Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church • Kinderhook, New York
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Sunday Worship

Sundays 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
Holy Communion in the Church

Holy Days and other Observances
as announced

 

About Holy Communion
as of April, 2023

All baptized Christians, of whatever age or denomination, are welcome to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion at Saint Paul's Church. The Sacrament is distributed in two forms (called "species"): the Body of Christ in the form of consecrated bread; and the Blood of Christ, in the form of consecrated wine. The process by which bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ is a mystery; the eyes of faith are satisfied with Our Lord's promise to be among us when we "do this" as he commanded. It is faith, not chemistry or physics, that tell us that bread offered as he commanded is his body, and that wine offered as he commanded is his blood, the blood of a new covenant, shed for us and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

These two, the Bread and Wine, constitute one presence of Christ, not two; the church has taught, since its earliest recorded teachings, that all of the benefits and graces of Holy Communion are received in either form alone. This permits those who, for any reason, cannot or chose not to consume the bread or the cup, are full communicants of Christ, no less than those who partake of both.

During the SARS epidemic of 2003, the Anglican Church of Canada and the Canadian Ministry of Health (Health Canada) jointly sponsored research into the public health consequences of sharing Holy Communion in the form of wine.

That study found that:
  • The safest way to administer Sacramental wine is for an uninfected minister with properly sanitized hands to intinct (dip) a host (consecrated wafer of bread) into the wine and to administer it to the communicant on the tongue.
  • Almost as safe with regard to risk is sipping from the common cup, provided that the rim of the cup is cleansed by pinching (not wiping or rubbing) the rim of the cup, inside and out, firmly with a clean portion of a purificator, and the cup rim is rotated between communicants.
  • The riskiest option, from the standpoint of communicating disease, is for the communicant to handle and then intinct a host received in the hand. Hands and fingers are more heavily contaminated than lips. 

Jesus makes no promises that the sacramental cup provides any protection against transmissible illness (
Matthew 4:5‑7;  Luke 4:9‑13). Neither the low alcohol content of the wine (rarely more than 14%; at least 70% is required to neutralize viral pathogens) nor the silver content of some communion cups sterilizes adequately. Proper infection control can, however, help reduce the possibility of illness. Nevertheless, those who are not vaccinated, or who are at risk of complications, may wish to consider their options.

As of April 2023, we administer Holy Communion in the form of consecrated Bread to you in your outstretched palm. You may, if you wish, sip from the common cup if a minister is available to administer it; or you may carefully intinct (dip) the host in the consecrated Wine, taking care not to allow your fingers to come into contact with the liquid or the cup.  Or you may simply consume the host in full confidence that you have received all the benefits of Christ's passion.

We are blessed by those who, with cheerful and selfless generosity, have gladly forgone communion in both kinds over the many months of the strictest Covid restrictions. There is no guarantee that they will not again become necessary, or that some other public health threat may appear. What we can count on, however, is that God sanctifies, blesses, and makes holy those who have the mind of Christ, who set aside their own preferences and desires for the good of the community. Their patient endurance, faith, and generosity in practicing a discipline of gracious surrender to the mysterious ways of God have grown them out of natural human self-concern and closer to the perfection of their life in and with God.

Please pray for the
safety and health of those who still contract Covid or suffer consequences of a previous infection and for the consolation of those who have lost loved ones to the disease, and for an end to threat of serious disease.

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  • HOME
  • ABOUT US
    • Ministries
    • Leadership & Staff >
      • Meet the Rector
      • Office Coordinator
    • History >
      • Heroes & Treasures >
        • Tiffany & Stained Glass Windows
        • Alleluia Eggs
        • Altar Cross (Elizabeth Braine Guion)
        • First Rector (Rev. Frederick Tiffany)
        • Purchase of the Property (The Vanderpoels)
        • The Vestry of 1857
        • Baptismal Font (Catherine G. Johnson)
        • Church Bell (Rev. Porter Thomas)
        • Moving the Edifice (Francis Silvester)
        • Sexton (Peter Vanderpoel)
        • Credence Table (Aaron Melgert Vanderpool)
        • Our Lady of Walsingham (Father Karl Kuhn)
        • Altar Rail (Aaron John Vanderpoel)
        • James Brignull
        • Monstrance (Rev. Susan Waldron)
        • Columbarium (The Winfields)
        • Candelabra (The Livingstons)
        • Stations of the Cross (Roy Roberts)
        • Nursery Wing Painting (Sally Van Alstyne))
  • WHAT WE BELIEVE
    • What We Believe
    • Worship
    • Children
    • Sacraments, Rites & Ceremonies >
      • Baptism
      • Communion
      • Confirmation
      • Reconciliation
      • Marriage
      • Ministry to the Sick and Dying
      • Burial
  • for Parishioners
    • Photos
  • Cheerful Giving
  • WORSHIP
  • Walking in Love
  • CONTACT US
  • Dessert Sales