By the end of the address, I had completed ironing the laundry in the first basket. After I said ‘Amen, and may God bless to us this preaching of his Holy Word’, I reached into the second basket, took out the white linen cloth which, incidentally, had a hole in it, placed it on the ironing board and began to iron it carefully. It covered the ironing board nicely. I then took out the Communion plate with the bread and placed it carefully on the ironing board. I took out the Communion cup filled with wine and placed it carefully on the ironing board too. All this was done in complete silence.
The table was set.
The Invitation was extended.
The bread and wine were set apart.
An ordinary ironing board was set apart.
We celebrated the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper around an extraordinary ironing board.
Communion Circle Prayer
REV. RACHEL DOBIE
The prayer, a circle prayer, expresses something of the nature of God. The sharing with my probationer in the sacrament of Holy Communion mirrored the sense of companionship that had been the hallmark of my probationer’s time with me and the congregation.
I offer this suggestion for Holy Communion, which was used at the united farewell service for Frances Henderson, who had spent her probationary period in the four parishes of which I am minister.
It was a service for all ages, and there were many children present. I had not expected more than fifty to attend, since it was New Year’s Day; but we actually had about eighty, and it was too late to change any plans we had made.
We wanted the worship to be dignified but relaxed, and so there were no white cloths except for veiling the elements; no great entry, and the elders were part of the body of the congregation, not seated round the table. A short order of Holy Communion from Worship Now was used.
Frances shared in the liturgy. The congregation was invited to leave the pews and stand in a group round the Communion table (which is on a slightly raised chancel area) between the Institution and the Prayer of Thanksgiving. This they did, old and young together, though not in the tidy rows as on a Galilee hillside.
When it came to the distribution, we took the now broken home-made loaf and passed the pieces round, collecting what was left.
Some of our congregations use a common cup and some glasses. When it came to the distribution of the wine, we each, Frances and I, lifted one cup and napkin and one tray of glasses, having explained before we started that they could receive from either of us.
There was something deeply moving to see hands reaching out for our very ancient cups made for the valley in which some of the communicants now lived and worked. After the prayer and the Peace, they returned to the pews.
When I had planned it, it did seem slightly risky. We were both so glad we had done it. We celebrated in the same way the following New Year.
Prayer of Approach and Confession
Lord, you are to us a circle;
in you there is no beginning, no end.
When you enfold us, you hold us, and so we praise you,
there is no place where you are not;
when the circle faces outwards
no one is hidden from your sight, no one excluded from your presence,
and so we praise you.
Father, you are time itself,
and yet you are without time.
There was no time when you were not,
there can be no time when you will not be.
And for that sense of infinity, we praise you.
Yet there are times when we try to hide from you;
hide the fact that our lives are not centred on you;
that we slip into the shadows cast by our own
and the world’s selfishness and greed.
Forgive us, for we recognise our own imperfections.
Draw us out of the darkness,
Change us, cleanse us, restore us, we pray.
(Silence)
Know that God in his love and mercy forgives you and calls you to his side.
AMEN.
The Guild and the Kitchen Table
REV. ALISON MEHIGAN
This meditation was used for an informal Communion at a Church of Scotland Guild dedication service, but it can be used and adapted to any informal Communion worship. A simple, old, bare kitchen table was used, and, after the meditation, the members of the Guild helped to set the table for Communion.
READING: Exodus 25:23–30 – The Table
As I stand at this table, we all realise it is not made of fancy acacia wood. The mouldings and trims are not of pure gold. In fact, the table itself is nothing special. Just wood, solid though, and with the odd scratch and dent that comes with the passage of time.
So often I have sat at my table at home, with a mug of coffee in one hand and a chocolate biscuit sitting sadly within too easy reach of the other. Nothing strange in that, you might think – an everyday occurrence in many homes.
In our homes, it is so often the kitchen table that is at the centre of all activity. When we have visitors, it doesn’t seem to matter how clean and tidy we make the rest of the house; people will always congregate in the kitchen, no-one wants to miss out on what’s going on there.
The table is more than a surface from which we eat meals, though it is that as well. It is a place where much conversation takes place, both during and following meals.
In younger days, it was a place where I sat when my knees were scraped from a fall, and my mum would clean me up and tend to me before I dashed out the door to do more damage.
It was a place of fun and play, anything from a ship to a tent, and certainly a fall-back hiding place if all other places failed and I was being sought!
In fact, in my schooldays, it was the place I studied for my exams, the other prime spots having been booked by my elder brothers and sister. In truth, I preferred the kitchen table, though I didn’t let on to the others, for then I was always at hand when my mum was dishing out special treats.
The table was the place where my mum baked all the bread and, no doubt, unknown to us children, thumped out all her frustrations with routine daily life.
The table was a place where emotions could run high, and tea and sympathy were
