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

We come with branches and burdens, with praise and with trembling.
We come to the table of the One who enters in peace.

Hosanna is on our lips – and sorrow is near.
Meet us in the joy and in the ache, and teach us the way of love.

This is Christ’s table.
Not a reward for the unwavering,
but grace for the conflicted.
Not a prize for the powerful,
but bread for those who come as they are.

We come with hope and fear, with longing and need.
We come for courage, for mercy, for love that will not turn back.

The Peace

Peace comes riding not on force, but on gentleness.
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 justice and compassion.
You do not rule by fear.
You do not cling to domination.
You come among us with humility,
with tears for our communities,
with courage for the road ahead.

You hear the cry of the crowd –
the cry for rescue,
the cry for change,
the cry that rises from people who have known too much violence,
too much empire,
too much grief.

You do not despise our longing.
You meet us in it.
You enter the streets of this world,
not to crush,
but to heal,
not to silence,
but to speak truth,
not to save yourself,
but to pour yourself out in love.

And so, with angels and ancestors,
with all who wave branches and all who weep,
with all who hunger for a different kind of reign,
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 came among us –
not in spectacle,
but in vulnerability,
not with the weapons of empire,
but with the strength of peace.

He entered the city while the powers of this world
carried on with their show of force.
He received the praise of the crowd,
and he knew how quickly crowds can turn.
Still he came.
Still he loved.
Still he refused to abandon the way of mercy.

He welcomed the overlooked.
He overturned what exploited the poor.
He honoured those whose dignity had been denied.
He kept walking towards the pain at the heart of things.

Here is glory –
not in domination,
but in self-giving love.
Here is God’s reign –
not in control,
but in courage.
Here is salvation –
not in escape,
but in love that stays.

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:
steady in compassion,
gentle in strength,
truthful in courage,
faithful in love.

When we want glory without cost, teach us honesty.
When we want peace without justice, unsettle us.
When fear makes us silent, give us courage.
When despair tells us nothing can change, keep hope alive.

Form us as people who follow Christ into the real places –
into the streets,
into the conflict,
into the grief,
into the work of repair.
Make us people who carry peace without pretending,
who resist harm without becoming cruel,
who practise love when it is costly.

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.)

Peace of Christ – for you.
Strength 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 courage and compassion,
we thank you for meeting us at this table.
You have fed us with grace,
and strengthened us with hope.

When the road ahead is hard, keep us faithful.
When the crowd is loud, keep us rooted in love.

Send us out to follow Christ with honesty –
to practise peace,
to seek justice,
to stand with the vulnerable,
to carry mercy into our communities.
God of steadfast love,
now and forever. Amen.

Sending

Go in peace – not because the road is easy,
but because Christ goes ahead of you.
We will carry hope. We will practise love. We will make room.