Sharing the Peace became a regular part of our Lutheran liturgy with the introduction of Lutheran Book of Worship. The practice was slow to catch on in some places, but now it is widely practiced in the congregations of our synod. Sharing the peace is much more than just greeting others with a cheerful "good morning." Sharing the peace of Christ is a profound gesture of reconciliation in preparation for receiving the bread and wine of Holy Communion. Some congregations take just a moment or two for the Peace allowing worshipers to shake hands with just those who are close by. Others take a few minutes while worshipers move from their pews or seats and seek out numerous others to greet in peace. We observe hugs between friends, kisses between spouses, and handshakes and smiles between strangers.
I believe a combination of factors has led to a new liturgical ritual. Regular sharing of the peace with its requisite handshaking, frequent celebration of Holy Communion, and our cultural fear of germs has led to the Purell Ritual. Pastors go from shaking hands to immediately sanitizing them prior to the breaking of the bread. I don't think that is a particularly bad idea, although I am one who believes that it is better to wash one's hands with soap and water. Unfortunately, relatively few sacristies are equipped with a sink. So, the bottle of instant hand sanitizer is kept close at hand. I mean, really close at hand.
For the past few months I have taken note of where the pump bottle or squirt container is kept in the congregations I visit. I have seen it on the altar. Not a good place in my opinion. I have seen it on the credence table, in an offering plate, on the floor under the altar, even under its own linen cover. I just had to laugh in one congregation (not in our synod!), where each communion station had its own bottle of hand sanitizer on its own wooden stand. The stands matched those used for the flower vases. They were certainly very attractive, but those pump bottles had achieved the status of liturgical appointments!
I believe the pastor and communion servers should have clean hands to handle the elements. But, I think it would be best to hide the Purell (or whatever brand you choose) or just keep it in the sacristy.
Care to comment?
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Purell on the altar? Yeah, that is a bit much. I have a bottle of Purell stashed behind a flower pot; however, I usually just go to the sacristy because we are luck enough to have a sink.
ReplyDeleteGreetings, Jeff,
ReplyDeleteFormerly of NIS, I've served in Mid Tennessee as transition(interim) pastor and Sunday subbing. Purell is everywhere. An OLD ritual in NEW FORM.
Think of ancient practice of acolyte pouring water over presider's hand (held over the "lavabo" bowl--& presider saying (silently) Ps 26:1 'I wash my hands in innocence and will go to God's altar.' immediately before consecration of Holy Communion.
[Trivia: A 'lavabo' bowl is kept in a 'lavatory.']
I saw a lavabo bowl and napkin used in an NIS congregation when I lived in Illinois.
Peace and Joy, John Lekander
Think of the lavabo bowl and napkin in which presider washes his hands--saying Ps. 26:1 "I wash my hands in innocence. I saw lavabo bown in one NI
I think displaying it as you stated, in a way as so it appeared to be equal to liturgical appointmeents is maybe going a bit far. Our pastor has a personal bottle of hand sanitizer that he keeps on his pew behind the pulpit for a 'freshing up' when needed. He always uses it before Sharing the Peace as well as after and prior to Communion distribution. Our congregation has even taken the drastic action of dispensing with the practice of shaking hands during the flu season altogether. Rather, we just do a unified response led by the pastor saying the traditional "Peace be with you", then we respond "and also with you." Then we just continue with the service from that point. However, bottles of sanitizer are readily available and placed in several easy to find and highly visible areast throughout the church so that people can use it if they wish. We often have to replace the (large economy size) bottles at least once every season.
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