Celebrating Communion with a New Chalice

During the weekend worship services on February 18-19, we will dedicate our new Holy Communion Chalice.   This replaces the one we have used for a number of decades.  After consultation with the church council, the worship committee selected and purchased a new chalice.  This was paid for with memorial funds which were set aside for items such as this.

We invite you to attend worship on this weekend, Saturday, February 18, 6 p.m., or  Sunday, February 19, 10 a.m., as we dedicate this new chalice to service in God’s House and to the Glory of God.

.

Why a New Chalice?

After decades of faithful use the old chalice was wearing out.  This was especially evident in the bowl part of the chalice.  The gold and silver finish was worn through.  Corrosion was forming.  This corrosion was reacting with the wine and was becoming dangerous for the pastor to use.  Do note, there is always a small amount of wine in the chalice at worship.  As a practical and piety based matter, the pastor receives the wine, the Blood of Christ, via the chalice. It is not our current practice to offer common cup communion, so we simply use a small amount of wine for the consecration of the elements of the Holy Communion at each Eucharistic service (Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 10 a.m.).

The worship committee consulted with multiple companies which service church ware and chalices.  There were two common items of note in their responses:

1) the cost would be $300-600 to repair and refinish the chalice

2) the companies were unsure if the chalice was even fixable enough to use normally.

Instead of paying for expensive repairs which may not even work, the Worship Committee chose to seek out a new chalice and to put the old chalice in our history display case in the Narthex.

A notable value in choosing a chalice was that it be easy to clean and would look right with our other communion ware.  The committee looked at the chalice being used at our partner church, Waldeck Evangelical Lutheran Church, Ledbetter.  Their chalice is stainless steel, easy to clean, and matches our other communion ware.  The committee found a similar chalice to what Waldeck uses, and that is what was chosen.

.

The Tabgha Loaves and Fishes Chalice and Paten

During the past few months, since the discovery of the declining condition of the old chalice, we have been using the ceramic, Tabgha Loaves and Fishes Chalice and Paten (bread serving plate).  This set will continue to be used on occasion as the situations warrant.   Here is an article from our web site from several years ago about this communion set.  Click this link.

.

Thank You

We thank the various families who have designated memorial gifts over the years to Martin Luther Lutheran Church.  These gifts provided the funds needed to purchase this new chalice.  The congregation and community are generous in giving memorial gifts, and this is immensely appreciated.

.

The inside of the bowl of the new chalice.