Welcome to Ask the Church, our video series where we seek to answer your questions about church worship, practice, and theology in under five minutes.
Today’s question is about Communion wine.
Here’s the full question that was asked:
“As a general rule, Anglicans use real wine, not grape juice, when celebrating the Eucharist. Why did some churches choose to start using grape juice instead? And why do most Anglicans continue to use wine? Also, most Anglican churches seem to use a particular type of wine, that is Port, which has a very high alcohol content compared to other wines. In Anglicanism, what is the history behind the choice of using Port over wines with a lower alcohol content? And what would your advice be to someone who is interested in receiving Communion in our church, but who either has a background of struggling with alcoholic tendencies personally, or is a descendant of a parent or a grandparent who is an alcoholic?”
Lots of good questions there—all swirling around the use of wine in Communion!
Why Did Some Churches Start Using Grape Juice?
This part is actually easier to answer. The shift from wine to grape juice really began in America (and a little bit in Britain) in the late 19th century, during the temperance movement.
The temperance movement, especially within Methodism, pushed for grape juice instead of wine. At the same time, Thomas Welch—yes, the Welch of Welch’s Grape Juice!—was integral to the development of pasteurization, which made it possible to preserve and distribute grape juice on a wide scale.
The temperance movement, combined with pasteurization, led many American and British Protestants to drop wine. Missionaries carried that practice abroad, so even today, if you attend a Baptist church in Africa, you’ll likely receive grape juice, not wine.
The Anglican Church—along with Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox—did not follow the temperance movement.
Why Do Anglicans Use Wine?
The basic reason is very simple: Jesus used wine at the Last Supper.
And so the Church, since the beginning, has felt it appropriate to copy what Jesus did. This is also why wheat bread is used. Alcoholic wine is used because those were the elements of the Last Supper.
Now, it’s worth saying: there can be a kind of slavish devotion to trying to reproduce the exact kind of bread or wine Jesus used that is unhealthy. Many churches today seem to use leavened bread rather than unleavened, for example. But the general impulse is to remain faithful to the Lord’s example: bread and wine.
So: churches that stopped using wine did so because of the temperance movement. Churches that kept using wine did so because it’s what Jesus used.
Why Port?
This is where my own knowledge gets a little hazy. My understanding is that as a result of trade treaties England had with various countries in Europe, there was a period of time when Port became the most readily available wine in England. And so it just became normal that Port was used at Communion—because it was the wine you could get your hands on.
It’s normal to use Port not because of any theological reason, but simply as a result of practical trade treaties between England and the continent.
Port does have the advantage of being higher in alcohol content, which theoretically makes it more sanitary when many people share from the same chalice. Some point to that now as a reason for continuing to use it, but it’s not why it was originally adopted.
What If Someone Struggles with Alcohol?
Finally, what about those who struggle with alcohol, or whose families have a history of it?
Here it’s good to remind ourselves of the Church’s old teaching: it does not matter how much or how little you receive of the elements of Communion. You have received the Lord Jesus in His entirety.
If a person receives just a crumb of the bread, they’ve received Communion in full. If they receive a drop of the wine, they’ve received Communion in full.
So the basic practice for someone who shouldn’t touch alcohol is: simply don’t take the wine. Take just the bread.
Many churches offer grape juice as well, and I think that’s a wonderful pastoral practice. But even if you visit a church where all they have is wine, you’ve received Communion in full if you’ve received just the bread.
Similarly, someone with gluten intolerance who receives only the wine has still received Communion in full.
Many churches now also offer grape juice or gluten-free bread for those who need it. But this isn’t essential for receiving Communion in full.
But I would also say: talk to the clergy. If they know there are people struggling, many will consecrate a small cup of grape juice as well. Some churches are strict and won’t. But most would gladly do so as a pastoral way of meeting people where they are.
A few answers about wine and Communion. I hope these help, and that they don’t confuse.
If you have other questions, send them to steven@incarnationrichmond.org.
And now, go in the grace of our Lord.