I remember when we had a new pastor who resigned after just two weeks because the church refused to switch from grape juice to wine (it was a Protestant church). He threw a fit, accusing us of not being “real Christians.” But the congregation was simply being considerate — we had people recovering from alcoholism, and many parents preferred grape juice so their kids could participate too. It struck me as one of those small details that ends up dividing people into “for” and “against” camps — a very predictable (and frankly, silly) part of human nature.
This was a fantastic read and it took me back. At my first (and pretty much last) holy communion, the wafer tasted so much like a tissue that it made me gag. Luckily, I had a handkerchief and I was able to discretely slip the body of christ into my plastic white handbag. Why not a blessed baguette slice?
At my aunt's funeral last year, before Communion, the priest laid out rules: have both arms crossed if you want the full meal, you know, bread and wine. Only have the left (I think) if you skip the wine part. Only cross your right if you prefer gluten-free. There was some way to get gluten free and wine, but I hadn't done any of this in years so I just sat gape mouthed, wondering how anyone remembered who got what.
A Shaker meeting? The "no sex" Shakers? There are two Shakers left in the whole world. That's got to be a Quaker meeting, right?
I remember when we had a new pastor who resigned after just two weeks because the church refused to switch from grape juice to wine (it was a Protestant church). He threw a fit, accusing us of not being “real Christians.” But the congregation was simply being considerate — we had people recovering from alcoholism, and many parents preferred grape juice so their kids could participate too. It struck me as one of those small details that ends up dividing people into “for” and “against” camps — a very predictable (and frankly, silly) part of human nature.
This was a fantastic read and it took me back. At my first (and pretty much last) holy communion, the wafer tasted so much like a tissue that it made me gag. Luckily, I had a handkerchief and I was able to discretely slip the body of christ into my plastic white handbag. Why not a blessed baguette slice?
At my aunt's funeral last year, before Communion, the priest laid out rules: have both arms crossed if you want the full meal, you know, bread and wine. Only have the left (I think) if you skip the wine part. Only cross your right if you prefer gluten-free. There was some way to get gluten free and wine, but I hadn't done any of this in years so I just sat gape mouthed, wondering how anyone remembered who got what.
Love this, passing onto my gluten free friend. The Trad-Cath part had me laughing out loud!