This short case is inspired by Ryan Martin’s article “A Modest Proposal: One Loaf in Communion.”

A Modest Proposal: The Pouring Chalice

In 1 Cor 10:16 Paul says, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?” 

In many evangelical churches, there is a fundamental disconnect between these words and our practice regarding the Lord’s Supper. Communicants are left to apply the meaning to their own individual cup, pre-portioned by volunteers before the Lord’s Day service began or pre-packaged in a factory months ago in another state. Worse still, many well-meaning churches make use of a prop chalice with plate, usually rustic and hand-spun clay, which the minister gestures to or drinks from while the members drink from their little plastic shotglasses. Ostensibly, only that cup is participation in the blood of Christ. Is that the message we’re meaning to send? Even affording a more generous read, this church is teaching by practice that the practice of communion is a way to remind us somehow of Jesus’ last supper - and nothing more. Just drink wine (even juice) and eat bread in some manner because Jesus once did.

The elders in the church have an obligation to correct errant practices as a matter of biblical fidelity, but we don’t do so lightly, knowing that traditions and emotions are intrinsically linked, and that fights in the church should be avoided where possible. What if there was a way to consecrate one cup and yet provide individual glasses? I propose the pouring chalice as a sensitive compromise or a transition to the usual common cup. It allows advantages while retaining the unity of the cup, symbolically and actually. The minister and congregation may bless a single cup which is distributed to other cups - individual or shared - to be consumed by each communicant.

The Singular Cup is Faithful

The biblical precedent for the common cup is undeniable. The accounts of the Last Supper in the Gospels clearly depict Jesus sharing a single cup with his disciples, saying, "Drink from it (singular), all of you" (Matthew 26:27). It is not my experience that churches insisting on pre-portioned individual cups deny that they are stepping away from the New Testament model, they simply argue from health and practicality. 

Additionally, we are all aware that the individual cup is a very recent development. Several churches claim to be the first to adopt the practice between 1890 and 1894.

Think about just how radical and recent this is. A handful of churches in the 1890s began the practice and it would take decades for others to follow. There are surely some churches even today debating introducing it for the first time. This means it is not unlikely that a senior member of your church, even in the 2020s,  remembers the introduction of the individual cup.

Considering the Drawbacks

This is not what it looked like at the last supper, but then again, most of us aren’t willing to gather around a table and sit on cushions. I am also assuming a certain, modest form of real presence. If crumbs and drips of the body and blood are unthinkable to you, you might be too scrupulous for this. The one pouring needs a steady hand, but I always have a little bit to hit the tray.

I also do not see this working all that well in a megachurch, but to be honest and controversial, I find the idea of communing 500+ in one service to stretch the nature of both communion and membership. The most I have served this way was an Easter service with 128 in attendance, counting children who did not receive. 

Conclusion

When is it worth changing our methods for the sake of biblical consistency? How much pushback should let us “forget it”, and how clear is the need for a single cup?

These are local questions for an elder board, but if you’re like me , once you notice the issue you can’t unsee it. I do recognize the gray area of specificity. Ryan Martin points out in his article that the need for a common loaf is explicit, the common cup less so. If you get into the discussion, just consider this: Is the use of pre-portioned cups proven compatible with the text?  Erring on the side of caution, are we not driven to the use of one cup? This pouring option is situated as a compliant, moderate, and accommodating method between prepackaged and the old common cup, still enabling us to say after the apostles, “This cup is the new covenant.”