Prefilled communion cups are made for the Sunday tray, but many churches also reach for them when the Lord's Supper happens somewhere else: a hospital room, a living-room Bible study, a summer camp or a service on the lawn. Each place brings its own questions about who leads, how the cups travel, how they are handed out and what happens to them afterward.
This guide works through those questions. For choosing a brand, opening the cups and ordering, see our Fellowship Cup and prefilled communion cup guide, and compare every style on our prefilled communion cups page.
Start with your church's practice
Churches differ on when and where the Lord's Supper may be served, so settle that with your pastor or elders before buying cups for an event. Some traditions send the elements from the Sunday service to members who could not attend. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, for example, describes two ways to commune the ill, homebound and imprisoned: a service led by an ordained pastor, or a distribution of the bread and wine sent from the Sunday assembly's worship.
Others set limits. The United Methodist statement This Holy Mystery says the Table may be extended "in a timely manner" to those unable to attend, but it calls consecrating elements ahead of time for remote congregations or weekend camps inappropriate, and it describes self-service and drop-in Communion as contrary to the communal nature of the sacrament.
The editors of the Baptist ministry 9Marks disagree among themselves about serving the Supper to a member who cannot come to church. Catholic parishes carry the consecrated Host to the sick in a pyx; see our ciborium, pyx and portable communion set guide.
Home and hospital visits
A visit needs only a few cups, so a small box keeps your stock within its date: the Fellowship Cup 25-count box, the World Communion Chalice home communion pack or the Simply Communion 25-unit box. Carry the cups in a clean bag or case with a Bible, and take a few more than you expect to need so family members who are present can take part if your practice allows.
Plan the visit ahead. The ELCA notes that preparation includes contacting the member beforehand, and that including others from the congregation strengthens the shared nature of the meal. A short reading frames the moment, for example 1 Corinthians 11:26 (KJV): "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come."
Before a hospital visit
In a hospital, ask the patient or the nursing staff whether the patient is taking food, and look for signs on the door or above the bed, as guidance for hospital ministers from the Archdiocese of Brisbane advises.
If the patient cannot eat or drink, follow your church's practice: the United Methodist statement says one or both elements may be touched to the person's lips, and you can always offer prayer instead. Open the seal only when the person is ready, and take the empty cup away with you.
Small groups and Bible studies
Where your church allows the Supper in a small group, decide in advance who leads it and how the group stays connected to the wider congregation. Count the group, add a few spares, and bring a whole box rather than loose cups so the printed date and the contents stay with the cups. A OneBody 25-pack or a 25-unit Elements box fits a living-room group.
Camps, retreats and conferences
Cups for a camp spend days in vehicles, cabins and storage rooms. B&H says Fellowship Cups need no refrigeration and are fresh when used by the date stamped on the box, if stored in a cool, dry place away from sunlight. A parked car or a sunny table is neither, so keep the cases indoors with the leader, and check the date on every box before you leave. Other brands print their own storage instructions; follow the label of the cup you take.
Camps gather people with different dietary needs. Keep gluten-free cups, such as Elements cups with gluten-free wafer, in their own marked box, and tell the servers where they are. Where your church does not consecrate elements ahead of time, plan for an authorized leader to preside at the camp; the United Methodist statement names love feasts and agape meals as alternatives when no such leader is available.
Large and outdoor services
At a large gathering, the hard part is getting cups to people in an orderly way. Plan serving stations before the day: count the expected attendance, divide it among the stations, and give each server a full tray or basket with a reserve box nearby. Larger packs, such as the Simply Communion 1600-count box or the Fellowship Cup 500-count box, keep the count simple.
Outdoors, keep the boxes in the shade until the service and bring them out only when the servers are ready. Wind can tip a light cup off a table, so servers holding trays work better than cups spread across an open table, and this also avoids the self-service style some churches discourage.
Setting out the cups reverently
- Fill the trays or baskets shortly before the service, away from foot traffic.
- Cover the trays with a clean cloth until the time of Communion.
- Ask servers to wash their hands first, as the United Methodist statement asks of all who prepare and serve.
- Explain from the front how the cup opens, so no one struggles in silence.
- Agree in advance whether people eat and drink together or as each person receives.
Collecting the empty cups
Plan the collection as carefully as the serving. Servers can return with an empty tray or a lined basket after the closing prayer, or ushers can stand at the exits with collection bins. Do not leave bins where cups can spill onto the ground, and walk the area afterward to pick up any that were dropped.
Youth services
For a youth service, explain what the Lord's Supper means before anyone opens a cup, and show how the cup opens; a demonstration saves spills. Ask leaders to check registration forms for allergies and to keep gluten-free cups ready. A small box, such as a OneBody 50-pack, lets leaders practice beforehand.
Disposal and leftover cups
Empty cups are plastic packaging. Whether they can be recycled depends on your local program: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says to check which plastics your program accepts, notes that the number in the recycling symbol does not by itself mean a container is collected, and asks that containers be cleaned of food residue first.
Leftover elements raise a different question. Sealed cups that were never set apart for the service can go back into storage while they are within their date. Where cups were consecrated, follow your church's direction: the United Methodist statement says remaining bread and wine are consumed reverently after the service or returned to the earth by pouring, burying, scattering or burning. Set aside any cup with a broken or leaking seal rather than serving it.
A short checklist
- Confirm with your pastor or elders who may lead, and where.
- Choose a pack size you will use before the printed date.
- Store the cups in a cool, dry place out of the sun.
- Keep gluten-free cups in their own marked box.
- Before a hospital visit, ask the patient or staff about food and drink.
- Plan serving stations, a reserve and the collection.
- Check how your local program handles plastic cups.
Compare brands and sizes on our prefilled communion cups page, or browse the full prefilled communion cups collection.
Sources
- This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion, adopted by the 2004 General Conference
- How can we provide for communion of the ill, homebound, and imprisoned?, ELCA worship FAQ, revised January 2013
- 9Marks Mailbag #10, Jonathan Leeman, July 2015
- Liturgy Lines: Bringing Communion to hospitals and institutions, Elizabeth Harrington, Archdiocese of Brisbane, October 2015
- Fellowship Cup prefilled communion cups, B&H Publishing Group product information
- How Do I Recycle? Common Recyclables, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency