I was involved as the art tutor in a Painting and Prayer Retreat at Llanghasty, an Anglican Retreat House in Wales a few years before women were ordained in the Church of England. The chaplain was keen that I should celebrate the Lord’s Supper one morning, and told the group. I then spent a day convincing the nuns who ran the place and the group members that this was in order. Realising that there were so many problems for people, I decided (1) that, since we kept silence overnight, to celebrate the sacrament in silence might at least get over the problem of people hearing unfamiliar words in a female voice; and (2) to include a time of prayer for each other.
Silent Communion
I worked out a series of mime-movements to suggest the different parts of the service following the Anglican Service Book, and made sure each participant had a copy of the Bible and a note of the reading for that day. There was a beautiful carved image of Jesus as King at the front of the chapel, so I could use that as a reference point. Afterwards, I realised that it would have been helpful to use a little bell to indicate when different parts of the service started. Others have devised silent Communion services, but I was not aware of this at the time.
Praying for each other
I used a way of praying for each other which I had learned from Canon Shells, one of the founders of the then Painting and Prayer Retreat Movement. We were seated in a circle. As the worship leader at the time, I started by standing and going to the person on my left, gently laying hands on her head and praying in silence for her for a short time. Then I moved on to the second and then the third person. At that point, the first person I had prayed for stood up and went to pray similarly for the second person. When I moved on to the fourth, the first person after me could move to the third, and when I moved to the fifth, the first could move to the fourth, and the second person could then go to pray for the third. And so we followed one another round until I sat down and then was prayed for by each of the others in turn. Eventually, each of us had prayed for the other, and been prayed for, and were back in our own seats. This takes a long time, so is not recommended if there are more than about a dozen present; but, by the end, the presence of the Lord is almost tangible.
These actions worked well, as they resolved the difficulty of this particular situation where there was concern about having a woman as celebrant. However, they also fitted into the retreat situation where people were in silence. And praying for each other in this way led to a strong sense of the presence of God and His love holding the group and situation, and meant that we could share in the sacrament together.
A Communion Liturgy
REV. JANE DENNISTON
I wanted to write something which had elements of the tradition but expressed something of what I felt; something that was creatively liturgical, with poetic but accessible language. This liturgy can be easily adapted for small or large groups and lends itself to a variety of situations.
1 CALL TO WORSHIP
| Leader: | In this familiar feast |
| ALL: | Jesus meets us |
| Leader: | To banish our darkness with his light |
| ALL: | God with us |
| Leader: | In ancient patterns made new |
| ALL: | His Spirit is here |
| Leader: | Let us worship God. |
2 ACTION Reader 1
The Light shone in the darkness, and the darkness has not put it out. (Light a candle.)
3 PRAISE
4 OPENING PRAYER
Lord, if we did not praise you,
if our mouths were to fall silent,
the very stones would cry out in praise of your wonderful deeds.
Lord, if we did not praise you,
if our eyes were blind to your glory,
the very heavens would declare your greatness and majesty.
Lord, if we did not praise you,
if our hearts were cold to your love,
all creation would bow before you and worship your glorious name.
But we will worship you.
And in this time of worship, we join with all creation in declaring
that you alone are worthy of our praise.
Conscious of your glory, Lord,
we are also conscious of our sin.
In our thoughts we forsake you.
(Silence)
In our words we dishonour you.
(Silence)
In our deeds we offend you.
(Silence)
In what we leave undone we abandon you.
(Silence)
Forgive our sin, Lord,
and lead us in new ways, of hope, of compassion and of grace.
Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy.
We thank you for that mercy which is always more ready to forgive
than we are to admit our fault,
and we open our lives
to your life-giving breath,
to your cleansing rain,
to your refining fire,
that we may live more truly as your people
in the name of Christ our Saviour, Amen.
5 READING
6 REFLECTION
7 THE INVITATION
| This is the table of our Lord where hurts are healed, failures restored and all is made new in the love of God. Come, bring nothing but your love because your Lord invites you. Taste and see that the Lord is good. |
8 THE STORY Reader 2
| Let’s hear the story of how this began. On the night on which Jesus was betrayed, he sat at supper with his disciples. While they were eating, he took a piece of bread, said a blessing, broke it and gave it to them with the words: ‘This is my body. It is broken for you. Do this to remember me.’ Later, he took a cup of wine, saying: ‘This cup is God’s new covenant, sealed with my blood. Drink from it, all of you, to remember me.’ So now, we do as Jesus did, and as he said; we take this bread and this wine, ordinary things and temporal which he makes unique and eternal, and through these we will have communion with one another and with him. |
9 EUCHARISTIC PRAYER (THANKSGIVING)
| Let us pray. | |
| Leader: |
For friends and fellowship,
for freedom and time to worship
for gifts of love and grace
We praise
|