Rev Rex A E Hunt, MSc(Hons)

CELEBRATING COMMUNITY IN THE TRADITION OF THE MEAL… AUTUMN

The Invitation
Our tradition says at a Last Supper, Jesus, sharing bread and wine,
invited the disciples to share his journey.

Here today, through bread and wine,
we renew our journey with Jesus and his disciples.
Here today, through bread and wine,
we renew our unity with one another,
and with all those who have gone before us in this place.
Here today, through bread and wine,
we renew our communion with the earth
and our interwovenness with the broken ones of the world.

The Story
We are reminded again of the tradition that surrounds this story.

Long ago, on the night of his arrest, 
Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it:
'This bread is broken, as my body will be'.

And he handed it to his friends, and invited them to eat:
'Remember all that I have been to you'.

Long ago, on that same night,
Jesus poured a cup of wine, offered thanks for it,
and gave it to his friends:
'This wine is poured out, as my life will be.
Remember me and give thanks for all I have given'.

Thanksgiving
G-o-d is the heart of life.
All  And we are the heartbeat.
May our hearts be filled
with thanks and praise and songs of joy.
All  We rejoice in the miracle of life
and delight in our participation.  Sherri Weinberg

Creating G-o-d, Source of Life, we offer our thanks.
The smell of gums after rain,
The surprise of ducks in flight,
The taste of peach and plum and nectarine,
For all gifts simple and profound, in country and city,
in paddock, or back yard and on lake:
We give thanks.
All  We give thanks.

We who hold all such good things in trust,
join with others in declaring:
All   Holy! Holy! Holy!
Heaven and earth are holy and good.
Holy is peace.
All   Holy is truth.  Holy is love.

In this season of transition
as the leaves begin their subtle change of colour 
and our hearts cling to the warmth as the days shorten,
once again we are reminded, 
that new possibilities can rise from our failures
or disappointments
or what has come to an end.

We give thanks for all the influences in our lives
that have helped us to see beyond the present:
that teach us to combine labour and rest,
that bring us the cycles of time and season,
that sustain us when we are in need.
All  God loves in us;
God cares through us;
God laughs in us;
God cries in us, as nowhere else.

Especially we give thanks for Jesus of Nazareth,
gatherer of folk,
teller of stories,
breaker of bread,
pourer of wine,
weaver of lives.

In his life, wisdom, stories and social vision
we recall the words he spoke
to call forth in us
love, care and respect for one another:
All  And we believe the same Spirit of G-o-d
that came to visibility in Jesus
yearns for visibile expression in us.  (Michael Morwood).

Blessing
So now we take this bread and this wine...
May they be a constant presence
of the Spirit of Life and Love
healing,
renewing
and making us whole.
All  Together we remember our past.
Together we discern our present.
Together we shape our future.

Bread and Wine
The Bread is broken... the White Wine poured, in silence.

Bread broken.
Wine poured out, for the life of the world.

Communion
So come, taste of this same bread and wine...
Gifts of the earth.
Work of human hands.
Distribution of Bread and White Wine, continuous line

After Communion
May the bread and the wine and the remembering
be a blessing on us all.

Some of the Resources used in Shaping this Liturgy:
Iona Community. Iona Abbey Worship Book. Glasgow. Wild Goose Publications, 2001.
Lee, B. J. (ed). Alternative Futures for Worship. Vol 3. The Eucharist. Collegeville. The Liturgical Press, 1987.
Morely, J. All Desires Known. Expanded edition. London. SPCK, 1992.
Morwood, M. Praying a New Story. Richmond. Spectrum Publications, 2003.
Prewer, B. D. Australian Prayers. Adelaide. OpenBook Publishers, 1983.
Seaburg, C. (ed). The Communion Book. Boston. UUMA, 1993.
Uniting in Worship. Leader’s Book. Melbourne. Uniting Church Press, 1988.
Ward, H.; J. Wild, & J Morley. (ed). Celebrating Women. New edition. London. SPCK, 1995.
Withrow, L. Seasons of Prayer. Resources for Worship. London. SPCK, 1995.

Web sites:
Sherri Weinberg. St Paul's Presbyterian Church. NZ: Devonport.
L Bruce Miller. Edmonton, Canada.