‘Although we are scattered, we can gather around the communion table’

World Wide Worship Kit now available for World Communion Sunday

by Kathy Melvin | Presbyterian News Service

Celebrating communion in Colombia, pre-pandemic. (Photo by the Rev. Sarah Henken)

LOUISVILLE — The desire to gather around common prayers, shared music and the communion table brought several Presbyterian Mission Agency ministries together to create a World Wide Worship Kit, launched in time for World Communion Sunday, October 4.

Print and video resources are available for download  here.

“Although we are scattered, we can gather around the communion table,” said Rev. Cathy Chang, mission co-worker serving in the Philippines. “We saw this as an invitation for churches to renew their commitment as the global church, as the worldwide body of Christ. Together, we can lift up the gift of prayers and music from our partners. When many churches are still preparing online worship services because of COVID-19, there is a working group of World Mission co-workers who are collecting and curating resources for this World Wide Worship Kit.”

The resources are flexible so they can be tailored to each individual context. Churches can choose which pieces fit best in their needs and add their own scripture reading, sermon and other worship elements. For congregations unable to make use of the video resources, there is also a text version of the liturgy.

Some of those resources include:

• Call to worship (videos in English/ Spanish): Rev. Gloria Ulloa, Presbyterian Church of Colombia
• Opening prayer (videos in English/ Spanish): Rev. Lydia Neshangwe, Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa, Zimbabwe, Shona and English, adaptation of “A Non-Traditional Blessing” by Sister Ruth Fox
• Hymn (video): “This is My Song,” Glory to God #340, FINLANDIA
• Call to confession, confession, and assurance of pardon (videos in English/ Spanish): Armenian, Shant Agoushian, Near East School of Theology student, Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East; Arabic, Jameel Maher Khadir, Near East School of Theology student, Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
• Passing the peace (videos in English/ Spanish)
• Prayer of illumination (videos in English/ Spanish): Magdaléna Trgalová, Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren
• Invitation to the Table (video): Readers in Quechua, Spanish, Portuguese, Guaraní and Tsotsil.
• Song (videos in English/ Spanish): “Ven a la mesa” (Come to the Table) by Eleazar Torreglosa, lyrics collectively adapted for World Communion Sunday 2020
• Charge and benediction (videos in English/ Spanish): Rev. Philip Akway Obong, South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church.

“We’ve been working with Special Offerings and Peacemaking, with some support from other offices, too, which has been a fruitful experiment in collaboration,” said the Rev. Sarah Henken, mission co-worker in Colombia, who has been very involved in the creation of the kit. “It’s been a really lovely project to work on, particularly because we’ve been gifted with videos of prayers and songs from partners in over 20 countries.”

These World Communion Sunday resources represent the creative collaboration among World Mission, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and the Peace & Global Witness offering.