COVID-19 & St. Peter's

From our Bishops:

Federal health officials have warned that it is anticipated that the COVID-19 (coronavirus) will probably spread into the United States. It has been recommended that churches, businesses, schools, and hospitals begin making preparations

 

There are basic steps each of our communities within the Episcopal Church in Connecticut can follow to minimize risk for our parishes and people, and the ministries to which they contribute or by which they are served. 

Some initial actions we encourage you and your parishioners to pursue are: 

• Wash your hands frequently, using soap and water or an alcohol-based rub. All clergy and eucharistic ministers should use an alcohol-based rub before the distribution of the sacrament, both in the context of the liturgy or in visiting someone at home or in the hospital.

• Practice keeping a safe distance in social interactions. In general, maintain a distance of a few feet between you and others, particular those who are coughing, sneezing, or evidently ill.

• At the peace encourage parishioners to exchange the peace of the Lord without touching.

• Try to avoid intinction (if your hands are not clean) in receiving the Eucharist as fingers and hands carry viruses and other pathogens. Assure parishioners that receiving in only one kind (in this case, the bread) is a full and sufficient participation in the sacrament. 

• Practice respiratory hygiene. Cover your mouth when sneezing or coughing; discard tissues immediately in closed bins.

• Avoid shaking hands at the doorway after the service and other physical greetings.

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

• Any parishes involved in ministries in which food is served (including coffee hour!) should give particular attention to The WHO recommendations regarding food safety.

• Needless to say, we should send a clear message that if anyone feels ill or unwell, they should, as a general rule, seek medical care immediately and not attend parish events.

• Related to this, if someone who is elderly or lives alone does not appear at church in what would otherwise be a regular function, create systems for wellness checks.

The Town of Monroe response is here. Adapted from a fellow clergy's post:

What about the common cup at the Eucharist?

The simple answer is this - peer reviewed studies and Centers for Disease Control guidance since the 1980s have consistently shown that "no documented transmission of any infectious disease has ever been traced to the use of a common communion cup" and "the risk for infectious disease transmission by a common communion cup is very low, and appropriate safeguards--that is, wiping the interior and exterior rim between communicants, use of care to rotate the cloth during use, and use of a clean cloth for each service - would further diminish this risk." American Journal of Infection Control (Vol. 26, No. 5, 1998).

We do all these things at St. Peter's! Our Eucharistic Ministers are trained to wipe the rim of the chalice between each communicant, to rotate the purificator (the cloth), and the Altar Guild ensures a clean cloth is used for each liturgy.

Is it more sanitary to intict the host into the cup than drink from it?

No - As any experienced Eucharistic Minister or clergy person will tell you, it is a common occurrence when people intict the host for their fingers to touch either the consecrated wine or the side of the chalice. This is in fact less sanitary then drinking in the first place - we can make sure our Eucharistic Ministers and clergy wash their hands, but we can't do the same for the whole of the congregation!

Here are three options for you:

1. When in doubt, drink from the common cup - it is the most sanitary way for you to receive the consecrated wine at the Eucharist. Christians have been doing so for centuries, and still manage to die at the same rate and pace as the general population!
    
2. If you don't want to drink from the cup, don't intict for yourself if your hands are not clean. Instead, leave the host on your hand, and allow the Eucharistic Minister to intict it for you, and place the host on your tongue. This ensures that only people with washed hands are handling the hosts, and it eliminates the unsanitary conditions that are caused by intiction.
    
3. Finally, if you don't want to receive the cup at all, it's ok not to. The church believes that all of the grace of the sacrament of the Eucharist is conferred wholly in each element - both consecrated bread and wine. To receive only the host is not to have a "half blessing" or to receive "half communion." Instead, receiving in one kind is to fully partake in the Eucharistic feast.