A Prayer of Confession, Pardon, and Peace
Merciful God, you call us to come to you honestly.
Our freedom is in you, but sometimes we cling to our own familiar chains. Forgive us, build your presence in us, transform us to your likeness. Amen.
Friends in Christ, know this: the love of God is from everlasting to everlasting. Let us remember this surpassing grace, Christ has freed us from aimlessness and sin. Thank you, God. Amen!
For use as part of an offering.
Returning Our Thanks
Lord, thank you for these gifts. Bless this offering, and direct its use to your loving work in the world. We ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Or, if leading into the Lord’s Prayer,
Lord, thank you for these gifts. Bless this offering, and direct its use to your loving work in the world. We ask in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray:
Call to Worship: A Unison Invocation
Adapted from the United Church of Christ Book of Worship.
Eternal God,
companion to all who seek you,
seeker of all who turn away,
help us love and serve you,
show us again how we find true freedom through Jesus Christ, who shows
the way of truth and life. Amen.
A responsive prayer for World Communion Sunday focused on Christian unity, adapted from Psalm 67, John 17, and Ephesians 2, with an optional transition into Prayers of the People or a familiar prayer or creed.
God, you are gracious,
thank you for blessing us;
thank you for shining your face upon us,
especially for walking with us in Jesus,
for guarding and guiding us in the Spirit.
May your way be known on the earth,
your freeing love known to all.
When Jesus taught us to pray,
he also prayed this:
that we would be one.
For he is our peace,
he calls us away from division,
he proclaimed peace to those near
and far.
In him, God’s kingdom grows;
he longs to grow God’s kingdom in us.
Lord, make our hearts ready,
make us, together, a dwelling for you.
Optional transition to Prayers of the People and/or a familiar prayer or creed:
For all named joys and concerns,
and for all known only to us and to you,
we pray in Christ’s name
and welcome your Spirit.
May these words find meaning again and again:
(Prayer or Creed)
I read a lot of classic literature in high school in the 90s and became especially fond of Ernest Hemmingway and Joseph Conrad and T.S. Eliot. All the coffee house kids kept telling me to read “On the Road,” and I kept refusing, because, well, I’m often like that. More generously, though, it is important to have some sovereignty over what you imbibe, especially when everyone’s telling you how unique something makes them feel.
So, I never “didn’t like Kerouac.” I just ignored him.
As an adult, I think he’s very good (but I still haven’t read any of his fiction), and I am going to encourage you, in the creative process, to “be crazy dumbsaint of mind“:
A also took a deeper look at Kerouac’s poetry, specifically his idea of Western haiku, here, which might be especially interesting to folks writing new liturgy:
https://chriscocca.substack.com/p/small-mercies
An Easter Call to Worship Litany centered on Christ’s death and resurrection, freedom from violence, and resistance to the idolatry of force. This could be responsively as below or in full unison.
We come to share a story:
God gave Godself
and God was killed
by people in God’s name
and systems claiming
godlike power
at all costs.
And God from God
was raised by God,
and God’s own prayer is this:
that we, who kill,
would find in God’s death
and life
freedom for ourselves,
freedom from ourselves,
lives rejecting,
freely,
the seductive grip
of violence
and the idolatry
of force.
God, we love that story.
Philippians 2 contains what is very likely one of the oldest extant fragments Christian liturgy.
Tradition claims that the Apostles’ Creed goes back to the apostles themselves. That’s debatable. But the 2nd chapter of Philippians undoubtedly dates to the apostolic age for obvious reasons (no serious scholar disputes that the apostle Paul wrote the book of Philippians). As wonderful as the Apostles’ Creed is, Philippians 2:5-11 is, by definition, an apostle’s creed, and it likely predates Paul’s use.
Here it is in the English of the NRSVUE:
5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
assuming human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God exalted him even more highly
and gave him the name
that is above every other name,
10 so that at the name given to Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Note that “not something to be grasped” does not mean “not something to be understood.” It means “not something to be clung to.” That struck me. Here’s a modern translation that you are welcome to use in worship or study. It started as an attempt to recreate something of a creed from the incipit; it became more of a liturgical poem by the end, but I’ve worked to match the images and language of the various Greek possiblities with a more modern tone.
So, let the same mind be in you that we share in Christ,
who, though he was Lord,
did not lord above us
but emptied himself, made himself nothing.
Christ could have clung
to his Godhood;
instead, we clung
to power and smallness;
our grasping hands
fashioned a cross.
In Christ, flesh and blood,
God lifted God
above the high places
of every mere idol
and made a new name for Godself:
“I Am. I Save You.”
Finally, we lower
ourselves
in response;
every bone
every body
relents.
Written for use in a World Communion Sunday liturgy, but appropriate for any gathering.
All: Almighty God, Father, Son and Spirit; Parent, Friend, and Guide: you created all people in your image. We thank you for the manifest expressions of our humanity, and we pray that each of us, all of us, would more fully reflect the human life you lived through Christ. Enrich our lives with ever-growing circles of fellowship. Thank you for the simplicity and splendor of this meal, and for a table shared across the globe today. Remind us to find fulness in you, and of your promise to lead us into the fulness of life. Amen.
This modern order for Communion adapts some elements of historic mainline practice and also stresses the openness of God’s table. The Christological focus is on Christ, incarnate God (flesh and blood in history), and Christ indwelling and empowering us these symbols and this sharing of his life, death, and resurrection. Appropriate for all Communion gatherings, and especially on World Communion Sunday.
Celebration of Communion
This table is for all of us, but it is not our table. This is God’s table, and we are meant to share it. All the earth is God’s, and everything in it. All belongs to God, and just as God provides, we are meant to share.
This particular table was brought here by the work and gifts of [this church’s] members and friends by the grace of God, and by the grace of God, it is not just a table for Reformed traditions or members of the United Church of Christ [substitute as appropriate for your setting]. By the grace of God, this table has served generations [in your town, on your street, etc], and by the grace of God, this table is open to all.
This is Christ’s table, a place of grace and sharing for all who would seek to walk in the ways of Christ who sits at its head. We are invited to take our place in his presence, and in the life of Christ where God is meeting us. You are welcome, you are invited, you are called: come, let us share this meal together.
The Lord is with us.
The Lord is with us always.
Let us lift our hearts
We lift them high with hope.
We thank you, O Lord, for preparing a place for us before you.
We come with joy to give our thanks and praise!
Lord our God, at your word all creation sprang into life. When we were dust, you filled that dust with life. When we were in the wilderness, you provided for each day. And when we fall short, slaves to power and greed, you are there, on the lips of prophets, in the hearts of servants, in stories of revelation and liberation, calling us to acts of courage, witness, justice, and peace.
Blessed are you Christ, our Lord. You walked among us, vulnerable and rejected, and showed us God’s radical welcome. You teach grace to a world bent on vengeance, love to a world bent on destruction, unity to a world bent on tearing itself apart. You were faithful, even in death. You rose again so that we might know something other than the dust, that we might expect something other than the end, that we might work for something other than ourselves. And so you speak to us again, with these gifts of bread and cup, through which we remember your death, celebrate your rising, and await the table of the Kingdom yet to come. We dedicate ourselves again to you, that our lives may proclaim the gifts of your life, death, and resurrection.
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
May the bread we break and the cup we share tell our story, bind us together, and remind us of your grace. Gracious God, refresh, restore, and renew us in the sharing of this meal, and make us more like you.
Make us one with all who gather at every table of grace. Let this bread and cup remind us of the unity you seek for us. Unite us in your story and in hope, in purpose, and in passion wherever we are sent.
As we remember your journey with us in Christ’s flesh and blood, strengthen us to be the body of Christ in the world. You are the vine, we are the branches: we pray for a longing to bear your good fruit. And the fruit of the Spirit is this: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Keep us faithful, fruitful, hopeful, and at peace, until we feast at the one table of your Kingdom with all the saints in the joy of your eternal realm, through Christ, with Christ, in Christ, who came for us, died for us, rose for us, who abides with us even now, and who taught us to pray together:
(The Lord’s Prayer)
The Words of Institution and the Sharing of Bread and Cup
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Gracious God, thank you for your presence in this moment and this meal. Strengthen and excite us to live the fullness of your call. Amen.
Time of Offering and Dedication
Offertory
Offering
Doxology
Prayer of Dedication: God of daily bread and daily grace, we offer these gifts in gratitude, not only for what you have done, but for what you continue to do through us.
Let this offering be food for the hungry, kindness for the weary, and a seed of justice sown around us. As we go, may we live as your provision for others: generous, faithful, and led by love.
Through Christ, the Bread of Life, we pray. Amen.
Below is an adaptation of a modern Prayer of Confession widely used in mainline settings. Below that is the original, whose author is, as far as I have been able to tell, anonymous. I’ve adopted the convention of using the opening words of each version as names for each version of this modern prayer of confession.
Lord, Though You Would Guide Us (adapting a modern prayer of confession)
Lord, though you would guide us, we often only follow our whims; though you would shape us by your Spirit, we seek full control; though you would fulfill us, we try in vain to fill ourselves.
Humble us with your closeness, open our hearts to the working of your Spirit, help us receive your gifts of healing. Teach us to yield and let you mend our bodies, minds, and spirits. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Lord, Though You Should Guide Us (original, author unknown)
Lord, though you should guide us, we inform ourselves; though you should rule us, we control ourselves; though you should fulfill us, we console ourselves. We think your truth too high, your will too hard, your power too remote, your love too free. But they are not! And without them, we are of all people most miserable. Now heal our confused minds with your word, heal our divided wills with your law, heal our troubled consciences with your love, heal our anxious hearts with your presence, all for the sake of your Son, who loved us and gave himself for us. Amen.