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Invitation
God, who has created and is creating, has invited us to gather here.
Jesus, the Word-Made-Flesh, calls us to eat and drink together.
The Holy Spirit emboldens us as community to share this meal with all
who come to the table of faith where all are welcome.
Here we meet each other and the Divine in the simplest of meals.
Come and taste the grace eternal
Come and see that God is good.
Great Thanksgiving
The God who spoke and sang Creation into being is present here.
We are not alone.
As part of God’s wondrous Creation we lift our voices,
sharing prayers and songs of thanksgiving and praise.
Creator, Source of all, we remember the beginning of the story when
you spoke into the chaos
Let there be light!
Then you began the song of the ages, bringing order to the chaos,
form to the world.
Sharing the foundational notes of light and dark, day and night,
dry land and gathered waters.
But also the undertones that link them together: twilight and shadow,
dawn and dusk; fen and marsh, estuary and shoreline.
And still the song continued,
calling forth tree and grass, bush and shrub,
bringing life to the creatures of land and sea and air.
And the song grew as more voices joined in.
The babbling brook, the rustling leaves, the lion’s roar and the
chickadee’s chirp. All of Creation sang together.
As the song reached it’s crescendo you sang us, humanity, made in
your image, into being.
The great notes of male and female, along with the harmonics of
non-binary, and trans, and intersex
Inviting us to join in the song, to care for and guide it as both
singers and conductors.
And after all these generations the song continues.
We have not always been good conductors of the song.
Too often we have chosen our own melody, overpowering others. And
the great harmonies dissolve into dissonance and discord.
In response you have raised up people of wisdom who call us back to
the song. Prophets and priests and protesters who sing the old melody
with new words, new variations.
And we are thankful that the song continues, as we attempt to sing
it together.
Remembering the Story
Then there came the time you introduced a new movement into the
symphony of life.
You sang to Mary of Nazareth, and in return she sang a song of the
world being renewed.
Through Mary’s child, Jesus, the song took physical form, walking
on earth.
He sang the old song of love in word and action, drawing others to
come near and soak in the music of hope.
His song of a world renewed sometimes fell on hardened ears, and some
took up a different song in opposition to his vision.
Their song seemed to win as he was arrested, tried, convicted and
executed. The old song fell silent.
But only for a moment. You brought the song of Creation back with
resurrection, new life, new hope.
And still the song echoes through the Cosmos.
Invoking the Holy Spirit
God whose Holy Spirit blew through the chaos of the beginning,
stirring the waters of life into motion,
send, we pray, that Spirit upon and among us here and now.
As the notes of Creation’s great song resound in our ears and
hearts, as the Spirit sings to us of love and hope and possibility,
may we be recommitted to sing our parts with full voice and
passion.
As the Spirit moves in this meal, transforming the simplicity of
bread and juice into a great banquet,
may we be emboldened to care for the song, and for the world which
sings it with us.
We pray in the name of Jesus, the Risen Christ, who sings in our
souls and encourages us to pray saying...
Our Father...
Sharing The Meal
The bread we share is the Staff of Life.
The cup we share is the Cup of Love.
Gifts from God for the Beloved Children of God
Thanks be to God.
Prayer After Communion
Gift-giver, Creator, Source of all that was and is and yet will be,
we have gathered at the table you set, we have shared the gifts of
grain and vine.
May this meal today strengthen us in body and soul, heart and mind,
as we go out to continue to sing, to continue to care for the
world as you have called us to do from the beginning.
AMEN.
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