The Communion meal is the central act of Christian hospitality and it is important to us that YOU know that you are welcome at our table, whoever you are, whatever your story.
We share communion together on the first Sunday of each month and our table is open to all. We use non-alcoholic wine in individual cups and serve gluten free bread. If you’d rather not partake, feel free to stay seated.
Here are the words we speak (adapted from words written by Rev. Anna Blaedel) as we share this simple act of worship and connection – the words in bold we say together:
God calls us
Community of saints,
beloveds of God,
we are invited to come and gather at the table of love and liberation,
to feast on the dreams of God,
to be nourished by but a taste of what God desires to do among us.God calls us from institutional halls of power,
From shelters and the streets;
God calls us from classrooms and pulpits, gay bars and prison cells.God calls us as we are, from wherever we are,
to come and be in solidarity with Christ, who lives and loves on the margins.God whispers “come”
and live abundantly,
turning from all that claims blessings flow from money, power, or control.To answer the call of Christ is to find ourselves no matter our social location, choosing to align ourselves with the causes of the marginalised, the oppressed, the outcast, and the isolated…
That together,
we might enflesh new possibilitiesof healing,
of connection,
of freedom
from all that destroys.
And so let us come to the table,
expectant,
eager,
open
to tasting the rich blessings of heaven born from unexpected places, and people, and experiences.In this meal,
we remember the life, death, and resurrection of the One who still takes on flesh among us today.On the night he would be arrested,
Jesus gathered his friends and companions.
In the midst of a tense and dangerous time,
they found each other at table,
connecting over the story of God-enfleshed among them.And as they did so, Jesus took bread, gave thanks to God, broke the bread and shared it with his disciples saying,
“Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
When the supper was over, he also took the cup, gave thanks to God, and shared it with his disciples, saying,
“Drink from this, all of you; this is the cup of the new covenant. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
And so we pray,
Come Holy Spirit,
Breath of God, Renewer of life,
Settle on these gifts and all who gather here that we might be transformed in our remembrance
of your radical love,
your eternal embrace,and your grace that makes all things new. Amen.
If you would like to, you are invited to go to the back of the room to receive communion during the song
And so we give thanks that we can meet one another at this table of love and liberation, open to all.
That we can connect over the story of God enfleshed amongst us.
Today. Here in this place.
For the sake of our shared lives, and the lives of those yet to come, we ask you to nourish us.
Renew our hope that soon Christ may rise again among us. Amen.
