Wine or Grape Juice? What Anglicans Serve at Communion
The first taste of wine is often a bit of a shock.
Perhaps you’ve experienced this for yourself, or you’ve seen the surprise in others when they first visit an Anglican church. For most of the service, they did just fine: following the bulletin, singing the hymns, and joining in the responsive prayers. And when it was time for Holy Communion, they even managed to navigate the communion line, folding into the aisle behind a neighbor and walking up to the front. But they were not expecting to drink wine, at least not on a Sunday morning, and once they tasted it, their eyes went wide in surprise!
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Yes, Anglicans serve wine at Communion. And though many parishes also offer grape juice as an alternative option for those in recovery, the normal practice is to drink wine in imitation of the Last Supper, and in obedience to Jesus’ commandment:
“Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Matthew 26:27-28
As Christ commanded, the wine of Holy Communion is a joyful sign of our salvation and a foretaste of the heavenly kingdom.
Why Do Anglicans Drink Wine in Communion?
The question of wine or grape juice provides an opportunity to explain how Anglicans think. When Anglicans consider a question like this—any disputed topic of faith or practice—we look first to the Bible as our highest authority, then to tradition and experience. In this case, both scripture and tradition confirm the use of wine at communion.
Wine in the Bible: Feast and Religious Sacrifice
All throughout the Bible, wine represents both feasting and religious sacrifice. The first ritual use of wine is in Genesis 14, when the mysterious Melchizedek appears to Abraham after his victory in battle:
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Genesis 14:18-20
Notice that essential elements of our Holy Communion service are already present here: a priest presiding at a feast of bread and wine to commemorate a great victory, along with a blessing of God, a blessing of man, and the offering of a tithe. Many of these same elements are also present in the Mosaic law of tithes. The Israelites are to bring their tithes of both grain and wine to the place where God dwells, and to “eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household” (Deuteronomy 14:26).
Even in non-ritual contexts, wine in the Bible represents abundant provision from God and, therefore, we receive it with great joy:
You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.
Psalm 104:14-15
The Biblical Dangers of Wine
The Scriptures also identify and dramatize wine’s dangers. Both Noah and Lot drink wine to the point of drunkenness and passing out, whereupon they are shamefully abused by their own children (see Genesis 9 and Genesis 19). On account of these dangers, God prohibits Aaron and the Levitical priesthood from drinking wine when they enter the tabernacle, though they receive the best wine of a vintage to consume in their own dwellings (see Leviticus 10 and Deuteronomy 18).
Because wine can lead to disaster, the psalms and prophets sometimes use the cup of wine as a metaphor for the judgment of God:
For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.
Psalm 75:8
This double dynamic of wine, that it is both good for joyful feasting and a dangerous symbol of judgment, is dramatically represented in the book of Proverbs. Positively, Lady Wisdom sets her table with bread and wine and invites the simple to her meal to gain insight:
“Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and leave, and walk in the way of insight.”
Proverbs 9:5-6
Negatively, Proverbs warns against drunkenness:
Be not among the drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.
Proverbs 23:20-21
John the Teetotaler and Jesus the Winebibber
Because of the dangers of wine, there are some who choose as a matter of prudence (or from personal experience) not to drink at all. This includes some religious leaders, like John the Baptist, who was known for his habits of personal self-denial. Others, by contrast, joyfully receive the gift of wine and drink it without descending to drunkenness. This was the pattern of Jesus.
In fact, wine was not incidental to Jesus’ public ministry, but actually a central aspect of it. The first miracle of Jesus’ public ministry was turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana. And he turned a lot of water into wine: “six stone water jars…each holding twenty or thirty gallons” (John 2:6). Jesus made more than a hundred gallons of wine! Beyond this striking example, we see Jesus making a habit of attending feasts and consuming wine.
Just as John the Baptist faced critics for his self-denial, so Jesus faced critics for his feasting. Alluding to both of the proverbs referenced above, Jesus explained that both approaches reflect wisdom:
For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”
Luke 7:33-35
In other words, there is wisdom in abstaining from wine, and also wisdom in enjoying the gift of wine. The church has embedded both sides of this wisdom in its pattern of fasting and feasting, with seasons like Lent, when we do not drink wine, followed by seasons like Easter, when we receive wine with joy. But even within fasting seasons, every Sunday is a little Easter, when we joyfully receive the cup of Christ.
Wine at the Last Supper
The most important Biblical text concerning holy communion is the Last Supper itself. It was a passover feast, which all the Hebrew people celebrated to remember God’s deliverance of his people by the blood of the lamb. And Jesus connects this celebration with his own coming sacrifice on the cross:
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it all, of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Matthew 26:27-29
In other words, Jesus used the wine of the feast to point to his own blood, which he would soon pour out on the cross. The wine was a sign pointing to Jesus’ blood, a sacrament which marked the coming of the new covenant. Jesus especially marked this wine’s significance by insisting that he would not drink again until he had entered his Father’s kingdom.
The Church’s Tradition of Wine at Communion
The use of wine in Communion began in the New Testament church and continued as a universal church practice in the ancient world. Our chief Biblical reference to communion wine comes from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, which emphasizes that communion wine is a participation in the blood of Christ:
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?
1 Corinthians 10:16
Now, some might respond, how do you know what was in the cup? How do you know it was wine, and not grape juice? First, we know it was not grape juice because grape juice had not yet been invented (more on that below). Second, we know it was wine because there was a danger of people becoming drunk during the communion meal. Paul actually warns against drunkenness in communion in the very next chapter:
One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.
1 Corinthians 11:21-22
In other words, Paul’s teaching on communion wine repeats Scripture’s consistent message: receive wine joyfully and properly, but do not get drunk. We find this idea of drinking wine at Communion without becoming intoxicated reflected in the instructions of Justin Martyr, a second-century theologian. He taught that the communion cup should have “wine mixed with water” before being distributed to the people (see Justin Martyr, First Apology, ch. 65). This would both prevent the people from getting drunk and allow the wine to go further! Theologically, mixing wine with water also reflects the blood and water that came from Jesus’ side after the soldier pierced his dead body on the cross (see John 19:34-35).
Wine for the People: Roman Restrictions and Anglican Restoration
While the early church used wine at Communion, the medieval Roman Church gradually restricted its distribution so only the clergy would receive it. To this day, many Roman Catholic parishes deny the people wine and distribute only bread.
The Anglican Reformers of the 16th century insisted on returning the wine to the people. The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion dedicate an entire article to this reform:
The Cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the Lay-people: for both the parts of the Lord’s Sacrament, by Christ’s ordinance and commandment, ought to be ministered to all Christian men alike.
Article XXX: Of Both Kinds, from The 39 Articles of Religion
John Jewel expands on the point in his Apology of the Church of England, where he argues that the distribution of both bread and wine is the Biblical and traditional practice of the Church:
When the people cometh to the Holy Communion, the Sacrament ought to be given them in both kinds: for so both Christ hath commanded, and the Apostles in every place have ordained, and all the ancient fathers and Catholic bishops have followed the same. And whoso doth contrary to this, he (as Gelasius saith) committeth sacrilege. And therefore we say, that our adversaries at this day, who having violently thrust out, and quite forbidden the Holy Communion, do, without the word of God, without the authority of any ancient council, without any Catholic father, without any example of the primitive Church, yea, and without reason also, defend and maintain their private masses, and the mangling of the Sacraments, and do this not only against the plain express commandment and bidding of Christ, but also against all antiquity, do wickedly therein, and are very Church robbers.
Apology of the Church of England, part II
The Grape Juice of Mr. Welch
Grape juice emerged as an alternative practice for Communion in the 19th century, motivated especially by the American temperance movement. In 1843, a group of Methodist churches required non-alcoholic grape juice for Communion. However, this presented obvious problems, since such grape juice would not keep, either fermenting or going bad.
To solve this problem, Methodist layman and dentist Thomas Welch invented grape juice pasteurization in 1869. By heating grape juice to a high temperature, pasteurization stopped fermentation and kept the juice non-alcoholic. Thomas’s son Charles (also a dentist) later turned pasteurized grape juice into a family business, and now we have “Welch’s”! Today, most Methodist and other low-church Protestant traditions use grape juice exclusively when they celebrate communion.
By contrast, Anglican churches always celebrate communion with wine and distribute it to the people, consistent with Scripture and the church’s traditional practice. Many Anglican churches also make grape juice available, as a secondary option and pastoral accommodation, for those who are in recovery from alcoholism or otherwise prefer not to drink.
So What Should I Do If I’m New?
If you are new to the Anglican church, or just thinking about attending a service, be aware that there is wine in that cup!
Should you have a personal practice of not drinking alcohol, you can ask whether your parish offers grape juice as a pastoral accommodation. If not, you can choose to receive only the bread. I know some Anglicans in recovery who touch their Communion bread to the edge of the communion cup but do not drink, a small but meaningful gesture.
Or, when you are ready, please come forward to receive the wine in the cup of our Lord’s covenant. Don’t worry, we don’t serve enough for you to become drunk! But you will taste the wine, and it will be a sign of God’s goodness to you and the joy of his salvation feast. It is a foretaste of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. As you drink of the fruit of the vine, be assured of the goodness of God to you:
The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for you, preserve your body and soul to everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ’s Blood was shed for you, and be thankful.
BCP 2019,
Image: Photo by vetrestudio, licensed through Canva Pro. Digitally edited by Jacob Davis.
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