Bishop’s Letter Regarding Return to Common Cup
May 11, 2023
“We who are many, are one Body because we share in one bread and one cup.”
Dear Beloved in Christ,
In 2020, we found ourselves in the unfamiliar territory of a global pandemic. With our ability to gather severely restricted, we instituted safety protocols including limitation of physical contact and the suspension of the use of the common cup. These measures were necessary, as we were dealing with a deadly virus that doctors and scientists were still learning about even as it was infecting and killing thousands of people. Our COVID-19 reality was hard on all of us, and I deeply appreciate the ways in which congregations in the Episcopal Church in Colorado found ways to be church: to gather safely and to share the Word and Sacrament.
Since those early days of the pandemic, there has been tremendous advancement in what we know about the SARS-Cov2 virus and how it is spread. We now know that Covid is spread by breathing each other’s air in confined spaces. We have made great strides in combating the virus with vaccines, therapeutic treatments, and air mitigation. While Covid is still with us, it is proving much less deadly, and studies conclude that sharing a common chalice is not a risk for transmission.
In recent months, many Episcopal congregations in Colorado and around the country have returned to the use of the common cup and they have shown no increase in the spread of COVID-19. It is therefore my expectation that all congregations in the Episcopal Church in Colorado end the use of individual cups and return to the use of the common cup by the beginning of July. The sharing of the common cup at Eucharist is a vital sign of the unity that we share with Christ. The symbol reminds us that we are one regardless of our background, wealth, identity, race, or culture. In the words of John Baycroft (Bishop of Ottawa, ret.):
The cup is important…We are reminded of the agonizing decision that faced Jesus when he was praying before the crucifixion: ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. (Matthew 26:39). …. We are also reminded by the one cup that we cannot drink it alone. We drink from a common cup as a strong symbol of unity and our willingness to accept each other. We share our love and lives as we share the cup.
As we return to the common cup, please note that the Church maintains that receiving in one kind is a full and complete sacrament. Everyone is free to receive only the bread at communion if they are not comfortable drinking from a common chalice.
Churches may choose to provide an additional chalice for intinction, however, for sanitation reasons, it is preferred that the chalice minister (with sanitized hands) intinct the bread and return it to the congregant.
We have all had different experiences with this virus. And I recognize that this return to the common cup may be difficult for some, especially those who began their life in our communities during the pandemic. It is important, nonetheless for us to return to the powerful symbols of our unity. We are one Body in Christ.
Blessings,
The Rt. Rev. Kimberly Lucas,
Bishop, The Episcopal Church in Colorado