Starting April 3, 2022, communion wine returns as an option for those who would like. We will be using the common cup. If you are not ready to start receiving the wine again, that is fine. Receiving just the bread is considered full communion; the entirety of the sacrament is independently contained within each element. Several people did not take the wine before COVID for various reasons. This has always been perfectly acceptable.
At the 8 o’clock and 11 o’clock services, we will gather side-by-side at the altar rail (like before COVID) where you can stand or kneel to receive the sacrament. If you would prefer not to receive the wine, please stay at your spot at the altar rail and cross your arms across your chest as the cup comes by - the Eucharistic Minister will say the words of distribution and bow to you. For those who would like more space and are not ready to be next to others at the altar rail, there will be a station in the chapel. We request that those coming to the chapel respect the space of others and come up as individuals or family groups, and give others at least six feet of distance.
At the 9:30 service, we will keep our stations, with a wine station on each side - at a good distance from the bread station - for those who would like to receive the wine.
If you would prefer to intinct the bread into the wine, please let the Eucharistic Minister do it for you. This may seem counter-intuitive, but health experts tell us that this is healthier than having each person intinct for themselves. They say the biggest health danger with the common cup is people accidentally putting their fingers into the wine when intincting; the Eucharistic Minister is in a better position to see into the cup and not accidentally have their fingers touch the wine.
