A quick guide to the service of Holy Communion

Liturgy of the Word Liturgy of the Sacrament The Dismissal

The new Eucharistic liturgy of the Church of England is structured in four parts:  (1) The Gathering (2) The Liturgy of the Word (3) The Liturgy of the Sacrament (4) The Dismissal The first part - The Gathering - is outlined below. Click on the other options (at right) for the remaining elements of the service. The Gathering The Greeting "The Lord be with you" is a very old form of greeting. By starting our communion service with this greeting, we are establishing relationships between everyone in the congregation, and the service leaders, ready for them to begin the service together. The response, "And also with you," is said together, acknowledging right from the beginning that each person counts as an important member of the congregation. The Collect for Purity This prayer reminds us that we need God to prepare and cleanse us before we come to worship. Each time we say this prayer we are reminded of the water of our baptism. Confession When we sin, and we all do, we put up a barrier between ourselves and God and it spoils the special relationship. The confession is a time when we can take a look at those barriers between ourselves and God and those between us and other people, and say sorry before asking God to forgive us. Absolution The absolution proclaims the forgiveness of sins. It says that the break in the relationship between God and us is mended. On the first ever Easter Sunday Jesus stood amongst his disciples and commissioned them to carry on his work when he returned to be with his Father. "As the Father sent me," he said, ‘So I send you." He breathed on them saying "Receive the Holy Spirit! If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you pronounce them unforgiven, unforgiven they remain." This passage from St. Johns gospel is read when priests are ordained, and the Bishop passes on to them the authority to absolve sins in Jesus’ name. That’s why the priest gives the absolution in the communion service, and how we can be confident that our sins are forgiven. The Collect This is a prayer that comes before the readings from scripture. There is a special collect for every Sunday of the church's year, and for other occasions when a special set of readings has been chosen. Usually the collect sums up the theme of the readings in a short and direct prayer. Liturgy of the Word        Liturgy of the Sacrament        The Dismissal

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