The Individual Cup: its use at Holy Communion

The presidential address for 1978 given by the Revd Dr A K Robertson. The emergence of the individual cup at the end of the 19th century for reasons of hygiene is noted and the debate at the Assemblies of 1908 and 1909 recounted, when it was agreed to permit its use to congregations who wished it, in spite of the Procurator ruling it illegal. The minority reports on both occasions, presented by Professor Cooper, are examined in detail. The bulk of the paper reviews the controversy from the perspective of the present time and a number of arguments are considered. The paper argues that this remains an innovation and that it stresses the reception at Communion rather than the action. It stems more from fastidiousness than hygiene, to which other options are available, and it ‘reduces the mystery’.