A Brief Open Table Communion Liturgy in the United Methodist Tradition

The Rev. Dr. Soren M. Hessler, an ordained elder in the West Ohio Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, offers a brief open table communion liturgy (meaning all are welcome to receive communion) based upon “A Service of Word and Table V” in The United Methodist Book of Worship. United Methodists understand communion, or the Lord’s Supper, to be a means of grace, an opportunity to directly encounter the Divine. Communion liturgies in the United Methodist tradition often open with one of two invitations: “Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another.” or “Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him and seek to grow into his likeness.” Anyone attending the service who meets these criteria is welcome to receive the sacrament. All are invited, and all are welcome.