Communion Hygiene

There are a few reliable articles below that may help your thinking around Communion Hygiene. In our attempt to be as clean and safe as possible for the greater benefit, we have unfortunately slipped into devision in our communion hygiene policy.

In short, flu and other type bateria are carried by saliva from the mouth or nose and can be passed on through tiny globules on all surfaces including hands, silver chalices and wine even with a higher alchoholic content.

Hygiene in cleaning hands and chalices is vitally important for those handling the communion vessels. When it comes to the recipients, anyone with any flu type infection etc should take commnion in bread only. Our policy has been for all people to sanitize their hands (with hand sanitizer provided near the rail) just prior to kneeling for communion and then dip the wafer in the wine. This minimises the presence of live bacteria/infection on the hands and fingers if they should accidently touch the wine. (It is obviously not possible to sanitaze the lips or mouth, where the infection orriginates, which is why dipping was preferred after sanitising the hands.) Those who strongly want to sip were asked to wait towards the end. However due to this sense of devision we are looking at either one common cup for both sippers and dippers (which seems less likely to illiminate infection), or a seperate cup for each according to preference, (Dipping after using the handsanitizer), that way the passing on of infection is minimised between the dippers and the sippers and people can still choose their preference.

At the end of the day the communion chalice (so far) is not proven to be a source of common infection and the risk of infection in the community is as great from other common surfaces such as handles and shopping trollys etc, if not gretaer due to lack of hygiene policies. Families with children are proven to be at greater risk, possibly due to general hygiene issues through touch, and so we are choosing to reccommend that children receive communion in bread only.

The two references are worth while reading. There are many more on the internet if you Google Communion Hygiene.

http://www2.elca.org/lutheranpartners/archives/intinct.html 

http://www.cofe.anglican.org/info/swineflu/communion.doc

On Tuesday 22nd June 2010 the Vestry voted 10 to 1 to have two chalices in the larger services, one for sipping and one for dipping. The people who dip are asked to use the hand sanitizer as they come up to the communion rail. In smaller services one chalice can be used for sipping and dipping and again those dipping are asked to use the hand sanitizer as they come up to the communion rail.