A new product being touted by its creator as an option for "large groups or just people on the go who want to worship and give thanks to God," is causing a mix of reactions. 

Theresa Lay is the creator of a product she called God's Pill. Others are referring to it as 'communion in a pill.'

Lay told her local CBS television station that “I had gone through loss in my life and I was taking daily communion. And I thought about a portable way, a quick and easy way to do it.” 

The capsules are being sold online. One is filled with matzo bread powder, and the other is filled with red wine extract.

“Large groups or just people on the go who want to worship and give thanks to God. That’s pretty much how I invented the communion pill.”

Communion is communal

The Rev’d. Dr. Lissa M. Wray Beal is the professor of Old Testament and department chair for Bible & Theology at Providence Theological Seminary, and also an ordained priest in the Anglican Church.

She says while we should be mindful and respectful of Lay's heart and desire to participate in communion, she still has "significant reservations."

Wray Beal says that "communion is really best thought of as a communal reality and a reality that is experienced in the midst of worship where the community is gathered together and together our hearts are directed to the Lord. As part of that, we come around the table."

While Lay did mention that the pills can be used in groups, there seems to be an individualistic focus. Wray Beal says she doesn't suggest that's Lay's intent with the creation.

"But I think," she says, "absented from worship (it can) become reduced to 'I've checked off my box. I'll just take my pill for the day.' Where's the community? Where's the worship? Where's the drawing together to the Lord in the midst of community?"

Listen to the full conversation with the Rev'd. Dr. Lissa Wray Beal below.

Some positives

Not everybody, however, thinks it's necessarily a bad thing. In fact, some say it's a helpful tool.

One reviewer of the red wine capsules on Amazon rated it five stars. They said, "As a missionary, I travel to very remote and impoverished areas. It is a challenge to pack all of the supplies and the cost of additional luggage is a deterrent. This portable communion idea has changed the way we are able to share the gospel and have the added plus of having the Lord's supper wherever we go. I am very pleased with the product and will be ordering again for our mission teams."