The Anabaptist perception towards the Holy Kiss?

[Josh]

Some use wine, some use grape juice.

So far there has not been an outbreak of communion related illnesses.

[steve-in-kville]

Do these conservative groups who insist on a shared communion cup use actual wine? Or do they substitute non-alcoholic juice?

Edit to add: the Amish still use wine but its made by someone in the church. And the Horning church is getting away from it. If you see a Horning guy buying wine at the liquor store, it could be for two reasons: He's buying it for Communion... or he has cows with twisted stomachs. True story.

[Ken]

Some use wine, some use grape juice.

So far there has not been an outbreak of communion related illnesses.

I'm just pointing out that there may be more wisdom in old ways than people might understand.

If someone in a congregation has a communicable disease, one could rationally argue that there is less potential for it to spread in a shared communion cup with alcoholic wine than in a shared communion cup with non-alcoholic grape juice.

[Neto]

I answered that WE never "practiced" this, since it's bad enough that I sort of had to do it for some time after we joined our current congregation. ("Practicing" it, where would you do that?! In a back room someplace? )

The first times I was involved in that activity, in both cases, we were just visiting. Well, actually, the 2nd time I was thinking of was when we were visiting our current congregation, to give an evening service about our work in Brazil. An older man I had worked with years before came toward me as I was setting up the slide projector, and I guessed what was about to happen, but it was too soon after returning from Brazil, and I gave him the double wammy - an "air kiss" in each ear (cheeks touching), like men & women do in Brazil. (Women do it amonst themselves as well, but not men.) I immediately realized what I had done, but perhaps the shocked look on his face helped in that respect. (I also did this to my aunt once, not thinking what I was doing. I think it rather surprised her. I know it embarrassed me. )

I do not think there is any Biblical or cultural-historic support for the lip to lip type of kiss in this circumstance. In Banawa, you have to say where the kiss was "planted" - there can be no ambiguity. (In fact, the person's "body part", as in cheek, forehead, lips, etc. will take the place of the person's name in the sentence structure.) So when it came to translating the passage about Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss, I had to determine where he kissed him. Research told me that there were two possibilities, either on the forehead (for friends), or on the hand (for a teacher/rabbi). Because Judas addressed him as Rabbi, I chose the latter. Then Jesus called attention to this "slight" by addressing him as "friend".
[The Banawa have two words for "kiss" - one which describes the "air kiss" - a smack in the air near the person's ear, and the other where the person's lips actually create suction on the other person's face, etc. The first is literally "to smell", and the second is "to suck on". (Well, in the case of lip to lip kissing, they would say "they sucked each other", not naming the lips as the location.) They wouldn't even have a word for what these people do with their same-gender greeting kiss - just touching lips.]

[Grace]

I have walked out of churches that use 1 cup... and anyway the Mennonites cannot legitimately claim to be 1 cuppers while they continue with one for women and one for men. I was granted my own cup when we did communion.

As for the greeting, I see it regularly on Sunday. They stopped for a while due to covid but partly due to some arguments I had with the ministry, they brought it back sooner. Generally its not for visitors unless they know your common background.

1 cup (or rather several cups) is not a doctrine, but more conservative or traditional groups haven’t used individual cups.

I do not see a reason why they should start now. There is zero evidence that it saves lives to not share the communion cup once or twice a year. It simply boils down to that many people don’t actually want to commune with their brethren, in my opinion. The holy kiss fading away is rooted in the same problem.

Alcohol is an effective disinfectant against both viral and bacterial-born diseases. That is what makes it a good preservative. During the early part the pandemic, a lot of distilleries switched from producing liquor (since bars were shut down) to producing alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Do these conservative groups who insist on a shared communion cup use actual wine? Or do they substitute non-alcoholic juice?

Weaverland Conference and Groffdale Conference (Horse & Buggy) still use actual wine.

As for the Holy Kiss, I never was comfortable with it even before the pandemic. There have been way to many times the Holy Kiss was used to show partiality. There were times we were in a setting where a very conservative women would go around the circle of women and greet and kiss only the real conservative women and not those less conservative. In my opinion, either you do or you don't. If you can't practice the holy kiss to all in a setting, don't do it at all.

[Swiss Bro]

In my branch of the Fröhlich faith it has been abandoned long ago but the strict side still practice it. Not sure if they changed during the pandemic.

[Soloist]

1 cup (or rather several cups) is not a doctrine, but more conservative or traditional groups haven’t used individual cups.

I do not see a reason why they should start now. There is zero evidence that it saves lives to not share the communion cup once or twice a year. It simply boils down to that many people don’t actually want to commune with their brethren, in my opinion. The holy kiss fading away is rooted in the same problem.

I appreciate a group willing to tolerate someone asking for a separate cup. The kiss is a command, common cup is not. As far as the kiss goes, I have my reasons to not appreciate it but I have to deal with those and submit regardless. The cup is not something I could share... I don't even share my water cup with my wife. This has nothing to do with disease or risk.

[Josh]

Good thing you weren’t at the Last Supper.

[Soloist]

Good thing you weren’t at the Last Supper.

if I was, I'd be serving not sitting. Some of us aren't qualified to be apostles.

[barnhart]

When you are around cultures that do more kiss greetings, it becomes more a natural part of life. I see done between genders on occasion, but that still feels a little awkward for me. However COVID has slowed it down considerably. Some are still wearing masks.