A small table with an unlit candle
sits in the center of an open space.
Those who have come to The Feast
form a circle around the table.

HOST: (Check-in is optional depending on the occasion)
We gather together
To celebrate this day—
Let us share our concerns—
both joys and sorrows
that we bring to this Table.

(A moment of sharing followed by a moment of silence.)

IN UNISION:
For all that has been said and all that has been left unsaid,
We offer our blessing our hope and our prayers.

Amen.

HOST:
We light this candle to declare this space—
a sacred place.

IN UNISON:
We come to this table leaving for the moment the
world behind us.

We bring our successes and our failures, our virtues
and our transgressions,
We bring the lives we have lived
and the future we seek.

HOST:
We stand before the mystery and power of creation—
The power and majesty of life in all the ways
It manifests in our lives and in the world.
We look to the warmth of the sun,
The life giving rain and the bounty of the earth
For nourishment and sustenance.

IN UNISON:
We gather at this table ever mindful
Of the infinite forces that sustain
All of creation.

We acknowledge
The seen and the unseen,
The known and the unknown.

STEWARD:
We bring to this table the Bread of life.
As our ancestors entered the journey of history,
They learned to bake bread that all might fed

We bring to this table the Grail of Wisdom.
As our ancestors entered the journey of history,
They drank from the Water of life.

We began the difficult
And dangerous journey
Of wisdom and knowing.

HOST:
We honor the lives of all who have gone before—
That their lives may be remembered
In the great tapestry of being.

We bring to this Table
Their sacred memory.

(The departed may be remembered in silence,
by speaking their name or telling their story)

IN UNISON:
May their lives inspire us in the living of our own.
We celebrate the cycle of life.
We celebrate the triumph of being alive.

HOST:
We are the heirs of all that has gone before.
We look to the wise men and the wise women—
In our own journey for wisdom and knowledge.
We hear the voice of… (the readings.)

IN UNISON:
(An appropriate song, hymn or prayer)

STEWARD:
We gather at this table to celebrate our communion
Our feast is sanctified by the blood and spirit
Of those who have gone before.

Come to this feast in silence—
Bringing your greatest need and your greatest virtue
That your life may be blessed

In ways that pass all understanding—
Knowing that you are not alone.
Behold the Bread of Life.

As the earth has fed us,
Let us feed each other.

(The bread is passed)

Behold the Water of Life.
Let us drink from the Grail of Wisdom.

(The cup is passed.)

(A moment of silent meditation)

We have been fed at the Common Table.

IN UNISON:
May our lives
Be blessed
By the mystery of grace.

May we live our lives
In the spirit of peace
And the work of love.

HOST:
For our future
And for the future
Of all generations

Let us return to the world—

Our lives strengthened and nourished.

May our failures not hinder us.
May our success not tempt us.

IN UNISON:

May the Spirit of Life
Continue to bless us
And nourish us.

(sung in unison)
Go now in Peace
Go now in Peace
Say the spirit of love surround you
Everywhere, everywhere

You may go