I recently found the blog Laudable Practice and really enjoy it. This article makes the case for rejecting individual communion cups.... https://laudablepractice.blogspot.c...pFRnqYQMNuxYlz_RWNaKd39It_JTokRpXHhBa3d0V7bBs
I really would have thought they'd consume the contents of whatever individual cups remained filled. If they've planned properly, it seems like there shouldn't be more than a couple dozen left over; how long can it take to drink the contents? Throwing them away, still filled, was totally unacceptable.
While a common cup was shared at the last supper I'm not certain this was the practice in the early church. To use individual cups the priest would have to pour sufficient wine into the chalice then after consecrating it pour measures into cups. The quantity per cup would be more than a sip from the chalice so a larger amount would be required initially, perhaps more than one chalice. Then someone has to estimate the cups required and fill them. Any leftovers would be poured back into the chalice for the priest to consume. I have served as an LA on occasion where there was excess left over and the priest would ask the servers to drink most of it. I never asked but I think they didn't want to drink a significant quantity on an empty stomach. With individual cups there could be larger quantities left over and you might get the priest and servers feeling light headed. It could be an extra hazard if the priest has a drinking problem. From my childhood I remember that in the local Presbyterian church communion was served in individual glasses. I'm not sure what their practice was for leftovers.
This has little to do with the OP but I thought some might be curious to know: the individual cups are a fixture of low church Lutheranism.
That's very interesting given the standard Lutheran stance on the presence of Christ's body and blood in the elements. Why would they subject Christ's blood to such risks of desecration? I remember reading that when Luther and Bugenhagen had an accident during communion and spilled consecrated wine on a parishioner's dress, they bought the dress and hired a carpenter to scape up the part of the floor where some drops had fallen and prayerfully burned both to prevent defilement of so holy a substance.
No surprise there, I am sure that behavior was wholly consistent with the RC mindset at the time; Luther was an ordained RC priest before the kerfuffle. He had zero reason to become 'low church' in his outlook, for his disagreements with the RCC concerned other issues.
Last time I checked, yep. The thing is, Luther wasn't perfect. He had some wrong ideas, many of which he'd picked up from his upbringing and training; for example, Luther wrote some incredibly anti-Semitic things, and his low opinion of the Jews was typical among RC clergy of his day.
I've never heard of individual cups used in Communion. This is strange. I've always lived in small villages though, and attended such churches; so they tend to be more traditional. Even then though, never heard of individual cups.