Church of the Reconciler celebrates communion every Sunday. With the diversity of life experiences in our congregation, the consistent return to communion reminds us that Jesus hangs out at tables, providing both physical and spiritual food and bringing together people whom the world would keep separate. This is as true for us now in communion as it was in the teachings of the Bible.
Our communion liturgy is somewhat unique, as we’ve adapted traditional United Methodist prayers to fit the voices and experiences of our community. For us, the prayers of confession, forgiveness, thanksgiving, and preparation are encapsulated in our call and response phrases: “Lord, I need you… Lord, I thank you… Lord, I love you.”
In our liturgy the communal confession is simple. We remember that all those gathered need the Lord equally. Though different people in the congregation may have very different physical and emotional needs, we all experience sin; we all need the Lord; we all look to the Lord to meet us in our need. The congregation affirms together: “Lord, I need you.” Our brief confession may seem to fall short of the weight of sin in the world, but its simplicity is important to our church’s mission of restoring loving relationships with our community. The divides of the world have come to be simply accepted: Race, class, sexuality, generation, political affiliation, neighborhood. What should be simple is crossing these divides to dine at the same table with Jesus, but churches often allow their gatherings to be governed by the same divisions as the rest of the world. Failing to welcome people from differing social locations, we gather at tables that alienate the other and glorify our own status. This can be said equally of any social group. We all experience mistrust of others, and we all need a community that helps us overcome mistrust.
Each Sunday at COTR, some of our members spent the night on the streets, while some have come from shelters, low income housing, or suburbs. Some members know what it is like to be imprisoned. Some can remember when they were told which streets, restaurants, and water fountains they were not welcome to use. Some of our members are day laborers, some teachers, some artists, some white collar. When we hear in the liturgy, “We are all here because we all need the Lord. We are the same in that way,” we counteract socio-political divides that have been at work for centuries. We talk back to the blame and shame slung around the world, saying that here, “No one needs the Lord any more or any less than another.” When I lead this liturgy, I look around the room and see nods of affirmation, sometimes teary eyes. I can see that these are more than words for our congregation. We are living Jesus’s ministry of breaking down dividing walls (Ephesians 2:14). When we leave the walls of the church each Sunday, the world is much harder on some of us than others, but this gathering at Christ’s table gives us connection, greater empathy, a foundation for building peace outside the church, and hope that this kind of peace might grow around the world.
You can read our communion prayers below, and you are always welcome at the Church of the Reconciler table. Actually, it’s not ours to welcome you to, but Christ’s, and we are grateful to be guests at it. Won’t you come?
COTR Communion Liturgy:
Pastor: In all the ways we’ve come here today, in all our different circumstances, we’re all here because we all need the Lord. We are the same in that way. No one needs the Lord any more or any less than another. Together we cry out, “Lord, I need you.”
All: Lord, I need you
Pastor: We all need the Lord, and we all receive the same grace when we cry out: We all meet the God who says to us, “I knew you would come.” We all meet the God who opens arms toward us and sets a place at the table for us. We are all invited to receive Jesus’ presence, grace, forgiveness, and renewal. For the gifts of God’s grace and welcome, we join in saying, “Lord, I thank you.”
All: Lord, I thank you
Pastor: It is good for us to thank God every day. We thank you, God, for the gift of this new day. We thank you for creating us in your image in the beginning of things. Thank you for breathing life into us. Thank you for loving us always, even when our own love fails. We thank you, God, for being with the world in Jesus Christ and for being with us always by the power of your Holy Spirit. It is by the breath of the Holy Spirit in us, that we are able to say back to you, “Lord, I love you.”
All: Lord, I love you
Pastor: On the night when Jesus gave himself up for us, he invited the disciples to the table, as he had done many times before. On that night, He took the bread, gave thanks, and broke the bread, and gave it to them saying, “Take, eat. This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, “Drink from this, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, As often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
So we join together in remembrance and thanksgiving at this table. Won’t you pray with me.
Pour out your Spirit, Lord, on all of us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and juice. Let them be for us the body and blood of Jesus Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory and we feast once more at his heavenly banquet. As we share this taste of your Kingdom, God, all glory, honor, and power are yours, so we pray in the way Jesus taught, saying:
All: 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen
Pastor: This is Christ’s table open to all who long to be with God. It does not belong to Church of the Reconciler or to any denomination. As you are ready, you are invited to come forward for communion.
Following communion and a closing song, our benediction is always congregational:
Lord, I will share you with others.