Mike Peatman has posted about this news from the Blackburn Diocese. Given the flu pandemic, clergy in the diocese have been asked to offer communion in one kind - just bread - to try to halt the spread of the virus.
I'm sure it will cause shock to many people, but as an Anglican who regularly worships with Roman Catholics (in a eucharistic setting), I am well used to the idea of receiving only the bread.
Perhaps this could even be a positive thing for the church! Maybe, in being forced to ask questions about the nature of communion, people will come to a deeper understanding of what is going on.
It's the idea of making communion safe or sanitised that seems wrong. I'd rather abstain from the sacrament altogether- as a costly decision for other people's good.
ReplyDeleteI suppose for many folks, the idea of abstaining from communion would seem even more wrong than changing their methodology for a while.
ReplyDeleteAs I said, receiving in one kind is not a new thing for me, so it doesn't feel like much of a change.