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| Welcome to Christ Church @ Home (www.ccvathome.org), our online portal for worship resources. On this page, you will find all the resources you need to participate in online worship services as well as links to other important resources. Please contact the Church Office if you have any questions or need anything. PLEASE NOTE: OUR FINAL LIVE STREAMING SERVICE WILL BE JUNE 25. Sunday, May 28, 2023 (Pentecost)
—FFP2 masks are no longer required, however you are free to continuing wearing one if you choose —we still advise using the hand sanitizer dispenser when entering the church —shaking hands and embracing will be allowed during 'the peace,' but everyone should be mindful of the comfort of others in shaking hands, embracing, or nodding —anyone with symptoms is encouraged to stay home and consult a physician —everyone is still encouraged to test regularly —while traveling to/from the church, everyone should be mindful of local guidelines THE COMMON CUP AND HYGIENE Typical Anglican Eucharistic practice includes receiving the wine from a common cup or chalice. Intinction (dipping the bread into the wine) is no longer possible for hygienic reasons and as directed by the bishops. If you feel uncertain about drinking from the chalice, continuing to receive the bread only is perfectly acceptable and in keeping with Anglican tradition (which has always held that taking Communion in one kind is taking Communion fully). You may leave the altar rail after receiving the bread or remain kneeling until the wine has passed to acknowledge the presence of Christ in both the bread and the wine. Should you have an active respiratory infection of any sort, we ask that you exercise caution and refrain from the cup. For those wondering about the science behind the hygiene of the common cup, there are really two major questions to consider. First, how hygienic is the common cup? A very simple answer has been offered by the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a 1998 letter it issued after numerous inquiries. Citing eight studies, it concluded: “Within the CDC, the consensus of the National Center for Infectious Diseases and the National Center for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and Tuberculosis is that a theoretic risk of transmitting infectious diseases by using a common communion cup exists, but that the risk is so small that it is undetectable. The CDC has not been called on to investigate any episodes or outbreaks of infectious diseases that have been allegedly linked to the use of a common communion cup.” Lilia P. Manangan, Lynne M. Sehulster, Linda Chiarello, Dawn M. Simonds, et al., “Risk of Infectious Disease Transmission from a Common Communion Cup,” American Journal of Infection Control, Vol. 26, No. 5 (Oct 1998), 538-539. The second question concerns the practice of sipping from the common cup (with the server wiping the cup between people) and the practice of dipping the host in the cup (intinction). Data on this comparison is harder to find as the design of experiments seems to affect outcomes significantly. However, a study by David H. Gould notes: “There is, however, real concern that many of the modes of intinction used in parishes do not diminish the threat of infection, and some may actually increase it. Hands, children’s and adult’s, are at least as likely to be a source of infection (often more so) as lips. Retention of the wafer in the hand of the recipient then intincting it means that the wafer, now contaminated by the hand of the recipient, is placed in the wine, thus spreading the infection to it.” David H. Gould, “Eucharistic Practice and the Risk of Infection,” Report for the Doctrine and Worship Committee, Anglican Church in Canada, Diocese of Toronto, April 1987. See also Alvin F. Kimel, Jr., and David H. Gould, “Intinction: Is it Safer?” The Living Church (November 2003), 26-27. Finally, even if the science did not support prohibiting intinction, the Bishops of the Diocese in Europe have prohibited the practice of intinction in their letter on March 21, 2022 [pdf, 398kb]. OTHER RESOURCES AND LINKS You can find everything you need to participate in an online services here:
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