Pentecost 19–World Communion–October 3
This at Last!
An Intergenerational Service for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost
World Communion Sunday
October 3, 2021
Lectionary Texts: Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 8; Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16
Intergenerational Worship:
This liturgy includes several strategies to engage the whole congregation in the celebration of World Communion Sunday so that people of all ages can know that they are an integral part of the body of Christ. This theme draws upon the many meanings of the word “communion,” and engages the lectionary reading from Genesis 2. Other strategies for engaging congregants of a variety of ages and learning styles may be found at the end of this service.
Exegetical Notes:
The creation stories in Genesis 1-3 have become the source of much contention over the years. For many, such political and theological conflicts are the first thing that comes to mind when these narratives are mentioned. For others, the use of gender, particularly in Genesis 2-3, has been hurtful and oppressive. Yet much of the rhetoric that so many have found to be harmful is more in the interpretation of the text than in the text itself and contemporary interpreters have uncovered other potential layers of meaning that can be life-giving and empowering. In her 1986 book, God and The Rhetoric of Sexuality, Phyllis Trible argued that Genesis 2:7 describes God’s creation of a human being and that therefore this week’s lectionary reading is less about the creation of woman from man, and more about the creation of gender in the splitting of that first human into two beings. Whether or not one agrees with Trible’s reading of Genesis 2, the creation of two people from one creates something new in addition to a second person; it creates mutual relationship. This first relationship is unique specifically in its mutuality, as made clear by the text’s insistence that it is necessary in spite of the already existing divine-human relationship, and its vivid description of all of the animals God creates in verses 19 and 20, none of whom are found to be fitting partners. When the two humans finally meet in verse 23, it is a meeting of equals. Their relationship is unlike that humans have with God or animals, “This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.” In this way, Genesis 2 describes the divine creation of relationship, of community, of intimate communication, of sharing. Each of these are also meanings of the word we use to describe the sacred meal we celebrate this week: communion. It is the moment in which we look at one another and at our world community and say that we together are the body of Christ, “This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!”
HYMN Let us Talents and Tongues Employ TNCH 347
CALL TO WORSHIP
To make this call to worship more accessible to pre-literate or visually impaired congregants, introduce the congregational response before you begin, introducing a gesture you will make that will cue their response, “We were created for community.” If this practice is new to the congregation, practice this call and response a few times before beginning the invocation, encouraging them to speak their response with gusto!
Leader: We were created in relationship and for relationship.
Congregation: We are created for community!
Leader: God knew it was not right for us to be alone.
Congregation: We are created for community!
Leader: Through Jesus Christ, God entered into human relationship with us.
Congregation: We are created for community!
Leader: We rejoice in our unity with all humanity.
Congregation: We are created for community!
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God-made-flesh,
Bone of our bone,
We confess that we think we can go it alone,
That we try to do it all,
That in doing so, we neglect the gifts you have given us:
The bone of our bone,
The flesh of our flesh,
The bodies you created,
And the relationships you created us for.
Jesus Christ, you who lived in a human body,
Call us to community.
Remind us that in you we are one.
Awake in us a respect for one another,
And celebrate with us the diversity within that unity.
May it be so now and forever. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Leader: You are the divine creation, and it is not right for you to be alone.
Know now that you are forgiven
and called back into relationship with God and with one another.
PEW ACTIVITY
Paper Chain: Enclose long, thin strips of paper in a variety of colors in worship bulletins. You may wish to use a variety of “flesh” tones. Before or during the pastoral prayer, encourage congregants to write their names, the names of their friends and family, and others around the world for whom they pray on individual strips of paper. Ask children to collect these strips of paper so that children, youth, and adults who focus better when their hands are busy can make a paper chain large enough to encircle your sanctuary while listening to the sermon. You will use it during the benediction.
COMMUNION LITURGY
You will need to recruit members of your congregation as leaders for this liturgy. Take this opportunity to invite congregants of a variety of ages and backgrounds to represent the full body of Christ. To have a variety of languages represented, ask anyone in your congregation who speaks a language other than English if they can speak out loud a word for “communion” or “community” as a part of the liturgy. Reach out in particular to anyone for whom English is a second language. Children and youth often take language classes in or after school and are eager to share what they have learned. Seminarians in care of the congregation may want to contribute ancient languages. During the hymn, these volunteers create a large circle surrounding the congregation so that they can begin speaking as soon as it concludes. Amplify their voices with shared microphones if possible. Begin the liturgy by having these volunteers speak out loud a variety of words for communion in English and a variety of other languages. English words can include: association, fellowship, sharing, community, participation, communication, harmony, sympathy, intimacy, togetherness, union, relationship, accord, and closeness.
HYMN Help Us to Be Present Sing! 80
WORDS OF COMMUNION AND CONNECTION
(Leader invites words of different languages which suggest relationship and communion)
OUR STORY OF COMMUNION AND CONNECTION
Leader: First, God created one person.
Volunteers: But it was not right for that one person to be alone.
Leader: That person had God, but needed an equal,
so God made animals.
Volunteers: How about a [Giraffe], a [Raven], a [Dog]?
(one at a time, each volunteer names a different animal).
Leader: But it still wasn’t enough, so God made another person, an equal, someone to share with, and talk with.
God created relationship.
God created communion.
Volunteers: This at last is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh!
Leader: And then God took it one step further.
God looked at the many people
living in relationship with one another
and decided to join the community!
God came to be with us as one of us,
and his human family called him Jesus.
Volunteers: This at last is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh!
(Volunteers may use gestures to encourage the whole congregation to join in this response):
Congregation: This at last is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh!
Leader: And one night, when Jesus sat with his community,
he took bread, and broke it, and blessed it, saying,
“This is my body.”
Then he took the cup, saying,
“This is my blood.”
(Break the bread and lift the cup)
Congregation: This at last is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh!
Leader: Come, Holy Spirit, and make us one body of Christ.
Congregation: This at last is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh!
Leader: Bone of our bone; flesh of our flesh:
one with each other and all humanity: the Body of Christ.
We invite you to share in the bread and the cup together,
passing it to the person next to you, and saying to one another,
“Bone of our bone; Flesh of our flesh: The Body of Christ!”
HYMN DURING COMMUNION Eat of This Bread Sing! 153
Chants such as this one not only are possible for a congregation to sing while taking communion, but also accessible to the pre-literate because of the repetition.
PRAYER OF OUR SAVIOR
CALL FOR THE OFFERING
Leader: In communion with one another,
let us share what we have received,
knowing that we are one flesh with all humanity.
(During the collection of the offering, have an older youth volunteer finalize the creation of the paper chain by connecting the children’s individual chains and coordinate the children who will hold it up during the benediction)
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
God of all creation,
breathe your life-giving breath upon these gifts
that they might be a blessing to all flesh.
HYMN There’s Bread for the Journey Sing! 210
BENEDICTION
(Invite the children to encircle the congregation with the paper chain)
As you leave this sacred space,
live out your connection with one another,
knowing that all humanity is
bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh,
one world communion. Amen!
This at Last! An Intergenerational Liturgy for World Communion Sunday, Nineteenth Sunday of Pentecost, was written by the Rev. Dr. Laurel Koepf Taylor, Eden Theological Seminary, Saint Louis, Missouri.
Copyright 2021, Faith INFO Ministry Team, United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115-1100. Permission granted to reproduce or adapt this material for use in services of worship or church education. All publishing rights reserved.
