Questions for people who attend Episcopal churches [View all]

I attended a few services at an Episcopal church and noticed two things that surprised me.

First, for communion, they used a common cup for everyone. Is that typical in Episcopalian churches? I passed on it, unable to share a cup with anyone, just on basic hygiene principles that I grew up with, not to mention the recent covid pandemic and increase in RSV infections.

Second, the priest urges people to practice one on one confession to him or his assistant priest, as in Roman Catholic churches. Is that also a common Episcopalian practice?

My own religious background is in two mainstream liberal Protestant denominations. Both of them have individual little glasses in trays for communion and run them through the church's dishwasher for cleaning and sanitizing later.

Both of them teach that there are various ways of confession. One is the common confession spoken by the congregation together in the service. Another is in the Lord's prayer, "Forgive us our sins/trespasses as we forgive those who sin/trespass against us." Or, people can privately, in prayer, confess specific sins directly to God. Another option is to speak to a pastor about specific sins, concerns, or troubling moral issues. Neither one of those churches urges or requires confession to clergy.