This communion liturgy was written to accompany the African-American spiritual “The Welcome Table,” with its focus on justice, abundance, and dignity.
Invitation to the Table
To those of us who had a good breakfast,
and are already making plans for lunch,
the invitation to the feast of God is a kindness, a hospitable favor.
But to those who are starving, it is a miracle.
So come like those who are starving.
If not for food than for justice, for goodness, for mercy, for Christ.
Come, and take your seat at the welcome table.
The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
God, you made humanity and set us in a garden,
so there would always be enough for all.
But we tasted evil, and have not yet got that taste out of our mouths.
In Egypt, your people were enslaved,
the taste of brick dust in their mouths.
You led them to freedom, to a land of milk and honey.
But in that land, your people grew arrogant.
With the taste of greed in our mouths,
we starved the poor, the immigrant, the widow and the orphan.
You sent prophets and poets to sing us new songs,
about mountain top feasts where You yourself are our host,
wiping every tear from our eyes.
And then you came to us as Jesus Christ,
the son of man, eating and drinking.
Jesus made a welcome table wherever he went.
A hillside with 5000 hungry followers.
A table of prostitutes and tax collectors.
A dinner party made of the hopeful and the hypocrites.
A table in an upper room, where disciples and traitors gathered,
and where he took bread and wine
And having given thanks to his Father in heaven,
broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
After that dinner Jesus took the cup, saying:
This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood,
shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.
That night, the soldiers came for him.
In a desperate attempt to keep our tables closed and orderly,
we killed Jesus, the taste of sour wine in his mouth.
Three days later, he rose again.
Because love is stronger than death.
And in God, nothing is hopeless.
Nothing.
And so we seek the Spirit, whose voice sings across history.
Pour yourself out, Spirit, on this bread and cup,
that this meal may give us some of your boundless energy for the world you love.
In this meal, may we taste the ferocious love of God,
that will not stop until all the world finds a welcome table, here and into eternity.
With hope of that day in our hearts, we pray with the words Christ taught us:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil,
for thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory forever. Amen.
Sharing of the Bread and Cup
Closing Prayer
Jesus Christ, this meal is everything to us
but it is not enough for you
until everyone is fed.
Your mercy is everything to us
but it is not enough for you
until everyone is forgiven.
Your love is everything to us
but it is not enough for you
until everyone is welcome.
Give us our marching orders.
Send us out singing. Amen.
Deep Well Worship 