A communion cup is a ritual liturgical vessel, a variant of a chalice, used by only one member of the congregation. A communion cup is usually quite small; it can be as small as a shot glass. They may be designed as small beakers or as miniature versions of the usual liturgical chalice.
This manner of administering consecrated wine at Holy Communion has become established in various Christian denominations, either as a general practice or as a temporary arrangement; for example, during epidemics.
In churches such as the Catholic Church, which generally offer communion without wine, or where intinction (dipping the host in the chalice) is the custom, communion cups are not known, and, thus, they are not used during epidemics.
Communion cups were also introduced in North American churches in the 1890s.[6][7][8] As in Scandinavia, the new practice was motivated by sanitary concerns[9] and accompanied by debate over whether it was ritually acceptable.[6] Newspaper headlines of the time warned of danger and contagion associated with the shared chalice.[10][11]
In the UK they appear to have been invented by John Henry Jowett around the turn of the 20th century in response to health concerns related to the size of his congregation.[12]