Dip or Sip

One thing that is always interesting to me at St Andrews is how slow people are to sit down after Steve or John or even Brian go through the communion proceedings. I dont really care for the hesitation and I dont know where it comes from.

Growing up in a Southern Baptist Church we did communion in a very different way than I currently do it now. In the Southern Baptist Church it was done once a month and it was taken so seriously and was always accompanied by the "if any of you has an unresolved issue with anyone" statement. Really, as a kid, I was just aware that it made the service a solid 20 minutes longer and being an overweight child who only thought about food I didnt like the prospect of delaying my lunch.

So, when I started going to St Andrews I liked two things. First, I liked the fact that it was built in to the service so that I had some idea of what to expect. Secondly, I genuinely appreciated the heart behind the remembrance on a more consistent basis and that it seemed to be more of an act of the fellowship of the body.

Communion is such an interesting part of the service. A thousand people get out of their chairs and go through a process together. It all starts when the usher hits your row.

I typically dont make eye contact at all with the person handing out the wafer. I find that its much easier to just look down and acknowledge with a nod of the head that I have received it. Otherwise, its just kind of weird since you dont really say anything back and you're really close to that persons face so a stare into their eyes would be uncomfortable.

And then comes the moment of truth. People always assume Im going to be a sipper. I dont know if its the beard or what but as soon as its time to take from the cup they start lifting it towards my mouth and when I shock them by coming in for the dip I have to come in with a slam dunk motion because the cup is at mouth level.

I have a fear of dunking my fingers in the wine. I am convinced that one of these days Im going to come up with red fingers and the person holding the cup is going to be completely disgusted. So sometimes, my wafer is pretty dry and even completely dry. Its like doing a fake so that I dont contaminate the pot.

Of course I would have the same fear if I went in for the chug like Mark. If I did that I probably out of caution would not go in aggressively enough and end up spilling the wine all over my shirt. But at least I sit in the back and an emergency exit is always a possibility. I will say that the sip from Mark is unexpected though as I always have pictured him as a dipper. Must have been that old school St. Philips upbringing.

One thing I dont love is when I am seated one row too far forward and I start running the numbers on the possibility that I may have to do communion in the front. Those are some tense moments when the back of the congregation seems to be moving at half speed and the ushers rep'ing the front are dogging it out. All I know is the back. In the front there are too many options...multiple servers, kneelers, prayer ministry etc.

There are people though that live for the front. Michael and Amanda are two of those people. They could have been the last person in the last row of the whole building and sharing a seat but they are going down front. I dont know that I've ever actually seen Michael take communion but Im almost positive he would be a sipper. Actually, Im sure of it.

Its all an interesting group of back-dippers, back-sippers, front-kneelers, sippers and dippers along with the occasional person who actually takes the cup into their own hands to consume. Actually, thats a great idea and one to remember if I ever make the transition which is not likely.