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

Christ calls us beyond the labels others place on us.
We come to the table of mercy, where welcome is wider than respectability.

Jesus says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
Teach us faith that becomes welcome, and love that restores.

This is Christ’s table.
Not a reward for the respectable,
but bread for those who need grace.
Not a prize for the perfect,
but welcome for those who come as they are.

We come with longing and need, with trust and with questions.
We come for mercy, for courage, for life renewed.

The Peace

Peace is what mercy makes possible where shame has drawn lines.
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 joyful thing,
to give you thanks, God of promise and mercy.
You call your people into blessing
larger than one life, one table, one community.
You are faithful beyond what we can measure,
and your promise is received not as achievement,
but as grace.

In Jesus, you came among us with mercy at the centre.
He called Matthew from the tax booth,
shared a table with those labelled sinners,
and answered judgement with compassion.
He crossed the boundaries that shame had built,
honoured courage that reached out in hope,
and brought life where others had given up.

And so, with angels and ancestors,
with all who trust your promise,
with all who have found welcome at the table of mercy,
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.
In Jesus you showed us what mercy looks like
when it enters ordinary life.

He did not wait for people to become acceptable
before he drew near.
He called the compromised and the complicated.
He sat at table with those others avoided.
He answered judgement with compassion:
“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

He did not treat illness, grief, or exclusion
as reasons to turn away.
He responded to desperate love.
He honoured hidden courage.
He restored dignity where shame had taken root.

Here is the mystery we celebrate –
promise wider than our fear,
mercy deeper than our judgement,
faith held by grace,
and Christ at the table,
making room for life.

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:
rooted in mercy,
open to promise,
generous in welcome,
alive in hope.

When shame has pushed people away, make us welcoming.
When respectability has narrowed our table, widen our love.
Meet grief with tenderness,
and help us honour courage that reaches out quietly.

Shape us into a people who trust your promise
without needing to control the whole road ahead.
Make our faith practical in shared bread, open doors,
attention to the overlooked,
justice for those kept at the edges,
and mercy that becomes a way of life.

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.)

Mercy of Christ – for you.
Blessing 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 promise and mercy,
we thank you for meeting us at this table.
You have fed us with grace,
and widened our hope.

When we are tempted to judge, turn us towards mercy.
When we are afraid to widen the table, steady us in your promise.

Send us out as people of generous faith –
to share welcome,
to honour courage,
to seek justice,
to make room for those pushed aside,
and to practise mercy in ordinary life.
God of blessing,
now and forever. Amen.

Sending

Go in peace – not because the road is certain,
but because mercy is already moving.
We will trust the promise. We will widen the table. We will practise mercy.