From the Pastor

One of the things I enjoy most about being at St. Jacob’s is that our congregation has a very high regard for the sacraments. Holy Baptism and Holy Communion are the means through which God personally, physically and spiritually imparts His grace upon us. I am a bit concerned; however, at the amount of consecrated wine that seems to be wasted each week. Most members probably don’t realize it, but the majority of wine used each week is poured out, especially on days we serve by intinction. This is due to the size and shape of our chalices. But even on days we serve by individual cups, there is still too much wine left over.

Jesus says of the bread and wine, “This is my body…this is my blood.” Therefore, we are bound by faith to handle these elements with the utmost care and reverence. I have been working with members of the Altar Guild to address the problem of wastefulness. We have discussed simple modifications to the way we dispense the bread and wine. I believe that soon we should be practicing better stewardship of the communion elements.