How Will the Lord’s Supper Be Served?

By Thom S. Rainer

I just participated in my first Lord’s Supper via a streaming service. My pastor asked us to have juice and bread ready in our homes. I served my wife, and then I served myself as our pastor prayed and read Scripture regarding the Supper.

It was different, but it was meaningful.

To be clear, I know different churches handle this ordinance differently. Some call it by another name such as Communion. Some have a common cup. Some have different theological understandings of its purpose and meaning. 

Many churches in my tradition have very small cups of juice on a plate with cup holders. And many have pieces of bread on a plate for each person to handle, pick up, and eat. 

Will these practices change as we return to in-person services? Maybe I should ask it differently. How will these practices change as we return to in-person services? 

I don’t have answers, but I do have questions. I hope to hear from some of you in the comments and others of you on social media. I will post the questions at Church Answers as well. 

• Will your church return to its previous ways of handling the Lord’s Supper? In other words, the new normal of the post-pandemic era means you will return to serving the Supper with few changes. Do you consider some of the potential responses to be overreactions?

• What hygienic changes will you make in preparing and serving the Lord’s Supper? I can only imagine these responses will be both diverse and helpful. For example, I have already heard that many…