When communion cups are local

When Liz Straiton, a member of Redwood Park Church in Thunder Bay, Ontario, was asked to make reusable communion cups to replace the disposable plastic ones in use, she accepted the challenge. She glazed and fired over 500 dishwasher-safe cups over eight weeks. Each individual cup is small and lightweight, similar in size to the disposable ones. They are glazed in a beautiful variety of earth tones, mainly blues and greys.

“I feel very humbled that my cups are used in the communion service,” says Straiton. The cups are about more than the environmental impact. “Communion is such a solemn, personal experience. At the Last Supper, Jesus and His disciples would have used clay mugs. They didn’t have silver trays and dishes. I find it meaningful that they were made right here in Thunder Bay.”

“I have a greater sense of oneness with other believers as we come to the Lord’s Table, partake together and remember Him until He comes.”

Barbara Alaric, a member of Redwood Park Church, said taking Communion with these cups adds a new level of meaning. “They remind me that we, like the cups, are each uniquely crafted by loving hands. All so different but serving some purpose; to glorify God by serving through our uniqueness.”

Called to pottery

From the first time she sat down at a potter’s wheel and felt the clay in her hands, Straiton knew it was her calling. “Every time since, when I work at the wheel, all I think about is God,” she said. “I think of how God is the Potter, as it says in the Bible. I feel him holding me, molding me and making me into a beautiful vessel. It’s a powerful spiritual experience. Clay is dust, really – wet dust, and that’s what we are,” soft and pliable, taking shape in God’s hands, “if we allow him.”

Janet Agombar Roy, another member of Redwood, thinks of this when she uses the cups; “I think of the shaping of each one. The force applied to make the clay into the finished product. I also think of the intense heat in the kiln that is needed to bring out the beauty and the hardening process, similar to the trials we go through in our lives to develop our characters.”

God gave us this earth

Many congregants appreciate the environmental benefits of the cups. “I love the earthiness and that each one is unique. And I love the fact that we no longer add waste by using plastic disposable cups,” Karen Sutch said.

Straiton believes that, as Christians, we have a responsibility to protect the world God has given us. “It says right in Genesis that God gave us this earth and we are the caretakers, the stewards of this world. We need to be more cognizant. People lease a car and get another one three years later. We’re a throw-away society. That’s damaging to our environment.”

Straiton draws much of her inspiration from nature. The Thunder Bay potter spends her summers camping, kayaking, canoeing and hiking northwestern Ontario, and her winters cross-country skiing. “There’s a lot of pain and suffering in this world but beauty shows us that there is hope and a reason for living.”

How we get back to God

Asked if she would be interested in making more cups for other churches, Straiton answered with a definitive “no.” Eight weeks of bending over her wheel was too great a strain on her neck. This was a labour of love for her own church, but she is glad the project is finished.

There was one exception: a small group that meets at Silver Islet outside Thunder Bay to livestream Redwood’s services. Marguerite Tiller, who hosts the group of fifteen to twenty people along with her husband, says that the group loves Liz’s unique handcrafted cups.

It’s creativity that Susan Harty Auld, congregant of Redwood, is reminded of each time she takes communion: “I am reminded that I am called to live a life of generosity. In each cup, I see Liz’s generosity with her time and talent on display. I am reminded of God’s love for me and all His people poured out in great abundance.”

“Creativity is not limited to art,” Straiton says. She would love to see other churches exploring how to connect with God through creativity. “A doctor is creative, a teacher is creative. Everyone is creative. It’s evidence of God within. We can get back to God through creating.”