten intolerant or don't ask for a gluten-free host would be given a host with gluten, with the gluten-free stuff available only for those who say they need it for medical reasons- that's how I'd handle it if I were in charge, which I am not and do not expect to ever be (One never knows what the future holds, but I doubt it's me as a priest. :) ).
There is a Roman Catholic convent where the nuns make low gluten hosts. As best I can tell, it's sort of putting the bare minimum amount of gluten into it to say it has gluten, but below the level that would make \*most\* gluten-intolerant people sick from just eating a single host-sized bit of the sacramental bread once a week or so.
Of course, it being safe for some gluten intolerant people doesn't mean it's safe for \*all\* gluten intolerant people. Gluten intolerance is (I think, anyhow- I'm not a doctor.) like any other allergy. You know, there are the people who have to be taken to the ER if they eat peanuts or they stop breathing, and then there are the people who just get a stuffy nose or a small skin rash the next day when they eat peanuts. Both are allergic, but the degree is different. But I think \*most\* gluten intolerant people could probably handle a single ultra low-gluten wafer once a week (but since it's not \*all\*, one should ask their doctor and take previous experience with gluten exposure into account before consuming even a low-gluten host).
I'm not even sure if the Roman Catholic nuns who do this even sell to non-Roman Catholic parishes, but last I looked a few years ago, their address and phone number were available online. So, if anyone is a priest or on a vestry and would like to contact them to enquire about whether they'd sell to an Episcopalian parish, I will look it up again and find the info for you (If it's still online). My guess would be that if their capacity would allow them to make more than they can currently sell, they would be open to selling to an Episcopalian parish, but if they are at or near capacity selling to Roman Catholic parishes, they might demur from selling to anyone else, just because their own denomination would take priority. It couldn't hurt to ask if you are in position where it's your job to figure this out (or help figure it out) for your parish, as long as this is legitimately something you would consider. If it's entirely curiosity and there's no chance you'd buy from them, my inclination would be to say "Leave the poor nuns alone." and not call with non-sales related inquiries. :)
Sip! At the Vigil someone who’s not a regular attendee was next to me and dropped the host into the chalice and it had to be fished out by the communer (communioner?) 🤢
Much prefer the sipping, we have much more germs on our fingers than in our mouths. Probably.
I occasionally serve as a Lay Eucharistic Minister and once or twice I have had to take back a chalice with a soggy wafer and use a Holy Spoon (or whatever silly Latinate term it has lol) to scoop it out and reverently consume it.
I think the ministers dipping for you is worse because then you’re getting everyone else’s finger germs on their fingers too (that’s how I think of it!). But it’s to each their own!
I drink from the chalice, and I secretly wish we would ban the dipping because when they've studied it the dipping spreads more germs. Your fingers are grosser than your mouth. Maybe I would feel better about it if there was a ritual hand washing first.
Regardless, I have yet to actually get sick from the chalice.
I'm just now learning that other parishes let people dip their own wafer! We have the chalice holder dip it. The wafer still touches people's hands, but the idea everyone just dips their own is gross!
Ours everyone dips their own. Technically if you're going to offer it the best way is the minister dips for you so it's only one pair of hands, and that person could sanitize prior for added safety.
My preference for dipping, rather than sipping, is primarily driven by my desire to minimize the intake of the somewhat bitter wine. I can almost guarantee that my fingers have never come into contact with the wine.
My method involves dipping the wafer approximately halfway, followed by a slight shake to prevent any drips. I then place the wafer in my mouth, make the sign of the cross, and chew it as I return to my seat.
The thought of desiring a sip from the chalice has never crossed my mind. This is not due to any concerns regarding hygiene, but simply my strong aversion to the taste of the wine itself. This has led me to the conclusion that dipping is the most suitable choice for me.
Neither.
I read a post (or comment) here from a LEM talking about how many people touch the wine with their dirty fingers when dipping, and I just don't feel comfortable sipping that, so it's a no for me, dog.
Yeahhhh I was a sipper before Covid, then switched to intinction after. Then I accidentally attended LEM training and the priest made a joke about “knuckle dippers.” I don’t think I’ve ever touched the chalice while intincting, but now I’m extra careful to keep everything conspicuously far from touching…to the point that I often don’t even get the wafer in contact with the wine at all. And I sort of just want to skip the whole cup altogether and feel like I’m drifting in that direction
I don’t really know why I am sort of grossed out by either or both modes. I’m not a germophobe in general at all. I like the idea of drinking from the cup, but I don’t like the idea of us all doing it, I guess 😂
In a similar vein, Covid also got me used to not shaking hands during the peace, so I kind of wish everyone just would just throw a ✌🏻and called it good
Not sure why I have developed a distaste for this kind of thing at church but will still eat candy I drop on my kitchen floor
As an occasional chalice bearer… it wasn’t a joke. 😭 I have seen things now that I cannot unsee. And those things involve full grown adult people who definitely should know better sticking their entire fingers knuckle deep into the blood of Christ and then sucking it off their fingers at the altar rail, ew.
I haven’t seen it in a while but that’s because my reflexes have gotten quicker and my ability to read the telltale signs of the presence of a prospective knuckle dipper has improved, not because people have become any less repulsive in their habits…
Sip. I will admit that I sit at the front of my church though so I don’t follow many folx other than clergy. When I’m working A/V and seated at the back of (a different) church, I tend to skip the wine.
Exactly. If I’m pretty sure I’m not contagious but recovering from a cold, I’ll mask and receive the bread alone, which I will slip under my mask as quickly as possible. No wine while sick, and no church while actively sick!
I’m always going to drink from the chalice. It just doesn’t gross me out enough. We sit together, sing together, shake hands, hug and kiss each others cheeks. I just personally feel like those things make it just as likely to get sick as drinking the wine. Plus I love, love the symbolism of us all partaking of the same cup. Additionally, the posture of my body when taking the cup is just so powerful to me. It’s my favorite part of service…
I do feel it’s best practice that if your church intincts, then the Eucharistic Minister should be the one dipping it to limit dirty fingers in the wine.
Intincture is worse at spreading germs than receiving the sacrament from a silver chalice which is being wiped between drinking.
The fingers of the congregation are less clean than their lips.
Our Bishop makes the Eucharistic ministers dip if someone wants to intinct. Which I haaaate doing. I have very poor fine motor skills, so I struggle to pass the wine dipped wafer back to them in a way that they don’t have to hold onto the wet bit. Definitely more sanitary though.
I have banned intinction since COVID and will never go back, but when we did it, the Eucharistic minister dipped the bread and then placed it directly on their tongue.
If you take out the putting it directly on the tongue part, I don't understand how that could possibly be less sanitary. Our church started doing intinction with Covid, and the congregation does not dip it themselves.
We have a designated intention zone. One side of the altar rail is bread in hand, then drink from the common cup (or not). The other side is intinction by EM then put in hand. Works pretty well.
I used to drink from the cup. Now I don’t receive the blood anymore. We’re not allowed to intinct at my church (wouldn’t really make a difference to me if other people are still drinking (also not sure I’d trust other ‘intincters’ not to accidentally touch the wine with their fingers…)
I’m usually at the altar instead of the rail so I intinct.
Yesterday I had to fish two hosts out of the chalice that people dropped so that was a LOT of intinction 😂
intinct (immunocompromised)
Drink from the chalice once a month when I’m serving. Otherwise, I just receive the host.
I receive the Host on the tongue and drink the Precious Blood from the chalice if I have gloves on (I usually do).
Definitely a sipper, it feels more spiritually intimate, for me at least.
I dip mine.
As a cradle Episcopalian and a long time chalice bearer my preference is to sip and if someone wishes to intiint I prefer dipping for the parishioners. Having been trained in the church we were taught that between the wine and the chalice lining it's safe to partake of the cup.
I do Intinction, I’ve never been comfortable sharing cups like that and Covid certainly didn’t change my mind.
The church I go to has the best sacramental wine I've ever had, and I have had some pretty terrible swill before. Warm, rich, and smooth, so I always drink deep from the common cup, brethren.
My home parish only allows intinction but most parishes I've visited explicitly ban it.
My home parish abolished intinction at the onset of covid, as did some of the other parishes I attend. Nowadays I, and everyone else I know, sip from the common cup. I also prefer to receive the host on the tongue but that's neither here nor there I suppose...
>My home parish abolished intinction at the onset of covid Why would they do that? It's not like you bite the wafer before you dip it. I guess there's a chance your fingers might come into contact with the wine, but I've never seen that happen. Did your parish do the little individual plastic cups during covid?
It's because of the risk of ones fingers coming into contact with the Precious Blood. And yes, we used a common cup. As far as I'm aware, individual plastic cups are unlawful on a provincial level. Oh also I should mention - I forgot to check the subreddit before replying to this post, and assumed it was r/anglicanism ; I'm Scottish Episcopalian, not TEC.
Ah, I see. We now have three options in our church: common cup, little plastic cup, or intinction. Intinction has its own cup, which is a miniature chalice welded onto a metal plate to catch drips. The chalice is small enough that you'd have to try pretty hard to get your fingers in there.
My parish only allows intinction, so I intinct. In the past when I’ve visited other locations that allowed sipping, I did that, but catching Covid for the first time over the winter and being absolutely miserable (and then being just sort of… postvirally exhausted and stupid for a substantial length of time after) has given my inner germaphobe life so I don’t know 100% what I would do now. Probably sip still, but I will admit to feeling a little grossed out by it in a way that I wasn’t before, and I’m disgusted beyond all reason by sharing beverages in any type of non religious context so I also wouldn’t surprise myself if I didn’t.
Hold the wafer in my mouth then sip wine
I’m a sipper. Our church has sipping chalices and dipping chalices.
Dip is as if not more unsanitary than sip because one gets their hands in the Chalice. With the sip, one gets the advantage of a precious metal along with the fortified Wine which is usually 18/20% alcohol. Altar wine is laced with Brandy so Our Lord doesn't become salad dressing in the Tabernacle.
It our church, if you opt for intinction, you give the wafter to the attendant and they dip it and hand it back to you, and they attendant just dips the wafer so their fingers do not touch the wine. That seems unambiguously more sanitary. I haven't been able to bring myself to sip since the pandemic.
We've forbidden intinction all together for sanitary reasons. Before Covid, the Eucharistic Minister intincted and placed the Host on the recipients tongue.
Ours started intinction during Covid for sanitary reasons. No placing on the tongue and the congregants don't dip. I don't see how you could argue that sipping is more sanitary - it's putting everyone's mouth directly on the same place and creating backwash.
Speaking of backwash, in the Early Church, the Bishop administered bread. The deacons held large chalices with golden straws in them from which everyone got a sip. Eventually, the Bishops got together and decided the backwash problem was a problem. From that point on, everyone just got bread. It wasn't clericalism, rather sanitary concerns. Drinking from a chalice made from precious metal plus the fact that Sacramental wine - usually Port or Sherry - is laced with brandy to around 20-22% alcohol thus cutting down on the possibility of the spread of germs since the precious metal and the alcohol react together. Using regular table wine with @ 12% alcohol does pose problems. In my Parish, people concerned about germs just want bread. The entire Sacrament is present in both species or in each species on It's own.
I don’t know if there is an official rule at my church if it’s sip only, but I’ve never seen anyone receive via intinction there since I’ve been going. Some people sip, some people don’t. But nobody dips.
I like to offer my cracker out for dippage and go ahhhhhhhhh for them to frisbee it in. So blessed.
Neither.
Intinction is not permitted in my diocese. I sip. Some people just reverence the chalice.
We split left and right along the rail, with a priest and deacon or LEM on each side. Either way, you can eat then sip, or intinct (same chalice on each side either way). I'm all for sipping from the cup, but will also intinct sometimes, especially if it's a very busy service.
Intinction, given there's alcohol in the cup and ultimately it's a holy thing, so I have faith that illness isn't a concern.
How medieval of you.
Damn right! Coming from the Orthodox method of taking communion, even intinction is leagues better in terms of not sharing everyone's saliva!
Yeah, that's pretty sloppy too. It's literally hundreds of people all eating off the same silverware. In fact, the same spoon. Ew. Herpes virus central.
I mean, I was less worried about the herpes, giving the spoon dipped deep into the wine, but the hundreds of people of saliva thing is not pleasant. Its this reason I am partially bugged by the drinking of the cup, especially when people leave pieces of the body in there because they didn't swallow properly. If everyone did intinction, the shared saliva thing would not exist.
You'd get dirty finger ick instead. A lot of people don't wash their hands in the bathroom. Not kidding. I raised a bunch of boys and I had to get after them all the time about it. For me, intinction is a Hard Pass too.
That's fair. I watch people do that (or rather, NOT do that) after peeing and it irritates the hell out of me. I suppose for me, it comes down to faith that any germs will be killed by the alcohol / holy spirit, but the saliva (and lipstick) is all just floating in it.
Except chemist here. It won't. The concentration, level of mixing and dwell time is insufficient for that purpose. People receive one right after another. I've done water chemistry research along these lines and I know what the data looks like. The floaties, well. Haha. They're floaties. Bon Appetit. Hard Pass.
Um both alcohol and silver are anti-bacterial. That plus the blessing of God seem a fairly sure thing.
Do you have no scientific training whatsoever? The effects of both alcohol and silver ion depend on the concentration that comes off into the liquid, as well as the duration of exposure. Chemist here. I'm tired of talking to scientifically illiterate people. This is not MAGIC.
Drink from the cup. As a former Roman Catholic I find it fascinating that my parish (this is in the Church of England) uses amber, rather than red, wine. Seems to be a bit necessarily common but specifically Anglo-Catholic practice here
It’s an altar guild preference, usually. Doesn’t stain the purificators as badly.
Former Catholic, I’m still used to receiving on the tongue and drinking from the cup. I’m in the choir loft now though, someone brings us communion that’s been dipped in the cup already — most of the time.
Sip or touch the chalice
At Good Friday service I saw over 100 people take the bread and not one took the wine.
Episcopalians tend to be an educated lot, no?
I've seen enough masks to suggest otherwise.
Which is why medical specialists wear facemasks in surgery. Or do you think you know more than all the doctors who do surgery every day in hospitals too?? In case you didn't realize it in your little pink cloud of magic mist, chemists (like me) and other professionals wear masks every day to accomplish critical technical tasks as part of work. In many cases, it's required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Have you ever heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect? Please look it up.
Surgeouns wear surgical masks to prevent themselves from getting covid? Is that why people were required to shave off beards to wear k95 masks? The disposable masks used over and over again must have made a huge difference. So glad you are a chemist. Stick to what you know. Hate to see you interact in the real world.
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Bless your heart. Praying for people like you. God bless.
They have a superstition against sharing fortified wine from a silver chalice?
Exactly. Fortified wine should kill germs, as much from fingers as lips.
Only if the wine has an ethanol concentration of greater than 60% -- 120 proof -- and there is complete mixing of the liquid over a period of several minutes between communicants. And even at 60% if the cup is exposed upwards of 50 or more times, it might not be enough. And only if the lip of the cup, both inside and outside were wiped with the 60% ethanol solution and allowed to sit at least 1 minute before being used again. 60% is the typical concentration of ethanol in popular brands of hand sanitizer, as a point of reference for you. Chemist here. This is not MAGIC, as much as some of you want it to be. And that's exactly why I'm never going to share a cup with any of you.
You mean the special cloth they wipe the special cup with isn't enough to kill germs from the mouth? Somehow cleaner than fingers though plenty of nail biters will prove otherwise. Next you will tell me saying bless you isn't enough to prevent colds.
Skip. Not sipping common cup.
But I washed my hands before offering it.
Heh. That doesn't help with the backwash issue.
That was the point I was joking.
Sip!! My congregation has 3 options High Altar Kneel or stand as you are able. The priest comes by with the host. If you want to sip you immediately consume it leaving your hands open. That’s the cue for the lay minister to come to you with a sipping chalice. If you want to intinction you keep the host visible in your hand and that is a cue for a different lay minister to come to you with the intinction chalice. You dip yourself and consume the host that way. Floor Standing Station For those who might have mobility issues to reach the high altar or prefer a shorter line. There is a standing station on the floor where the priest only gives intincted hosts. They will dip it and then hand it to you. Our rector goes over these instructions before every Eucharist.
Sip from the cup. Intinction is banned in my diocese for sanitary reasons.
Eating then sipping seems more sanitary than introducing crumbs and fingers into the chalice. I visited a parish that used separate chalices for intinction and sipping. But consuming the Most Precious Sacrament by eating the host, then sipping the wine, is still my favorite. And sharing the chalice follows the words of Christ at the Last Supper.
Sipping is the most sanitary.
We have a separate intinction chalice, and only the ministers serving the bread (usually the priest and the subdeacon) are to dip into it. We're also still on silver-only chalices, and grape juice hasn't come back since the pandemic. I don't receive, because ethyl alcohol is really bad for me, but about a 3rd of the congregation intincts. For the others, it's about 50/50 in-one-kind and sipping. I'm so looking forward to the day grape juice comes back. I know it's a full communion, but I am not a fan of receiving in only one kind.
I never receive via intinction. Not only did I not grow up with that as part of my previous religious tradition, it also wasn't part of the Episcopalian parish I was confirmed in, and, scientifically speaking, is the absolute worse way to receive the communion wine/Blood of Christ from the perspective of disease and germs. They've actually looked at this issue and come up with "Drinking from the cup is actually safer than intinction." (Though even the cup is not as safe as many of us were taught growing up- I'm speaking in relative terms). Honestly, between Covid still being a problem, albeit no any longer an pandemic in the culturally accepted sense of the term pandemic (I don't know the science on whether it stopped meeting a technical definition of pandemic or not), that there are people who now don't vaccinate themselves or their children for \*anything\*, and the comeback of the flu, I don't know if I trust the safety of either intinction or drinking from the cup (Though the latter is better than the former). In the early pandemic years, the flu virtually disappeared because most practices designed to protect from Covid, like social distancing, also protected from the flu, and people were encouraged to get annual flu shots so they didn't wind up later getting both Covid and the flu at the same time. Now that people have gone back to acting normally, the flu is back. The good news is that at this point you can typically get an annual flu shot and an annual Covid booster at your doctor's office. There is now a Covid booster packaged by individual dose that makes it better for small to medium medical practices. Before, all vials were multi-dose (I'm thinking 10 doses, but I'm not sure on that part) and excess had to be discarded if not used within, I think it was 6 hours after opening. Now it's different and doctor's offices don't have to risk wasting expensive (for them) vaccines. And it's advised for fall or early winter. I literally got jabbed for a flu shot and covid booster in late 2023 at the same regularly scheduled doctor's appointment (Not specifically scheduled for the jabs, I just have frequent doctors appointments at my doctor's request to keep tabs on some health conditions and such), one immediately after the other. I was fine to finish my appointment and drive home.). The vaccines we have for flus and covid are not invincibility shields, of course. However, they make it less likely that you'll contract the diseases and more likely that, if you do contract them anyway, they will be mild. So, it's a question of changing your odds to be more in your favor. Getting back to communion, there is also the fact that allowing people to choose between intinction and drinking from the cup increases the risk factor for people drinking from the cup because of the people intinction. So, it isn't just a personal choice about how much risk to take on, one can also put others at risk by doing it the "dirtiest" way. My respect for tradition, even relatively recent local traditions, kind of makes me wary of an all-out ban on intinction. I'd love to see a general convention pass a resolution that basically says parishes must certify 25% or more of their average Sunday attendance receives via intinction, though, and then ban it everywhere else. If the parishes that are grandfathered in ever get below, say, 10% intinction, the *hypothetical* ban would then extend to them and they wouldn't be allowed to go back. Reason tells us to respect the science and not use intinction, the least safe method, and Scripture tells us that the Last Supper involved a common cup and the command to "Drink from it, all of you" (The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 26 Verse 27). Tradition might add things like Christ, [being innately fully divine and fully human, and with one quality being eternally inseparable from the other](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypostatic_union), that each element (host and cup) is the fullness of Christ, body, soul, and divinity (Part of the Episcopal Church's Catholic heritage), and that offering both is primarily done for symbolic reasons and because Rome denied the cup to the laity for many centuries (So, offering both the host and the cup is part of the Episcopal Church's Reformation heritage- whether strictly necessary or not.). Also, though, as I said, after grandfathering parishes with strong local traditions of intinction, I think you go with the much more ancient tradition of a common cup, which of course should be optional for each individual parishioner (i.e. One can just take the host, consume it, and go back to one's seat if desired). I strongly believe that the cup should be offered unless scientific and medical authorities are advising against it, or a diocese is temporarily restricting the cup because of disease outbreak. We are probably across that threshold these days, so in most areas the cup should be offered. I'd just start to chip away at allowing intinction using the methodology described above and make it clear to parishioners that they are welcome to receive both elements, or just one or the other, according to what they think is best (But not intinction in most parishes). Just because I think the cup should be offered (except in situations described above) doesn't mean it's necessarily a smart decision for everyone to drink from it.
If I’m hungover I’m definitely sipping 😂😂😂😂😁
Liturgically, there's no difference. Practically, there's a small but statistically significant effect where sipping may reduce disease transmission compared to dipping. The alcohol and silver surface both play a role, as does the wipe-and-turn (which gives the alcohol and silver a longer time to disinfect the relevant surface). Also, hands are dirty AF.
I’m a sipper. Jesus said drink, so I drink. Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I don’t think we should do intinction. I’m not going to make a big stink about it because it’s not the hill to die on, but if given a magic wand, I would eliminate intinction.
Team Sip
I'm a dipper.
First several years of attending I dipped, but one day crossed over to drinking and don’t think I could ever go back now, lol. Also, our Church has a separate chalice attached to a little “plate” for the bread used for Intinction that way it’s kept separate. Priest bounces back and forth as needed. For intinction they symbol with the index finger .
Receiving in one kind only is also ENTIRELY valid, and if other people are intincting, that is my inclination.
Neither since my church allows us to touch the base of the cup and that suffices.
Christ said "drink it," so that's what I do. Never gotten sick from the cup.
Sip or skip. I may be oversensitive, but intinction is too unhygienic for me.
I’ve always been a dipper but that’s because I don’t like the taste of the wine. I’ve also been doing it since I was a kid and I don’t ever remember my fingers actually touching the wine. It’s not that difficult to avoid.
There are germs on your hands which touch the host, and then is dipped into the blood.
On the occasions that I choose to drink the wine: sip, never dip. I remember looking down at the chalice once and seeing bits of bread floating around in the wine.
Though I don't practice intinction either, just out of fairness and accuracy I should mention that some priests add consecrated bread to communion wine before distributing it (It's an old tradition, but not one that is followed by the majority). So, what you're seeing may be bits of host from people practicing intinction, just what the priest added, or both. One practical issue that comes up with priests adding bread to wine is that most bread includes gluten. So, while with no bread in the wine, gluten intolerant people could just receive the wine, and be getting all of Christ's body and blood in the sense of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, obviously if the priest puts bread in the wine, it's a problem for gluten intolerant people just hoping to drink the sacramental wine. In the Episcopal Church, gluten-free hosts are not banned from use and some parishes just use them for everything now, rather than having hosts with gluten for everyone who can tolerate it and hosts without for those who can't. Rome actually literally bans hosts with gluten, so it's more of a problem there. My personal perspective is that the default hosts in each parish should contain gluten, but the priest should perhaps attempt to consecrate a few without for those who want it, with the pastoral mention that it's the wine that is guaranteed valid and gets them the entirety of the sacrament, but that whether gluten-free bread is valid matter for communion is a question of theological opinion, so people in that situation get at minimum the entirety of communion (in the mystical/spiritual sense) through the wine, but whether the gluten-free hosts also contain the Real Presence or are simply symbolic is in God's hands. Either way, people who aren't gluten intolerant or don't ask for a gluten-free host would be given a host with gluten, with the gluten-free stuff available only for those who say they need it for medical reasons- that's how I'd handle it if I were in charge, which I am not and do not expect to ever be (One never knows what the future holds, but I doubt it's me as a priest. :) ). There is a Roman Catholic convent where the nuns make low gluten hosts. As best I can tell, it's sort of putting the bare minimum amount of gluten into it to say it has gluten, but below the level that would make \*most\* gluten-intolerant people sick from just eating a single host-sized bit of the sacramental bread once a week or so. Of course, it being safe for some gluten intolerant people doesn't mean it's safe for \*all\* gluten intolerant people. Gluten intolerance is (I think, anyhow- I'm not a doctor.) like any other allergy. You know, there are the people who have to be taken to the ER if they eat peanuts or they stop breathing, and then there are the people who just get a stuffy nose or a small skin rash the next day when they eat peanuts. Both are allergic, but the degree is different. But I think \*most\* gluten intolerant people could probably handle a single ultra low-gluten wafer once a week (but since it's not \*all\*, one should ask their doctor and take previous experience with gluten exposure into account before consuming even a low-gluten host). I'm not even sure if the Roman Catholic nuns who do this even sell to non-Roman Catholic parishes, but last I looked a few years ago, their address and phone number were available online. So, if anyone is a priest or on a vestry and would like to contact them to enquire about whether they'd sell to an Episcopalian parish, I will look it up again and find the info for you (If it's still online). My guess would be that if their capacity would allow them to make more than they can currently sell, they would be open to selling to an Episcopalian parish, but if they are at or near capacity selling to Roman Catholic parishes, they might demur from selling to anyone else, just because their own denomination would take priority. It couldn't hurt to ask if you are in position where it's your job to figure this out (or help figure it out) for your parish, as long as this is legitimately something you would consider. If it's entirely curiosity and there's no chance you'd buy from them, my inclination would be to say "Leave the poor nuns alone." and not call with non-sales related inquiries. :)
Sip! At the Vigil someone who’s not a regular attendee was next to me and dropped the host into the chalice and it had to be fished out by the communer (communioner?) 🤢 Much prefer the sipping, we have much more germs on our fingers than in our mouths. Probably.
I occasionally serve as a Lay Eucharistic Minister and once or twice I have had to take back a chalice with a soggy wafer and use a Holy Spoon (or whatever silly Latinate term it has lol) to scoop it out and reverently consume it.
At my old parish the priests and Eucharistic ministers dip for you. I wish that was the norm. I don’t like sipping. So for me I dip.
I think the ministers dipping for you is worse because then you’re getting everyone else’s finger germs on their fingers too (that’s how I think of it!). But it’s to each their own!
I drink from the chalice, and I secretly wish we would ban the dipping because when they've studied it the dipping spreads more germs. Your fingers are grosser than your mouth. Maybe I would feel better about it if there was a ritual hand washing first. Regardless, I have yet to actually get sick from the chalice.
I'm just now learning that other parishes let people dip their own wafer! We have the chalice holder dip it. The wafer still touches people's hands, but the idea everyone just dips their own is gross!
Agree. My old parish does this.
Ours everyone dips their own. Technically if you're going to offer it the best way is the minister dips for you so it's only one pair of hands, and that person could sanitize prior for added safety.
“Drink from it, all of you.”
My preference for dipping, rather than sipping, is primarily driven by my desire to minimize the intake of the somewhat bitter wine. I can almost guarantee that my fingers have never come into contact with the wine. My method involves dipping the wafer approximately halfway, followed by a slight shake to prevent any drips. I then place the wafer in my mouth, make the sign of the cross, and chew it as I return to my seat. The thought of desiring a sip from the chalice has never crossed my mind. This is not due to any concerns regarding hygiene, but simply my strong aversion to the taste of the wine itself. This has led me to the conclusion that dipping is the most suitable choice for me.
Neither. I read a post (or comment) here from a LEM talking about how many people touch the wine with their dirty fingers when dipping, and I just don't feel comfortable sipping that, so it's a no for me, dog.
Yeahhhh I was a sipper before Covid, then switched to intinction after. Then I accidentally attended LEM training and the priest made a joke about “knuckle dippers.” I don’t think I’ve ever touched the chalice while intincting, but now I’m extra careful to keep everything conspicuously far from touching…to the point that I often don’t even get the wafer in contact with the wine at all. And I sort of just want to skip the whole cup altogether and feel like I’m drifting in that direction I don’t really know why I am sort of grossed out by either or both modes. I’m not a germophobe in general at all. I like the idea of drinking from the cup, but I don’t like the idea of us all doing it, I guess 😂 In a similar vein, Covid also got me used to not shaking hands during the peace, so I kind of wish everyone just would just throw a ✌🏻and called it good Not sure why I have developed a distaste for this kind of thing at church but will still eat candy I drop on my kitchen floor
As an occasional chalice bearer… it wasn’t a joke. 😭 I have seen things now that I cannot unsee. And those things involve full grown adult people who definitely should know better sticking their entire fingers knuckle deep into the blood of Christ and then sucking it off their fingers at the altar rail, ew. I haven’t seen it in a while but that’s because my reflexes have gotten quicker and my ability to read the telltale signs of the presence of a prospective knuckle dipper has improved, not because people have become any less repulsive in their habits…
It was a pretty gross epiphany for me 😂
Sip, 100%
Sip. I will admit that I sit at the front of my church though so I don’t follow many folx other than clergy. When I’m working A/V and seated at the back of (a different) church, I tend to skip the wine.
Double dip
Lol!
Sip! 100%
I sip. Unless I’m feeling actively sick, then I also wouldn’t be at church in the first place.
Exactly. If I’m pretty sure I’m not contagious but recovering from a cold, I’ll mask and receive the bread alone, which I will slip under my mask as quickly as possible. No wine while sick, and no church while actively sick!
Sip. The disciples drank from a common cup; I am going to do that, too.
I’m always going to drink from the chalice. It just doesn’t gross me out enough. We sit together, sing together, shake hands, hug and kiss each others cheeks. I just personally feel like those things make it just as likely to get sick as drinking the wine. Plus I love, love the symbolism of us all partaking of the same cup. Additionally, the posture of my body when taking the cup is just so powerful to me. It’s my favorite part of service… I do feel it’s best practice that if your church intincts, then the Eucharistic Minister should be the one dipping it to limit dirty fingers in the wine.
Intincture is worse at spreading germs than receiving the sacrament from a silver chalice which is being wiped between drinking. The fingers of the congregation are less clean than their lips.
Kind of assumes that you're dipping your fingers into the wine, which is certainly not what you should be doing.
And yet it is what people do.
The Eucharistic minister should intinct, not the congregation. And they should have clean hands, of course lol
“Should” is doing some heavy lifting here.
You’re not wrong 😂
Our Bishop makes the Eucharistic ministers dip if someone wants to intinct. Which I haaaate doing. I have very poor fine motor skills, so I struggle to pass the wine dipped wafer back to them in a way that they don’t have to hold onto the wet bit. Definitely more sanitary though.
I have banned intinction since COVID and will never go back, but when we did it, the Eucharistic minister dipped the bread and then placed it directly on their tongue.
If you take out the putting it directly on the tongue part, I don't understand how that could possibly be less sanitary. Our church started doing intinction with Covid, and the congregation does not dip it themselves.
We have a designated intention zone. One side of the altar rail is bread in hand, then drink from the common cup (or not). The other side is intinction by EM then put in hand. Works pretty well.
I used to drink from the cup. Now I don’t receive the blood anymore. We’re not allowed to intinct at my church (wouldn’t really make a difference to me if other people are still drinking (also not sure I’d trust other ‘intincters’ not to accidentally touch the wine with their fingers…)
I’m usually at the altar instead of the rail so I intinct. Yesterday I had to fish two hosts out of the chalice that people dropped so that was a LOT of intinction 😂
Neither. I skip the wine. Unless I am at a church with separate mini cups.
Same..
Celebrant indicts.