Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Buddhist
A CELEBRATION OF COMMUNION (For Unitarian Universalists & Other Religious Liberals)

A CELEBRATION OF COMMUNION (For Unitarian Universalists & Other Religious Liberals)

Last updated on: March 14, 2019 at 7:15 am by James Ford

A CELEBRATION OF COMMUNION (For Unitarian Universalists & Other Religious Liberals) 2019-03-14T07:15:47-07:00 James Ford

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Celebration of Communion

for Unitarian Universalists & Other Religious Liberals

Preface

Since first celebrated for Maundy Thursday in 1995, versions of this service have been used within Unitarian Universalist communities across the North American continent. All are welcome to adapt it and use for their communities. Acknowledgements are appreciated.

The sources upon which this service are based are many and varied. But grateful acknowledgment must be given especially to the Anglican liturgical scholars Dom Gregory Dix and the Reverend Dr Louis Weil. The former for his generative writings on Eucharistic theology and the later for his guidance of the editor’s liturgical thinking while studying at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.

Those of a scholarly turn may discern the Anaphora of Hippolytus, one of the most venerable of eucharistic liturgies, at the foundation of this contemporary service. In addition, endless gratitude and acknowledgment of the inspiration of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Abraxis as well as the “Celebration of Eucharist” edited by the Rev’d Dr Mark Belletini, which shaped much of the deep structures of this service. The opening responsive reading is slightly adapted from a reading by the Rev’d Robert Eller-Issacs, itself based on Matthew 25. The Magnifcat is from the Inclusive Bible. The Benediction is from In Blackwater Woods by Mary Oliver.

The Rev’d James Ishmael Ford, Editor

THE TEACHINGS

A bell is rung.

Reader 1: I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink.

All: I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me*.*

Reader 1: I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.

All: Here is the bread of life, food for the spirit. Let all who hunger come and eat.

Reader 1: Here is the fruit of the vine, pressed and poured out for us. Let all who thirst now come and drink.

All: We come to break bread. We come to drink of the fruit of the vine. We come to make peace.

Reader 1: May we never praise God with our mouths while denying in our hearts or by our acts the love that is our common speech.

All: I come to be restored in the love of God. I come to be made new as an instrument of that love.

Reader 1: I know that all are worthy. I know that I am welcome as I am.

All: All are welcome. I am welcome.

Reader 1: Come into the embrace and remembrance of this communion*.*

The chalice is lit in silence.

A Hymn may be sung here.

Reader 2: We have come together this evening to share food for the body and the spirit. Ours is a community of many differing beliefs about the nature of humanity and what is holy. Many strands weave here to make the wonderful cord that binds us together. One precious strand is the life and story of Jesus, the child of Mary and Joseph. Tonightwe take time, once again, to share his teachings and his story with each other, joining together in a holy communion.

President: We come here from the cares of our lives in the world, burdened with the knowledge of what we have done and what we have left undone that has caused pain and suffering among those with whom we live. Our world is divided. Our hearts are divided. Let us sit together for a few moments in silence and consider the power and cost of the great reconciliation of which Jesus sung.

Silence

Reader 3: My soul proclaims your greatness, O God,
and my spirit rejoices in you, my Savior.
For you have looked with favor
upon your lowly servant,
and from this day forward
all generations will call me blessed.
For you, the Almighty, have done great things for me, and holy is your Name.
Your mercy reaches from age to age
for those who fear you.

You have shown strength with your arm;
you have scattered the proud in their conceit; you have deposed the mighty from their thrones and raised the lowly to high places.
You have filled the hungry with good things, while you have sent the rich away empty.
You have come to the aid of Israel your servant, mindful of your mercy –
the promise you made to our ancestors –
to Sarah and Abraham
and their descendants forever.

(Luke 1:46-55)

President: These are words of a harsh and dreadful love. In his life and teachings, Jesus gave valuable counsel, a warning against all oppressions, and deep words of comfort to those who would discover the realm of God on this good earth. Let us remember.

Reader 4: Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

All: Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.

Reader 4: Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.

All: Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.

Reader 4: Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.

All: Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.

Reader 4: Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called children of God.

All: Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

President: You shall love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first and great commandment.

All: And the second is like it, namely this: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

A hymn may be sung or a musical reflection

A text from Scripture or otherwise appropriate to the season may be read here

A brief homily may be given here

THE STORY

Reader 5: We now come to the part of our service called the Great Thanksgiving. This is a sacred meal and this is a sacred time. It is a meal that we share not only among ourselves, but with all those in the past and future who are gathered together into this precious present. This is sacred time when past and future have folded into this very moment.

Reader 6: It is important to remember those who whether or not present physically, are very much among us. Our parents, our children, friends, lovers, the beloved dead; all that great cloud of witnesses are gathered together at this meal. If you wish, this is a time to name those people who are particularly in your heart. This is an opportunity to name those whom we mourn or celebrate or simply remember.

People name their names. A bell is rung at each name.

Reader 7: And now let us consider the purpose of a meal as a sacred celebration.

All: From the dawn of time people have gathered together to celebrate life with food and friends. The great forces of nature, the precariousness of life, the miracle of life, are found in the taste of bread.

Reader 7: In ancient Sumeria, where the Tigris and Euphrates cradle civilization and where the word “freedom” first appeared in human history, Tammuz the god of field and meadow died each year and came to life in marriage with Inanna, goddess of soil and fertility.

All: In early Greece, Persephone, goddess of grain and Orpheus and Dionysus, the gods of music and wine, died each year with the cycle of the seasons and came to life again as a sign of hope.

Reader 7: In ancient Egypt, people planted seeds in the fertile earth, the body of Isis that her dead lover Osiris, god of grain and harvest might spring to life again.

All: On the night following their deliverance from slavery to Pharaoh, the children of Israel shared a feast of unleavened bread to mark their rescue from bondage.

Reader 7: And we ourselves stand in that living tradition which remembers. Tonight we remember the story of Jesus sharing broken bread and common cup with his friends at the Passover. From the mystery of that story to the mystery of this table is no longer than a heartbeat, for the proof of the past is presence.

The President lifts up the bread

President: Even as uncountable grains are gathered together to make this bread, so we gather together in the unity of our common humanity.

The President pours a little water into the wine, and lifts up the flagon

President: Even as this water and wine mix together into one, so our bodies and minds dance and blend together into a holy union.

All: May the spirit of love fall upon us and on this bread and wine that we may see each other and the divine in the breaking of the bread.

President: Jesus said, unless you lose your life you will not live, and if you try to save your life you will lose it. Luke 17:33

A bell is rung

President: On the evening of his death Jesus called us to the mystery of life, and like a weaning mother, carried us no farther; setting us free. Blessing you, oh love, and this festive bread, (the
President touches the bread), he said, take and eat, this is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Blessing you, love, and this festive cup (the President touches the cup), he said, this is the cup of an eternally renewed covenant. As often as you drink this wine, do it in remembrance of me.

All: Therefore, come, oh spirit of love, and move within us, that we may truly see our kinship with you and with each other. May we live in such a way that the vision Jesus proclaimed is made flesh and blood in us.

Reader 8: Now let the heavens be rent for us, and the earth be made new in our sight, as we take your good gifts as signs of our own becoming, and in the sharing of them, recall once again the eternal manifestation of that great feast which is given to all who hunger and thirst for justice and mercy.

The president then tears the bread into parts and drops a small crumb into the wine. Holding up the cup and a morsel of bread, the President says

President: Behold the life of the world. Eat and drink in the peace and love of Jesus, the child of Mary and Joseph.

Those designated distribute the bread. All wait until everyone has a morsel.

President: May all be fed, may all be nourished*.*

Everyone eats.

The wine is passed to the community. Everyone takes a sip.

President: Bread and wine, the blessings of this good earth, the call of our hearts.

A Hymn may be sung.

Reader 9: A Benediction out of this moment.Look, the trees are turning their own bodies into pillars of light, are giving off the rich fragrance of cinnamon and fulfillment, the long tapers of cattails are bursting and floating away over the blue shoulders of the ponds, and every pond, no matter what its name is, is nameless now. Every year everything I have ever learned in my lifetime leads back to this: the fires and the black river of loss whose other side is salvation, whose meaning none of us will ever know. To live in this world you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go. (Mary Oliver)

*President: (*Speaks words of comfort.)

All: Amen.

Uncategorized

Communion

Eucharist

Unitarian Universalist

Previous Post

March 12, 2019

Hitting the Road With Jack Kerouac

Next Post

March 15, 2019 Noting the Birth of the Notorious RBG

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Christmas Carol Abolitionist African-American Ahmadiyya Alan Watts Aldous Huxley Allen Ginsberg Amedkar Jayanti American politics American Zen Anaheim Zen Sangha Anglican Annie Besant April Fool Armageddon Art and Religion artificial intellegence Atheist Awakening B R Ambedkar Barlaam & Josaphat Beatnik Between Bhagavad Gita Bible biography birthday bodhisattva Bodhisattva Precepts Book burning Book of Common Prayer Book of Mormon Brahmo Samaj Buddha Buddhism Buddhist Buddhist Lord's Prayer Butterflies Calendars cartoons cat ChatGPT Chicken Tortilla Soup choices Christian atheism Christian mysticism Christian origins Christian Science Christian Zen Christianity Christianity and Buddhism christmas Christmas Truce Christopher Isherwood Church of Later Day Saints Cinco de Mayo circus covenant critical thinking culture D. T. Suzuki Dalit Buddhism Daniel Defoe Desert Fathers and Mothers dharma talk Dogen Donald Trump Dongshan's Five Ranks Dorothy Day dream Duty Easter ecology Edwin Arnold emptiness Empty Moon Zen Network Episcopal Church Eternal Now Ethics evolution existentialism Faith fantasy Fathers Day film film review fire Five Ranks Folk music food Form and emptiness Four Seals Francis of Assisi Francis Xavier Free thinker friendship George MacDonald Gerald Heard Glenn Taylor Webb God Good Friday Gospel of Gospel of Mark Gospel of Thomas grace Graduate Theological Unioin Graduate Theological Union Guanyin H R Blyth Hakuin Ekaku Hanamatsuri Hanukkah Harada Yasutani Zen Heart Sutra Henry David Thoreau Hermann Hesse Hinduism History and Religion history of religion Holy Spirit home Hospitality Icon Ides of March Isaac Newton Islam Islamic mysticism Jack Kerouac James Luther Adams Jiddu Krishnamurti Joan of Arc Johannes Gutenberg John Donne joke Judaism justice karma kensho King James Bible koan Koun Yamada Kyoto School Lewis Carrol Liberal Christianity Liberal Religion Life Plan Community Liminal literature Literature and Religion Liturgy Lord's Prayer Love Mahatma Gandhi Mahayana Martin Luther King Jr Mary Baker Eddy Mary Magdelene Mary Oliver Mayflower Compact Meditation memories memory metaphor money money and religioin Mormons Mother's Day movie review mysticism mythic Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church New Thought Nichiren Buddhism Nonduality not knowing Omar Khayyam Pacific School of Religion pagan Palm Sunday Passover peace Pentecost perennialism Phantastes Philip Kapleau philosophy Pilgrimage poetry Poetry and Religion politics Prayer Precepts Printing Press prophecy prophetic spirituality psychology Pure Land Queer religion queering religion Quietism Ram Mohan Roy rebirth recipe Relationships and religion religion religion and history Religious syncretism Resistance Retirement Retreat review Rissho Kosei Kai Ritual Robert Aitken Roshi Robert Ingersoll Rohatsu Romani religion Rosie the Riveter saints samadhi SanboZen Sangha Satyagraha science science and reigion science and religion science fiction seminary sermon Sesshin Sex and Religion Shinran Sikh Sikh tradition silence Social Justice Socially Engaged Buddhism Society and religion Soto Zen soul spiritual community spiritual practice Spirituality Sufism Suicide superstition Taoism Television Teresa of Avila Thanksgiving theological schools Theosophy Thomas Merton Time Transcendentalism Transcendentalist Trinitarian Trinity Uncategorized unitarian Unitarian Christianity Unitarian Universalist Universalism Vajrayana Vedanta Walking war Willa Cather William Ellery Channing wisdom women and religion women in religion World Teacher Writing zazen Zen Zen Center Zen inspired retriement zen meditation Zen Precepts Zen women

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does the name "Moses" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Delivered Saved Drawn out (of water) Judge