Prefilled Communion Cups

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As Prefilled Communion cups small, pre-packaged disposable sets for are the bread and wine in Holy Communion referred to as coffee creamer cups look like. Each set consists of a plastic cup with a sip of grape juice ; The ( gluten-free ) host is in the lid . There are several manufacturers who sell the disposable sets under different names and have also found different solutions for separating the host and juice.

use

When using the Prefilled Communion Cups , the Lord's Supper consists in the fact that when the words of institution have been spoken in the service , the communicants take a cup from a tray if they have not already received it in the service. You tear open the set and first remove the host and eat it, then you drink the mini cup with the grape juice.

Some Christians also use Prefilled Communion Cups as part of an individual spirituality at home, independent of a church celebration.

advantages

The Prefilled Communion Cups were invented by an Oregon pastor in the 1990s . In 1996, entrepreneur Jim Johnson developed an aseptic, disposable communion set. It was presented to an evangelical public at a major Promise Keepers event in Atlanta that same year. When describing his product, Johnson refers to the feeding of the five thousand when Jesus Christ himself used some form of fast food.

Communion Cups are a further development of the single goblets , which also first became common in the United States in response to concerns about being infected with bacteria at the Lord's Supper. For a sacrament celebration with grape juice at the bedside, increased requirements apply. The packaged disposable cups are unproblematic in terms of hygiene.

In addition, many mega-churches have a logistical problem of how the Lord's Supper can be celebrated with thousands of participants. At such major events, the Communion Cups are handed out at the entrance or, during the service, employees pass them through the rows of benches in boxes or baskets. As the cups are disposable, there is no need to clean the used individual cups. The Gospel Forum in Stuttgart has been using this form of communion since 2016.

criticism

Representatives of more traditional Christian churches were critical of the Prefilled Communion Cups. Bishop Theodore F. Schneider, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America , told the Washington Post that the disposable cups destroyed the symbol of the common chalice. In the Lutheran Church in America, individual goblets are used, but they are filled from a pouring cup. For the EKD , Thies Gundlach told the Sunday paper that the idea of ​​effectiveness is in tension with the meal of fellowship with God and fellow human beings. In the EKD the Lord's Supper sets are not used, but this form of the single chalice is not excluded in principle.

Prefilled Communion Cups are not permitted in Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The canon lawyer Thomas Schüller declared that the risk of spilling some of the changed blood of Christ excludes communion with single chalices for Catholics.

Web links

literature

  • Anselm Schubert: God Eat: A Culinary Story of the Last Supper . CH Beck, Munich 2018. ISBN 978-3-406-70055-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mark Molloy: Pre-packaged Communion now available for prices. In: The Telegraph. February 15, 2016, accessed October 6, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b c Bill Broadway: Majestic Rite vs. Modern convenience. In: The Washington Post. May 4, 1996, accessed October 6, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Andrew Brown: Pre-pack cups alter image of eucharist. In: The Independent. June 7, 1996, accessed October 6, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b c Hannah Thielmann: Last Supper Capsules. In: Sunday paper. September 8, 2018, accessed October 6, 2018 .