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

When power chooses fear, God calls people towards life.
We come to the table of Christ, where every life carries dignity.

Courage can begin in ordinary acts of care.
Give us wisdom to resist harm, and love that protects life.

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

We come bringing what we can share, and trusting we will receive what we need.
We come for bread, for courage, for life shared together.

The Peace

Peace does not ask us to accept what causes harm.
Peace grows when dignity is protected and fear no longer sets the rules.
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 life and liberation.
When power is driven by fear,
you remain faithful to life.
When people are reduced to labour, numbers, or threats,
you call us to honour dignity and worth.

In Egypt, courage appeared in ordinary people.
Midwives refused a death-dealing command.
Women protected a child.
Care crossed boundaries that power had drawn.
Life was preserved through choices made with courage.

In Jesus, you came among us with another kind of power.
He gathered people without ranking their worth,
challenged what diminished life,
and shaped community through love rather than control.
He trusted ordinary people
to share compassion, justice, and hope.

And so, with angels and ancestors,
with all who have protected life in dangerous times,
with all who build communities of love,
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 faithful love
that does not copy the ways of domination.

He made room for people pushed aside,
challenged power that diminished life,
and gathered people into community
without making usefulness the measure of worth.

At his table, bread was shared.
Grace was received.
No one had to earn their place.

Here is the mystery we celebrate –
God calls us towards life,
Christ gathers us as people of equal worth,
the Spirit gives different gifts,
and love teaches us to share them without hierarchy.

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:
courageous in the face of harm,
careful with power,
generous with our gifts,
secure in our belonging.

When fear is used to divide people, help us choose solidarity.
When power causes harm, give us courage for resistance and care.
When some gifts are valued above others, remind us that every person belongs.
When service becomes exhaustion or self-erasure, call us back to love that honours limits.

Shape us into a community where gifts can be offered freely,
needs can be named without shame,
and no one has to earn their place.

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.)

Bread of life – for you.
You belong at this table.

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

Prayer after Communion

God of life and liberation,
we thank you for meeting us at this table.
You have fed us freely,
and reminded us that no one has to prove their worth.

When fear divides, make us courageous in love.
When harm is done, help us choose protection and care.

Send us out to use our gifts without competition,
to honour the gifts of others,
to resist power that diminishes life,
and to build communities where everyone can belong.
God of life,
now and forever. Amen.

Sending

Go in peace – not because courage is easy,
but because love gives us another way.
We will resist harm. We will honour every person. We will share our gifts in love.