We Are The Broken Chalice

Visitors to The Beloved Community at The Trees may be surprised to find that we use a broken chalice for our worship gatherings.  Our chalice didn’t start out broken, of course.  Before we held our first worship gathering, a faithful member of our community donated a beautiful pottery chalice and paten set to The Beloved Community.  Since our first time together, we have used this set for each of our worship gatherings.   

Chalice & Paten - The Chalice is broken.

One Sunday a few months ago, while the consecrated bread and wine were being served among our community, the chalice broke. More specifically, the stem and cup separated from one another.  Thanks to the skillful hands of the one serving, both remained intact, although no longer connected to one another.  With some research, we found the “right” glue to repair the broken chalice.  We followed the directions, applied the glue, and waited.  The next week, the chalice seemed as good as new, except that it wasn’t.  

Again, during the serving of the consecrated bread and wine, the stem and cup separated.  We had to accept that our chalice was “broken.”  Laughing through the absurdity of continuing to serve the consecrated wine from a broken chalice, the community began to discuss the significance of a twice-broken chalice.  Then, one member of the community connected the chalice to our own lived experiences of faith. They said, “The chalice is like all of us; we are broken too.”  And with that, a new understanding was born at The Beloved Community at The Trees. We don’t grieve our imperfect chalice. Instead, we celebrate its brokenness.  We continue to use the broken chalice for each of our worship gatherings as a reminder that being “broken” doesn’t mean you don’t have value, and it especially does not mean that you cannot receive the Grace offered through the real presence of Christ in the sacraments.  

For a community focused on recovering from religious trauma, the chalice is a powerful symbol. It reminds us that no matter the messages of harm we may have heard before, whether they be tied to our gender, sexuality, race, ability, or beliefs, God is still with us and working within our brokenness for healing and the building of God’s Kingdom.  The chalice serves as a loving reminder that God doesn’t ask us to be perfect.  God just asks us to be present, to love one another, to love God, and to be in service to all the world through our brokenness.  As Henry Nouwen reminds us, “our brokenness can become a gateway to new life.” 

A broken chalice.

Our chalice stack may not stand tall, but it continues to serve as a powerful symbol of our community.  And, the simple cup of the chalice now reminds us that even in our brokenness, we too can still be vessels for Christ’s love and grace.  We all receive the presence of Christ in the bread and wine of the Eucharist.  We receive God’s love in our own imperfect and broken ways, and as our chalice reminds us, no amount of hurt, pain, grief, or other forms of brokenness is greater than the love of God. And, whether we stand tall at the altar, shy away in the corner for quiet contemplation, question why God loves us so much, or are learning to humbly accept that we are God’s Beloved, we don’t have to be perfect.  We just need to be present, open to the love of God, and ready to embrace our brokenness as a gateway to new life in the unshakable Kingdom of God, where all are welcome, and all are loved, including each of us.  

Rev. Phillip Bass