What Was This For?
October 1, 2025
Source: Reddit
Going to Sunday service in a mid-century Protestant congregation likely lingers in your mind. Perhaps because of the small box of wood that was attached to the back of the pew. It did not have a lid. There were holes evenly spaced across the top, and the compartment beneath those holes held cups, and the side offered space for a small pencil. These tiny details, like the use of wooden communion cup holders, were part of the rhythm of Sunday worship every week.
The cups used for Communion (communion cups, or Eucharistic cups) were wooden cups used as communicable objects. The wooden communion cup holders became part of your rhythm of church life.
The Holes Were for Glass Communion Cups
Before churches replaced glass communion cups with plastic disposable cups for communion, many churches had glass reusable communion cups. They would fill these smiling cup glass cups filled with wine or juice and pass them down the pews, often seating them in wooden communion cup holders.
After drinking, you would place the cup back in one of the holes. The holes held the glass shaped base, although it could not be completely secure, it often stood upright to avoid spilling.
As a kid, those communion cups were serious, how cool, how weighty, how important.
The Pencil and Shelf Had a Purpose
The pencil and shelf had a purpose. Underneath the holes was an area your church wanted you to utilize such as offering envelopes, visitor slips, or prayer slips. It held whatever your church wanted. The pencil compartment and small pencil (red or black) that was present were similar to a golf pencil.
Their purpose was simple, jot a few notes, amounts for donations, or prayer intentions. There was no need for an eraser. They just sat there until you would use it week after week.
Church Furniture with a Purpose
Craftsmen made the communion holders out of the same wood as the dusty pews, placing them right beside the pews. These wooden communion cup holders were well constructed with smooth edges and made to last eternally. Not distracting church furniture. They were always a reach away. They were part of your implementation of worship.
Many churches removed them–and traded tradition for function. A few congregations church still have holders and pews, safely putting them away, preserving a piece of history.
A small thing and a long memory.
A Small Object, A Long Memory
Woodworkers handcrafted communion cup holders in a time when everything at church was a true tactile step. You’d get a cup, put it down, write the donation amount on the envelope. It reminds of the intangible collective effort and sacred simplicity of a Sunday morning experience.
The most trivial of truth always affirms a truth filled a passion.