Please choose the sections that are appropriate to your context and tradition. For example, if communion is part of a longer service, it may be more appropriate to use only parts of the liturgy.

Gathering at the table

God looks deeper than appearances. Love sees the heart.
We come to the table of the One who truly sees us.

A light is kindled in the ordinary – and it exposes what harms.
Wake us up to truth, and teach us to live as children of light.

This is Christ’s table.
Not a reward for the approved,
but welcome for the overlooked.
Not a prize for the polished,
but bread for those who come as they are.

We come with questions and need.
We come for courage, for clarity, for love that makes room.

The Peace

Peace is what happens when people are seen and honoured.
The peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.

(Share peace in ways that honour boundaries – words, a nod, a wave, a hand on heart.)

The Great Thanksgiving

The Spirit is here.
The Spirit is with us.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the God of love.

Let us give thanks to the Holy One.
It is right to give thanks and praise.

It is right, and a faithful thing,
to give you thanks, God of deep attention and steadfast care.
You do not choose as the world chooses.
You do not measure worth by status, strength, appearance, or polish.
You look at the heart,
and you call out hidden gifts.

You are our shepherd – steady and near.
You lead us beside still waters.
You restore our breath.
Even in the valley, you do not leave us.
Your goodness follows – not as pressure, but as promise.

You call us out of sleep and into light –
not to shame us,
but to wake us up to what is true,
to what is good,
to what brings life.

In Jesus, you confront the stories that blame and stigmatise.
You refuse the logic that says suffering is someone’s fault.
You restore dignity where it has been denied,
and you expose systems that would rather argue than welcome.

And so, with angels and ancestors,
with all who long for a world where everyone belongs,
with all who seek truth with tenderness,
we sing the song of heaven:

Holy, holy, holy One,
breath of all that lives, fire of all that loves,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the One who comes to heal and to set free.
Hosanna in the highest.

Thanksgiving and story

Blessed are you, Holy One.
You speak truth with love –
not to humiliate,
but to free.

Samuel thought he knew what chosen looked like,
but you taught him to see differently.
You chose the overlooked,
and anointed a new beginning.

Jesus met a man who had been treated as a theological problem.
Jesus refused the blame.
Jesus restored him to community
by making him a person with voice and agency.

And when others tried to push him back into silence,
he spoke.
He told his story.
He insisted on his dignity.
He became a witness.

In Christ, light is not a spotlight for performance –
it is a fire for truth,
a lamp for justice,
a warmth for the wounded.

Words of Institution

On the night before he gave himself for us,
Jesus took bread;
he gave thanks, broke it, and said:
“Take, eat. This is my body, given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”

When the meal was ended,
he took the cup;
he gave thanks, and said:
“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.”

Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.

Prayer of the Spirit

Pour out your Spirit on us gathered here,
and on these gifts of bread and cup.
Make them for us the body and blood of Christ,
that we may be for the world the body of Christ:
awake to truth,
gentle in love,
brave in justice,
wide in welcome.

Where we have judged by appearances, forgive us.
Where we have blamed the vulnerable, heal us.
Where we have defended exclusion, change us.
Where we have been asleep to harm, wake us.

Teach us to notice as you notice –
to recognise gifts,
to honour agency,
to widen access,
to practise belonging.
Make us shepherd-people –
steadfast, attentive, and kind.
Make us light-people –
truthful without cruelty,
clear without shame.

Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all honour and glory are yours,
God of promise and presence,
now and always.
Amen.

The Prayer Jesus taught

As Jesus taught us, we pray:
(Use your community’s preferred wording/version.)

Breaking the bread

We break this bread
to share in the body of Christ.
Though we are many, we are one body,
because we all share in one bread.

The gifts of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.

Sharing the bread and cup

(Words such as these may be used during the distribution.)

You are known – grace for you.
Light for the journey.

(If people receive a blessing instead of the elements: “May Christ be close to you; may love hold you.”)

Prayer after Communion

God of deep seeing,
we thank you for meeting us at this table.
You have fed us with grace,
and steadied us with love.

When we are tempted to judge, teach us to be attentive.
When we are tempted to blame, teach us compassion.

Send us out as people of light –
to honour dignity,
to widen welcome,
to seek justice,
to carry peace.
God of mercy,
now and forever. Amen.

Sending

Go in peace – not because everything is clear,
but because love is leading you.
We will wake up to truth. We will practise kindness. We will make room.