Tag Archives: progressive Christian communion

A Communion Liturgy for National Holidays

02 Saturday Jul 2022

Posted by in Communion Liturgy, Holidays, National Day Prayers

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Invitation
May the Spirit of love be with you
And may the love of Christ be with you
Open wide your cautious hearts.
May the hope of our Creator pour peace in our souls.
Let us give thanks to the one who created this time and space
From our joy we give God thanks and praise.

Prayer of Communion
God of the fair winds and bounteous fields,
Of the storms overhead and the seas below,
With joy we celebrate the connection we have with all of creation
“From sea to shining sea,” 1
From the beauteous mountain caps to the rivers winding across the land.

We honor the connection we have with your beings-
from the chipmunks scurrying through our yards
to the swallows swooping in the air above.

We embrace the relationships with our neighbors near and far-
the ones who are close to our hearts,
and the ones with whom distance in miles and souls sets us apart.

And so we come to this table:
The ones with many opportunities, and those seeking liberty.
The ones who have been disregarded and those embraced,
knowing that Christ’s welcome receives all.
knowing that Jesus the Christ ate with sinners and tax collectors,
with those who disapproved and those who leapt for joy,
with Judas and Peter, with Mary and Martha, with Philip and Thomas.

And so we too come to the table.
The table of God’s freedom. The table of God’s justice and love.
The table which reflects the true kingdom, empire, realm of God where all are welcome.

We come to the table remembering the night before Jesus died.
As he ate with his followers in a room away from the world,
“taking a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’
And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant.”2 Whenever we eat and drink at the table, we remember the Christ in our midst.

Spirit of Hope, Holy Winds of Divine Freedom,
encircle this bread and cup,
Encircle us in our eating and drinking
that we may experience the radical love of Christ here today
and sharing this care as we journey throughout this week. Amen.

*****

Liturgy (c) Rev. Michelle L. Torigian 2022. Permission to use liturgy with attribution.

1“From sea to shining sea” from America the Beautiful.

2 Quote from Luke 22:19-20 (NRSV)

A Communion Liturgy for Lent

07 Sunday Mar 2021

Posted by in Communion Liturgy, Lent Prayers, Liturgy

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Invitation
God is with you!
And God is with us all.
Open wide your hearts.
We open them completely to the Spirit of God.
May God’s love nurture your wandering spirits each day.
May God’s light sustain your souls each night.

Prayer of Communion
This is a season of wilderness-
The season we grasp to understand the Divine just a little more.
This is the time for us to reach inwards to find the self that God sees.
This is the chance for us to gaze outwards, caring for the Christ in our midst.

The Lenten roads are long
Yet full of gifts.
The Lenten paths often seem chilly
Yet warm with the winds of the Spirit.
The Spirit of God is the light that leads us in the hushed nights.
The Christ is our companion on the journey in the intense sunlight of day.
We remember his time in the wilderness-
The struggles. The hunger.  The peace.

And as we seek the Divine in our midst,
On this journey, we crave the bread of life.
On our desert roads, we thirst for the fruit of the vine, the cup of blessings.

Through Jesus the Christ’s story, we remember the night before his arrest,
The night of serenity, solemnity, and love.
Jesus took in his hands bread from the table.
He broke it and blessed it.
Eat in remembrance of me, he said.

And after supper,
As the night grew long,
Jesus took a cup, and filled it with the fruit of the vine.
As he blessed it, he spoke aloud to them
Take and drink and always remember me.

May the Spirit who traveled with Christ in the wilderness
And fills us with the hope of God
Surround these elements.
May the Spirit speak to us in this season of wilderness
Becoming our strength on this journey
And filling our lives with love.  Amen.

Prayer of Thanksgiving
Divine Light of Our Journey-
In a spirit of gratitude we give thanks for this time at your Holy Meal.
This time at the Table filled us with strength,
Knowing that as we continue on this Lenten journey,
We will find your peace surrounding us.
Amen.

A Communion Liturgy for Ash Wednesday

05 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by in Church Life, Holidays, Pop

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communionHere is a communion liturgy I wrote for our ecumenical Ash Wednesday service this year.  Please feel free to use it and note that you saw it on michelletorigian.com.

Blessings to all as we look towards this new liturgical season.

Michelle

Invitation

One: Come, as we embark on the dawn of this new season.
Come, as we reflect upon the dusk of our lives.
Come, as we set aside our distractions and the concerns of our minds
Come, as we focus on the heart of the matter.

One: God of light and dust be with you,
All: And also with you.
One: Open wide our hearts:
All: We open them up to our God.
One: Let us give thanks to God our creator.
All: Even in the midst of the wilderness, we give God our praise.

Prayer of Communion

One: Tonight we come together to recall the magnificent common memories we have of our Christ.  We remember his servant leadership and the unconditional love he had for humankind.

Here and now, we give thanks for the steadfast love of God that we see reflected in Jesus the Christ.  We are grateful for one another and for all the saints who have come to the table throughout history and to those who will gather here after we have returned to dust.  With appreciation, we give thanks to the hands who have harvested the grapes and grains before us.  In a spirit of active thanksgiving, we commit ourselves as servants to God’s children, finding new ways of bringing justice, righteousness and love to the shadows on this earth.

May the Spirit come upon these elements.  May the Spirit fill our hearts with love, kindness and acceptance.  May the Spirit continue to aid us in our work in the world and as we cross boundaries of denominations and faith differences.  May the Spirit empower us as we walk through these 40 days in the wilderness, as we face the sadness of the crucifixion and as we wait for the Christ’s resurrection.

As Jesus continued on his journey, he could see that his time was drawing nearer.  Our Christ knew that his love and leadership would take him to the cross.  And as the final night was upon him, he drew close to his friends.  To embrace the love he had with them, he shared one last table.

Jesus embraced the bread in his weathered hands, broke it, gave it to his friends asking them to remember him.

Jesus clasped the cup containing the fruit of the vine, gave thanks one last time and asked them to remember him.

In remembering him, we speak the words together in prayer, using the words closest to your hearts saying… Our Father, who art in heaven…

(As we pray the Lord’s Prayer in unity, please use the word closest to your hearts, whether it is sins, trespasses or debts.)

The bread of life.  The cup of the new covenant.  Both given to us.  Both we partake in together as we remember our servant-leader Jesus the Christ.

Distribution of the Elements

Unison Prayer of Thanksgiving

All: Even as we come to the table tonight remembering our frailty with the dust on our heads, we also give God our thanks for this meal.  We give our gratitude that we have come together as one Body of Christ.  In these next 40 days and as we walk the road to the crucifixion, continue to keep us awake to the ways we can bring Jesus the Christ’s servant-leadership to our world.  Amen.