Comments on: 10 liturgical changes inspired by swine flu fear pandemic

By: Donna Dambrot

Donna Dambrot — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:36:16 +0000

Love the liturgical colors for hazmat suits!! Brilliant! Will certainly be in Almy’s next catalog!

By: Raymond Hodgkinson

Raymond Hodgkinson — Tue, 05 May 2009 08:35:14 +0000

I can remember during confirmation classes (many decades agoi) asking an elderly Archdeacon about the risks of colds etc. from the chalice.
He looked at me sadly, and gently said,
“If your faith is so weak that you don’t believe that the blessed sacrements are safe to take, then maybe you should reconsider whether you are really ready to take communion at all?”

Ouch!!

By: paula

paula — Sun, 03 May 2009 17:50:10 +0000

A gassho is elegant AND ecumenical….just don’t bonk heads in a crowded aisle !

By: Catherine Ambos

Catherine Ambos — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:19:41 +0000

NO! Not air kisses! You could spread droplets containing gazillions of virus particles!

(The potential problem with swine flu is the possibility of its mutating in the human host and becoming more virulent. Wash hands, take reasonable precautions, make sure you have your towel and DON’T PANIC!)

By: Marge Mathewson

Marge Mathewson — Sun, 03 May 2009 00:14:59 +0000

What a great excuse to get rid of the Sunday Morning Cocktail Party – also known as Passing the Peace! Let’s go back to SAYING: “The Peace of the Lord etc” to our IMMEDIATE neighbors and not EVER EVER leaving the pew to hug/kiss/make a date with ANYONE. This especially is aimed at clergy who feel the need to hug everyone in the church during this time as well as at the end of the service!

By: The Rev. Stephen E. Moore

The Rev. Stephen E. Moore — Sat, 02 May 2009 21:06:15 +0000

But, Scott, we already DO all of those things at All Saints’ Church, Bellevue. I’m thinking ahead to whether we ought to ban Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs from the animal blessings in October.

By: Lisa Fox

Lisa Fox — Sat, 02 May 2009 20:29:38 +0000

Pure inspiration, Scott!

By: Marci Pounders

Marci Pounders — Sat, 02 May 2009 17:02:23 +0000

This is hysterical! I love it! Maybe you could entitle it “Mass Hysteria?”

I’m with you Sheri, in remembering there are many more (and much worse) pandemics at play in our world than this one. They just happen to occur in countries where such illnesses get less media hype.

Peace,
The Rev. Marci Pounders, BCC

By: Phil Snyder

Phil Snyder — Sat, 02 May 2009 13:10:03 +0000

Ernie,

In honor of your insight, I will be grilling pork chops for dinner and eating a cheese burger for lunch .

YBIC,
Phil Snyder

By: Sheri

Sheri — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:03:36 +0000

While being concerned about the people who might become ill from this flu, please keep praying for the MILLIONS suffering from malaria around the world, the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS sick and eventually dying of schistosomiasis, and the 18 MILLION infected with onchocerciasis (“river blindness”)….

By: Ernest McAfee

Ernest McAfee — Fri, 01 May 2009 21:51:38 +0000

I hope that everyone realizes that the swine flu is God’s judgement on us for not keeping kosher. Jesus came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. I’m just not sure why God waited so long.

By: Scott Gunn

Scott Gunn — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:03:22 +0000

Peoriapriest, that rubric is from the Ministration to the Sick. Just below that, on the same page, it also says that one can receive the “all the benefits of Communion…even though the Sacrament is not received with the mouth” in cases of severe illness. But I do not think anyone would advocate such an understanding for a public worship gathering.

In the directions for Holy Eucharist, the rubric says, “Opportunity is always to be given to every communicant to receive the consecrated Bread and Wine separately. But the Sacrament may be received in both kinds simultaneously, in a manner approved by the bishop” (page 407-408).

Sure, people may choose not to receive wine, but it is to be offered. Not even a bishop has the authority to suspend rubrics of the prayer book.

If it came to that, I would explain to people — as the presider — that they may choose not to receive wine. But I would offer it. There are ways to offer wine (the presider intincts and then places the bread carefully on the communicant’s tongue) that are completely sanitary.

Interestingly enough, all these conversations around swine flu practices should apply to every week, since the common cold and flu are always circulating. It’s just that we’re not usually stirred into a media-driven fear frenzy.

By: peoriapriest

peoriapriest — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:35:38 +0000

You write: I hear talk of bishops in the Episcopal Church permitting (or requiring) parishes to offer communion in one kind only (in violation of vows to be loyal to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the church).

Not to be too serious, but the Prayer Book is quite specific that under some circumstances, “it is suitable to administer the Sacrament in one kind only” (BCP, p. 457).

Great post

By: Pig Plague Solutions « Clergy Family Confidential

Pig Plague Solutions « Clergy Family Confidential — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:30:53 +0000

[...] Scott Gunn has a solution to the Swine Flu hysteria sweeping our churches. You can read it here. You won’t want to miss this one — it involves Hazmat-inspired clerical [...]

By: Twitted by philritchie

Twitted by philritchie — Fri, 01 May 2009 09:40:28 +0000

[...] This post was Twitted by philritchie – Real-url.org [...]

By: Peter Carey

Peter Carey — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:02:34 +0000

These are awesome, so funny…

…I had seen that thurible, just amazing.

I like the Tamiflu in the chalice idea!

Peter Carey

By: Karen J.

Karen J. — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:27:21 +0000

This is great, but all kidding aside, everyone who serves communion at my parish (including Me, the Presider) will do a quick rub with alcohol gel during the offertory hymn starting this Sunday. I have a lot of elderly folks in my congregation and they’re a little frightened right now, and passing the Peace is a bit of a germfest.

By: Jessica Gates

Jessica Gates — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:45:48 +0000

Fill the chalice with Tamiflu?