Changes to communion services as a result of Coronavirus

On 10 March, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York wrote to all clergy updating their advice and guidance in relation to services of Holy Communion and how they are impacted by the Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.

I, therefore, wanted to update my earlier information sheet on Coronavirus (COVID-19) explaining their decision, and outlining exactly what we are doing in response.

The key message from the Archbishops is as follows:

It is our view, in light of the continued increase of Covid-19 cases in the United Kingdom, that it is now necessary to suspend the administration of the chalice as well as physical contact during the sharing of the peace, blessing or “laying on of hands”.

We therefore advise that all priests should:-

Offer Communion in one kind only to all communicants i.e. the consecrated bread/wafer/host, with the priest alone taking the wine;

suspend handshaking or other direct physical contact during the sharing of the peace;

suspend direct physical contact as part of a blessing or ‘laying on of hands’.”

I have therefore asked all of our clergy and churches to comply with the Archbishops’ advice. However, a number of questions have arisen about the Archbishops’ advice:

Why can’t we use individual cups as some other denominations do?
The simple answer is that this is forbidden in Church of England law. Jesus shared one cup of wine with his disciples, so the Church of England instructs gatherings of his disciples to share one cup of wine to remember him by.

Can we dip a wafer into the wine?
We are strongly discouraged from doing this as hands are a primary transmission route for infections and therefore placing your hand into the chalice increases the risk of disease transmission! Dipping the bread/wafer also creates an allergic reaction risk for other congregation members.

But receiving only the bread/wafer doesn’t feel like a proper communion.
A key thing to consider here is whether the blessings that accrue to us from the eucharist come from faith or from the physical eating of bread and wine. The Church of England teaches that it is from faith, and therefore to receive the bread by faith is full communion.

Suspending the common cup is illegal under church law!
This is an interesting argument for the church lawyers. At their ordination, all clergy swear to uphold the Church of England’s doctrinal basis – the 39 Articles. Article 30 makes it clear that it is wrong to withhold the cup at communion (which was a common Roman Catholic practice prior to the English Reformation). However, the Sacrament Act of 1547 (yes this isn’t a new issue!) states that “holy communion shall ‘be hereafter delivered and ministered unto the people … under both the kinds … of bread and wine, except necessity otherwise require’. There is some debate among church lawyers and clergy as to whether this “except necessity otherwise require” includes things like COVID-19, which is no doubt why the Archbishops have advised rather than ordered clergy to withhold the cup. Were they to order it, they could be in breach of church law, and therefore technically guilty of misconduct under the 2003 Clergy Discipline Measure. However, its important to see the bigger picture here: COVID-19 is a very unpleasant disease which will potentially kill a significant number of people in the UK. Any temporary provision we can make to limit its spread is an act of love and surely falls under the criteria of the Sacrament Act.

What about handwashing?
COVID-19 is destroyed by soap, which is why good handwashing is such an effective tool to limit infection. Please wash your hands thoroughly before coming to church services and other events. Where facilities are available, please wash your hands before you leave the service as well, or as soon as possible afterwards. We had hoped to be able to provide an alcohol-based gel in our buildings, but supplies across the country are so limited that this is proving difficult.

In the meantime, please therefore bear with us while we cope with the changes COVID-19 will bring to all of our routines. Hopefully in a couple of months we’ll look back on this and give thanks that it wasn’t as bad as the doom mongers said. The wonderful thing is, we can all play a part in making it not as bad as it could be, simply by maintaining good hygiene practices, and exercising common sense when it comes to how to interact with others if we display any symptoms. However, this is not a time for us to withdraw from one another: many in our community are afraid and need additional support – especially if they are self-isolating. Please help us show the love of Jesus during this crisis, by keeping an eye out for your neighbours, family and friends–and together we’ll see this through.

• For more information on the Church of England’s official response to COVID-19, visit this webpage.
• If you’d like to read a thoughtful Christian response to Coronavirus, this is as good as I’ve read so far.