What do you use in church?

What do you use in church for “the cup?”

  • Total voters
    68
We use kosher wine some months and various reds other months, but there is also always a ring of grape juice for those that don't want alcohol for various reasons. Each elder is assigned a month where they buy the wine, so we get a variety.
 
I don't know what kind of wine we use. Probably something inexpensive and red. We also use grape juice for those who cannot or will not drink wine for various reasons. Too bad we can't vote for both, for churches that use both.
 
MChase said:
Table wine in a common cup.
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I prefer a common cup, but that was unpopular even before COVID!

We have port, with outside cups being grape juice. The church I attended in GL was grape juice only for the longest time, but now offers it in addition to table wine (Cabernet?)
 
Can anyone explain to me the rationale for Port? Port was used at Cambridge Presbyterian, when I attended there (which was a bit of a shock the first communion Sunday), and I like it as a drink, but I would have thought the desire would be to replicate the elements of the original supper in broad terms, which is why in the churches I have pastored, we have generally used kosher wine and matzos. I can see using ordinary bread and wine in whatever locale you are, though I do think 1 Cor 5:7 encourages the use of unleavened bread for symbolic reasons. But port and shortbread, while still technically within the boundaries, feel like a step in the direction of coke and pizza. But perhaps someone can explain it to me?
 
iainduguid said:
Can anyone explain to me the rationale for Port?
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When I was younger, an elder told me it was for the high alcohol content, to ensure that the bugs on the shared cup are properly killed.

Finding Port to be a wine I really do not enjoy, I have sometimes pondered that its use is to discourage partakers from taking too much!
 
pmachapman said:
When I was younger, an elder told me it was for the high alcohol content, to ensure that the bugs on the shared cup are properly killed.
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That makes sense to me. Plus I’m sure it stores longer without going bad, and since it is fortified with brandy, which is derived from wine, it’s still “wine“ in that sense.
 
Edward said:
Portions are small, so folks are looking for the most alcohol per serving? Although the "kills more germs" argument sounds better, doesn't it?
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Ok so if portions are small. There isn’t a common cup. Why do we care about germs? And why is alcohol content so important? Are people trying to get a buzz?
 
Romans922 said:
Ok so if portions are small. There isn’t a common cup. Why do we care about germs? And why is alcohol content so important? Are people trying to get a buzz?
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First (presumably) question: I do not know.
Second, third and fourth (?) question: the higher the alcohol content is supposed to do more to kill the germs more/better(?) (and it tastes sweeter).
 
I wonder what kind of wine most churches used before grape juice was invented. I would think the use of fortified wines carried out at least until then.

And for those who think it was for a bigger buzz... seriously brothers? Can we be a little more gracious to our forebears who used it for so long? (Besides the idea of someone getting a buzz from a sip of wine is silly.)
 
PointyHaired Calvinist said:
I wonder what kind of wine most churches used before grape juice was invented. I would think the use of fortified wines carried out at least until then.

And for those who think it was for a bigger buzz... seriously brothers? Can we be a little more gracious to our forebears who used it for so long? (Besides the idea of someone getting a buzz from a sip of wine is silly.)
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While fortified wine was invented quite a while before non-alcoholic grape juice, I'm fairly sure it was still several centuries AD. I'd imagine that regular wine (alcoholic, but not fortified) was used before that, as it would have been the only wine in existence.
 
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PointyHaired Calvinist said:
I wonder what kind of wine most churches used before grape juice was invented. I would think the use of fortified wines carried out at least until then.

And for those who think it was for a bigger buzz... seriously brothers? Can we be a little more gracious to our forebears who used it for so long? (Besides the idea of someone getting a buzz from a sip of wine is silly.)
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I brought up buzz for the simple reason I wasn’t given a good answer for TODAY’s response on this board (it has nothing to do with forefathers). I was asking why were so many people speaking about port? I asked did Jesus command port to be used? A response came, “Portions are small, so folks are looking for the most alcohol per serving? Although the "kills more germs" argument sounds better, doesn't it?”

This response didn’t make sense. If most churches are not using common cup — I.e. portions are small so folks are looking for the most alcohol per drinking…. What even for? Germs are not an issue in individual cups. What’s the need for more alcohol? Is there a mandate by Jesus for a certain amount of alcohol? Doesn’t seem rational. So I asked about buzz. To me it was the only logical question to ask given the responses I had received from people today about why they want stronger wine with individual cups.
 
Romans922 said:
I

I brought up buzz for the simple reason I wasn’t given a good answer for TODAY’s response on this board (it has nothing to do with forefathers). I was asking why were so many people speaking about port? I asked did Jesus command port to be used? A response came, “Portions are small, so folks are looking for the most alcohol per serving? Although the "kills more germs" argument sounds better, doesn't it?”

This response didn’t make sense. If most churches are not using common cup — I.e. portions are small so folks are looking for the most alcohol per drinking…. What even for? Germs are not an issue in individual cups. What’s the need for more alcohol? Is there a mandate by Jesus for a certain amount of alcohol? Doesn’t seem rational. So I asked about buzz. To me it was the only logical question to ask given the responses I had received from people today about why they want stronger wine with individual cups.
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It generally has a less alcoholic taste (even though it has more alcohol) due to sugar content Maybe that's why...
 
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