Church Etiquette Rule #1: When in Rome...

I have noticed as the years have gone by (and my mother has pointed it out to me several of times) that people in churches of Christ located east of the mighty Mississippi (the river, not the state, people) sometimes do things a little differently than their brethren on the western shores. For example, most (not all) churches east of the Miss have their members put the little cups of grape juice for the Lord's Supper in little cup holders in the back of the pew in front of them after having taken it, while most (not all) churches west of the Miss have their members just put the cups back into the tray as it is passed after having partaken of it. If you are visiting a church on the "other side," you used to be able to play by this rule and all would be well. The real trick is that nowadays many churches have decided to go against tradition and do the opposite of the rule I have just laid out.

An example of this problem was demonstrated this past Sunday to myself and my now western-habitating family members when we attended church with my grandparents in Tuscumbia, AL. I had not really thought about this rule until almost the very moment that the prayer for the blood of Christ was about to be said. Suddenly, as we were about to bow our heads, I panicked. Was I supposed to put it in the pew in front of me after drinking out of the cup or put it back in the tray? Normally, I would assume that this was a cup-holder church all the way (conservative, east of the Miss), but nowadays one can never tell. Many once-conservative churches are opening up to all kinds of new things, such as putting the cups back in the tray and other such crazy western ideas, so I was unsure of what to do.

As the prayer ended and the men at the front began to pass the trays to the others, I leaned over to my brother, Mark, and whispered, "do we put them in the trays or in the cup holders?" He looked slightly concerned, as if the idea had just hit him as well, and then whispered back, "watch what the others do." I nodded ever-so slightly and quickly sat up as Mom gave me a warning look. I focused in on the men sitting in the front row who were now being served. They took a cup each, drained them...then placed the cups back in the tray! Okay, this was something I could handle. I leaned back happily, motioning to the front-row guys for Mark to see. He nodded smugly and we sat back, sure of what to do now.

As I sat there, I casually glanced at another row in front of us being served the wine. As I watched, the couple there each took a cup, drank it...then passed the tray on, putting their cups in the pew cup-holders! Yikes. Suddenly I realized - the guys in the front row had to put their cups back in the tray - they didn't have a pew in front of them to put the cups in!!! I had to warn the others.

It was almost too late. The tray was already starting down our row. I glanced at Mark, desperately trying to make some sort of signal of what to do. Then I realized the Derek was going to get the tray first. Blissfully unaware of the faux-pas he was about to make, Derek took the tray and waited patiently like the good husband he is for me to get a cup too so we could down our grape juice together (so romantic). I seized the tray and a cup for myself, then before he could protest, passed the tray on to Mark and the rest of the family. Derek looked at me strangely, but I just smiled and drank the sweet grape juice of success, afterwards placing my cup in the tiny cup-holder in the back of the pew in front of me.