A World Communion Sunday 2024 Liturgy

05Oct

A World Communion Liturgy | Written by Reverend Mia M. McClain

Introduction to Communion

Today, many Christian congregations across the globe will celebrate World Communion Sunday. World Communion Sunday began at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1933. The Rev. Hugh Thompson Kerr and his congregation sought to demonstrate the interconnectedness of Christian churches, regardless of denomination. Rev. Kerr chose the sacrament of Holy Communion to symbolize this unity. 

 As we strive for unity, we also know that this world is in a state of devastation and division.

Tomorrow, October 7, marks the 1-year anniversary of the escalation of conflict in Palestine. Since then, over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and over 620 in the West Bank. 1200 Israelis have been killed. Over 600 people killed in Lebanon. And the numbers keep growing.

 We break these many breads to remind ourselves that we have work to do.

 According to United Nations agencies, more than 8.6 million people in the Sudan have been forced out of their homes. 25 million are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.18 million are facing severe hunger. 3.5 million children under the age of five has acute malnutrition.

 We drink of the cup to remind ourselves that we have work to do.

 In Haiti—

In South and Central America—

In Ukraine—

In Western North Carolina—

In Tennessee—

In our own backyards—

Unity seems so far away

and, yet, unity is among us.

With every bit of mutual aid that is enacted to help neighbors who have lost homes, family members, pets, and hope

In flood waters and in war zones,

We see the bread of life multiplying to meet our deepest needs.

And so, we break these breads, and we drink of these cups –

a charge to keep, we have, so that we may continue to partner with the God-of-more-than-enough.

Communion Litany

Leader: We are reminded in the Gospels that the bread multiplied, that thousands were fed, that God meets us with miracles in the form of mutual aid.

 All: God will meet you here. Whoever you are and wherever you are on our journey, the table is for you

Leader: As we gather at this table, help us know God's wondrous presence in the sacrament of life.

 All: God will meet me here. Whatever I bring, even if it's only myself, the table is for me.

Leader: Let this moment turn our worship into witness. Let it open eyes and burn hearts, expanding the beloved and just community.

 All: God will meet us here. Whoever we are, whatever we bring, the table is for us.

 Leader: Let us pray: We gather at this table remembering Jesus whose teaching, healing, dying, and rising show us the way, truth, and life. May we be reminded, as we eat and drink, of our call to feed the hungry, to welcome the stranger, to extend this table beyond the walls of this edifice to those who are sick, imprisoned, and without community. And God, may you meet all those without tables, without food to eat, without water to drink, without shelter for protection. Remind them that you have prepared tables especially for them.

Words of Institution

“When Jesus looked out onto the poor and hungry, he had compassion for them and called his disciples to feed them. He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. Jesus gathers us together, feeding us and calling us to feed the hungry. We eat in remembrance of him. We also drink this cup as part of a new covenant, remembering the poor among us, remembering…”

from Table Talk: Rethinking Communion and Community by Mike Graves

 *Invite People to Come to the Table or to raise their hands and folks will bring communion to them 

 Prayer of Thanksgiving

*Liturgist can do their own prayer to close

Posted by Mia McClain

On July 10, 2022, The Riverside Baptist Church called Rev. Mia Michelle McClain to be its Senior Pastor. Rev. McClain is the first African American and first woman to serve as Senior Pastor at Riverside Baptist and began her tenure on September 1, 2022. Prior to Riverside, Rev. McClain served as the Associate Minister of Faith Formation and Outreach at the Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she is the first African American in the history of Myers Park to be called to serve on its senior staff, and Interim Director of Children’s Ministries at Fort Washington Collegiate Church in New York City.

Rev. McClain was licensed to preach the gospel at First Corinthian Baptist Church (Harlem, New York) and ordained in the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ at Fort Washington Collegiate Church. She is active with the Alliance of Baptists, the United Church of Christ, and The United Church of Canada on special projects on the regional and national levels. She participates in several interfaith and justice initiatives.

Rev. McClain earned her Master of Divinity Degree from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. While at Union, she was active in the Black Women’s Caucus and was the recipient of the Jonathan Kneeland Preaching Fellowship and the Karen Ziegler Feminist Preaching Prize.

Prior to her call to ministry, Rev. Mia pursued a career in the performing arts that took her around the US. A proud member of the Actor's Equity Association and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Rev. Mia holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from Syracuse University and a Master of Arts from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Her many interests include Worship Arts, Adult Spiritual Formation, Social Media Ministries, Music Composition and Arrangement, and Dance and Choreography. More information about Rev. McClain can be found on her personal website, miamichellemcclain.com

She is the recipient of the Innovation Grant (2021), awarded by the Foundations of Christian Leadership program at Duke Divinity, which enabled research and production around decolonizing liturgical practice and space, and she launched a 4-week course entitled Decolonizing Liturgy. Her liturgical, musical, and literary works have been commissioned and featured by the United Church of Christ, the United Church of Canada, The Alliance of Baptists, the Unitarian Universalists Association, the Feminist Studies in Religion Summer Book Club, and a few books. Most recently, she has served as liturgist and songwriter for the United Church of Christ at General Synods 33 and 34, and for the United Church of Canada + United Church of Christ Advent Unwrapped 2022 and 2023 projects.

Above all this, she is a daughter, an aunt, a sister, a niece, a friend, and the proud dog mom of Harrison Claiborne McClain. 

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