The first one was during Orientation, and I was serving communion next to my lovely friend Sara Beth. Sara Beth, being Methodist, was giving the bread to people saying "The body of Christ broken for you." This is a bit different from what we say in the Episcopal Church: "The body of Christ, the bread of heaven." Well, I didn't notice Sara Beth was saying "broken for you" until maybe the first 15 people had come through our line. I had been saying my normal words, "The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation." The two don't really match up well- I should have said "The blood of Christ, shed for you." I kept on saying it my way for the rest of communion.
[I started you off with a relatively not awkward one- maybe a 2 on the awkward scale. They get progressively worse. hahaha.]
Most of the time I'm giving the chalice to people at our weekly morning Eucharists for the Anglican Episcopal House- people receive standing up, and since many people are taller than me, I often just hand off the chalice and let them drink. The first time I ever served to people kneeling was a few weeks ago at the church I work at.
The first person I went to serve was an older man. He wasn't kneeling, but standing there with his wafer in his hand. I went up to him and said "The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation".... and nothing. No recognition that I was standing there, no movement of his hand toward the cup. I said the words again, and with the same response. Hmm. The woman next to him whispered to me, "You have to help him." Oh, ok. No problem. I put my hand on top of his and led his wafer into the cup.
I found after the service that he is blind. It all made sense!
My second time serving the chalice at my church, two people came up to me and said they had a hard time getting the wine out of the cup when I was serving. "Oh. What can I do better next time?" I asked. They avoided answering. Well, I'm not one to take criticism and do nothing about it. So yes, I did kneel my roommates and their two best friends in my living room that afternoon. Yes, I did take a big red wine glass and fill it with red wine. Yes, I did go up and down the line practicing the awkwardness of giving the wine to people kneeling. Yes, all four of them had a great time doing it. :-) And yes, I did get better at it. Bam.
My last fun moment with communion distribution was this past week. In the Methodist Church, lay people can distribute the bread. So I was asked to distribute the bread at our bi-lingual Latin American service on Wednesday. My theology professor, Rev. Dr. Colon-Emeric, was standing next to me with the wine. Well, clearly I'm used to giving out wine and not bread. The first woman came up to me and I said, very confidently "Sangre de Cristo" (Blood of Christ) and handed her the bread. Oops!! I laughed and said, "Whoops I meant Cuerpo de Cristo!" I then whispered to my theology professor "Sorry, I'm used to the sangre!" He smiled at me. Yeah, this is me during communion.
I will end with a great story, not about being a chalice bearer, but about consuming the elements [drinking the extra wine] after communion (one of my duties as sacristan). I said to TJ and his friend Chris, "I know it's Jesus and everything, but I have to take small sips, and it makes my cheeks all rosy." Chris said, "Jesus makes you happy!" And TJ said, "Jesus makes you... not able to drive?" Then totally matter-of-fact: "Jesus take the wheel."
And with that, my friends, I say goodnight.
Peace, Love, and Smiles,
Christa
