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 notices the weary and responds with compassion.
We come to the table of mercy, where love meets us as we are.

The harvest is plentiful, and God’s care is needed everywhere.
Feed us with grace, and send us with tenderness.

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

We come with gratitude and need, with hope and with weariness.
We come for compassion, for courage, for love made practical.

The Peace

Peace is compassion taking shape between us.
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 compassion.
You visit your people in unexpected ways.
You meet us at the threshold,
at the table,
in the heat of the day,
in the places where hope feels unlikely.

You do not mock fragile faith.
You receive laughter, doubt, and longing.
You keep opening futures where we thought the story had closed.

In Jesus, you came among us with compassion at the centre.
He noticed people worn down by life,
people left without care,
people longing for healing, dignity, and good news.
He did not turn away.
He drew near.

He called ordinary people by name
and sent them to make your love practical:
to heal,
to restore,
to announce that your reign is near,
to give freely what they had received freely.

And so, with angels and ancestors,
with all who have welcomed strangers and found blessing,
with all who have received compassion and shared it,
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 compassion looks like
when it enters ordinary life.

He did not treat crowds as problems to manage,
but as people to love.
He noticed exhaustion without blaming it.
He recognised need without turning people into projects.
He brought healing, dignity, and hope.

He gathered disciples,
not because they were impressive,
but because love is meant to be shared.
He sent them with empty hands and open hearts,
to depend on welcome,
to offer peace,
to make good news visible in real places.

Here is the mystery we celebrate –
promise larger than our imagination,
hope deeper than our weariness,
compassion stronger than indifference,
and Christ at the table,
feeding us for the work of love.

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 compassion,
gentle in strength,
generous in welcome,
alive in hope.

When people are exhausted, make us tender.
When need feels overwhelming, give us wisdom.
When hope sounds unlikely, keep us open to promise.
When peace is rejected, teach us how to let go without bitterness.

Shape us into a people who receive freely and give freely.
Make our faith practical in shared tables, open doors,
words that restore, attentive care,
justice for those left without support,
and peace offered without force.

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.)

Compassion 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 promise and compassion,
we thank you for meeting us at this table.
You have fed us with grace,
and strengthened us with hope.

When we are weary, hold us in your care.
When we are called to serve, keep us rooted in love.

Send us out as people of practical compassion –
to share welcome,
to offer peace,
to seek justice,
to honour the exhausted and overlooked,
and to give freely what we have received.
God of mercy,
now and forever. Amen.

Sending

Go in peace – not because the need is small,
but because compassion is already moving.
We will receive freely. We will give freely. We will practise love.