Sunday, October 6, 2013

World Communion Sunday (Communion Prayer)

"Freedom within constraints" is a way to describe how many poets and artists function creatively. It describes too the liturgical tradition in Reformed and Presbyterian churches. It seems appropriate to me on World Communion Sunday to veer a bit (at least sometimes) from the prescribed prayers ("freedom") and yet stay within the "constraints" of the Eucharistic Prayer--a three-part, Trinitarian prayer of thanksgiving at the table which includes praise and thanksgiving to God the Father, a recounting of and thanksgiving for the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ, and the invocation of Holy Spirit (Epiclesis).

This is how I explained it in the notes to the order of service:
In the spirit of unity and ecumenism for the occasion of World Communion Sunday, the Great Thanksgiving was written by Pastor Randy using various portions of liturgies from various traditions. Resources include: “The Belgic Confession” from Our Faith: Ecumenical Creeds, Reformed Confessions, and Other Resources (2013, CRC/RCA), Book of Common Prayer (1979, Episcopal), Lift Up Your Hearts: Songs, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs (2013, CRC/RCA), and Glory to God: the Presbyterian Hymnal (2013, PCUSA). 

And this is the prayer

Leader: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord. 
Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, O Lord our Creator, almighty and everlasting God, for you are the source of light and life, you made us in your image, and called us to new life in Jesus Christ our Lord. With your whole Church on earth and with all the company of heaven we worship and adore your glorious name:

“Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty”

Silence


Leader: Holy and gracious Father, in your infinite love you made us for yourself, and, when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, you, in your mercy, sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to you, the God and Father of all.
People: He stretched out his arms upon the cross, and offered himself, in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.

Leader: We give you thanks that, on the night he was handed over to suffering and death, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper, Jesus took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said, “Drink this, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”

According to Christ’s commandment:

People: We remember his death, we proclaim his resurrection, we await his coming in glory.

Leader: Send your Holy Spirit upon us, we pray, that the bread which we break and the cup which we bless may be to us the communion of the body and blood of Christ.
People: Just as we really and truly take and hold the sacraments in our hands and eat and drink them in our mouths, by which our life is then sustained, so too, in faith, may we receive into our souls, for our spiritual lives, the true body and true blood of Christ, our only Savior. And by receiving, at this banquet table, Christ and all his benefits, may we be moved to a fervent love of God and our neighbors.

Leader: Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor are yours, almighty God, now and forever.
People: Amen.

Lord’s Prayer (Ecumenical):
Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name, 
your kingdom come, 
your will be done, on earth as in heaven. 
Give us today our daily bread. 
Forgive us our sin as we forgive those who sin against us. 
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. 
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

Breaking of the Bread

Agnus Dei

Leader: Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,
People: have mercy on us.
Leader: Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,
People: have mercy on us.
Leader: Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,
People: grant us your peace. Amen.

"Behold the Lamb" #835 from Lift Up Your Hearts
 

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