UK : Church replaces Communion wine with juice to welcome alcoholics

Alcoholics attending church services can face a challenging situation if only wine is served to the congregation during Holy Communion. Although services at St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Church in Yalding, England, had previously offered chalices of grape juice and wine for people to choose from, Rev. Paul Filmer has decided to now use just one chalice containing grape juice so that everyone feels included. “I didn’t feel like it was fair that some of our congregation may feel excluded from everybody else,” he told the Telegraph. “We want to be in communion, we want people to come together with us.” Filmer acknowledges the argument that Jesus used wine when he administered Communion, but Filmer believes Jesus “would want to make everybody feel welcome.”