Public worship and public health
As the body of Christ in Holy Communion, we welcome people to the Lord’s table to share in God’s shalom — peace, justice, health and well-being for all people. Around this table we serve one another with the love and care that the Lord extends to us. We should always be attentive to one another’s health and safety. During any possible pandemic, we must especially careful. To that end, we offer these guidelines for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and other aspects of public worship.
Consider wisdom
Although we strongly encourage the frequent celebration of Communion, in the extraordinary event of a flu outbreak that risks public health in your community, the session may wish to consider foregoing Communion temporarily. If concerns over public health have escalated, it may be necessary or mandated by civil authority (as has been the case at other times in history) to suspend public worship services altogether until danger is past. The session will need to use pastoral wisdom and discretion on this matter. In the event of such a situation, consider making resources available for people to worship in their homes.
Preparation of the elements
Anyone with cold or flu symptoms (including cough or fever) or any communicable illness should not participate in preparing the elements. Encourage those individuals to stay home and take care of themselves until at least two days after symptoms have ceased.
All persons preparing Communion should wash their hands thoroughly before beginning the preparations.
All persons preparing Communion should wear protective gloves and masks whenever they are in contact with or near the elements. It is recommended that only those persons preparing the Communion wine or juice and bread be in the vicinity of the preparations while the elements are uncovered.
When using a loaf of bread for intinction, take care to use bread that is able to hold together well enough so as not to crumble, drop or fall off when saturated in the cup.
You may wish to minimize the amount of bread exposed to an airborne pathogen by having the presider break the bread at table. Those serving can tear off large pieces to hand to each communicant, ensuring that only the server’s clean hands touch the bread.
The pieces of bread need to be large enough to allow them to be dipped into the cup without the communicant’s fingers needing to touch the wine/juice.
If you are preparing trays, bread should be pre-cut into large pieces with a sanitized electric knife so that communicants only touch the piece of bread they will consume. (This will require more trays than usual.) Bread should be spread out on the plate one row deep so that people do not have to touch any other piece.
Wine or juice should be served in single cups or in a chalice used for intinction. Make sure all the elements are covered and safe from being handled by anyone else until the Communion service itself.
Serving Communion
In the interest of hygiene, the fewer people who handle the Communion elements during the worship service, the better.
Hand sanitizer is a quick and effective way to make sure that those who are serving or presiding at table have clean hands. At the point in the service where the presider(s) and server(s) have touched everything they need to before serving Communion (offering plates, hymnbooks, etc.), the presider(s) and server(s) should cleanse their hands before approaching the table. With practice and preparation, this can be done quickly and efficiently.
On one hand, the presider and Communion servers may wish to use discretion in sanitizing their hands, screening this act from the view of the congregation. Passing a bottle of hand sanitizer around is not a good symbolic action, since part of the meaning of Communion is the notion that the Lord welcomes sinners, those who are unclean, into the divine presence. Saying you have to be sanitized to partake of the Lord’s Supper can undermine the symbolism of God’s grace.
On the other hand, in the event of serious health concerns, you may want such hand washing to be done publicly and visibly to reassure the congregation. (There is, in fact, a historic liturgical practice in many traditions associated with preparation for the table — the “lavabo,” from the Latin, “I will wash.”) This cleansing should be done at some distance from the table. An empty bowl, a pitcher full of water and some towels can be placed on a small table off to the side where the presider may “wash up” before approaching the table. A pump bottle of hand sanitizer may be hidden discretely among these items. You may ask an assistant to pour water over the hands of those serving and presiding. Each person will need to dry their hands on their own clean white towel after washing them. The pouring of water into the bowl could remind people of the connection between baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
While washing, say a prayer for those taking Communion that their eyes be opened and they see the presence of the risen Lord.
Do not uncover the elements until the beginning of the Communion liturgy and do not handle them until the words of institution said at the end of the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving.
It is preferable to have people to come forward to receive Communion than to have the open elements exposed to various people as they are passed around the pews.
Ushers can bring communicants forward one row at a time or by family groups (those who are already going to be in proximity to one another). Each church can develop a means of providing Communion for anyone who is reluctant to come forward.
Those serving the bread can either place a single large piece of bread in the communicant’s hand or hold a plate of bread with the bread mostly covered exposing a few pieces of bread at a time for the communicants to take.
Those serving the wine/juice can either hand a single cup of wine/juice to the communicants or present the cup for intinction ensuring that the communicants’ fingers or hands do not touch either the cup or the wine/juice.
When presenting the cup for intinction, servers should tilt the cup slightly toward the communicant to enable the juice to flow toward the bread. This should help avoid fingers accidentally touching the wine/juice.
Other issues and ideas
Talk to those who regularly serve as greeters, ushers or servers. Urge them to recruit substitutes if they are experiencing any cold or flu symptoms. This may mean having a larger pool of volunteers to draw from than usual.
In a public health crisis, invite worshipers to use a wider “envelope” of personal space, perhaps skipping rows between church pews and spreading out across the sanctuary.
When passing the peace, instead of shaking hands, you may encourage people to consider other gestures of peace and reconciliation: a smile, a nod, a bow or even the “peace sign” as appropriate in your context.
In times of widespread illness, suspend the “greeting line” at the end of worship. This is especially important anytime the pastor has any cold or flu symptoms!
You might consider placing bottles of hand sanitizer or alcohol-based hand wipes in the church restrooms, gathering areas and at the entrance(s) of the church building for anyone to use.
Use your church newsletter and/or electronic communications to reassure your community that you are taking necessary precautions. Instruct people in the newsletter and bulletin on how to take Communion carefully. In certain situations, you may decide to hold meetings by conference call or in some other electronic manner.
Above all, pray for one another! Pray for Christ’s healing power and grace, not only for your own community, but for people around the world.
Christ, our Healer
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has a long history of a wide range of practices surrounding the serving of Communion, accommodating variations in procedure when such situations arise. We give thanks that this is the table of our Lord Jesus Christ, who devoted so much of his public ministry to the healing of the sick. Therefore, we continue to put our trust in Christ, who gave his own life for our eternal health and salvation. |
based on one created by the Presbytery of East Iowa.
