Eucharistic Ministry Kit

Traditional "Communion kits" sold by church supply houses are usually designed to carry non-perishable wafers and wine, and to be used by priests and pastors when they administer Holy Communion in hospitals to one to three people (since they typically include only two to four individual cups). In cases where contagion is a concern, their individual cups and wafers (rather than intinction with real bread) make sense.

However, they do not meet the needs of lay Eucharistic ministers who must bring fresh bread and juice from the community Table. Rather than a bottle, the juice container needs to be open to allow for intinction with a portion of bread. Rather than wafers, the kit must carry a chunk of bread from the loaf. And it must include everything needed, including the ritual, hand sanitizer, and napkin. The kit shown below meets these needs.

This Eucharistic Ministry kit was crafted by master woodworker John Damon at First UMC of Princeton, Illinois. There are no plans, but woodworkers in your congregation can surely duplicate them. Alternatively, seamstresses or quilters in your congregation could sew fabric carrying kits for the same items. Buy the content-containers first and design around them!

The kits were sponsored as
memorials; they have
sockets that hold the bread
and juice containers
securely.

They need to hold: A
container for bread (2 cup),
one for juice (2 oz),
a dinner-size heavy white
napkin, hand sanitizer,
laminated door hanger
and ritual cards (below).

The contents fit into the box as shown here:

The dovetail corners are of walnut, the bodies of oak. The boxes are so designed that they stack securely to store in a small space (right).

Hardware fittings are brass. The lid closes with a firm spring-loaded tongue and socket latch (left).