Bring Many Breads

World Communion Sunday at Calvary found us celebrating communion with all different kinds of bread. The variety and diversity were tangible symbols of the differences represented when we gather around the table of Christ, especially on this day when we celebrate a worldwide communion.

To invite us all to the table we had members of our congregation from different world groups bring a representative loaf of bread from their culture, declare its meaning and then place it on the altar to represent the celebration of diversity.

Here are the affirmations of our people, along with the breads they brought:

African
I bring this bread remembering the families who till the soil Africa. As we celebrate our abundance in the body of Christ, let us prayerfully nourish those whose sub-Saharan harvests feed the world in the face of hunger.

Asian
I bring this bread and issue a call for justice-making. As we celebrate our liberation in the body of Christ, let us prayerfully release those in Burma and other parts of Asia who remain imprisoned and silenced.

European
I bring this bread on behalf of brothers and sisters on the European Continent. As we celebrate the assurance of our oneness in Christ, let us prayerfully replenish our roots and celebrate our opportunity to lead our world together toward peace and justice.

Latin American
I bring this bread to celebrate the resilience of Latin American families here and beyond our borders. As we claim the sustenance found in the body of Christ, let us continue to prayerfully share God’s love with one another.

Middle Eastern
I bring this bread to resist the irreconcilable deeds thwarting peace in the Middle East. As we celebrate the promise of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, let us prayerfully dream of the inbreaking of God’s kingdom over all the earth.

When they finished bringing the bread our altar was piled high with a tangible, visible representation of the diversity of the Christian family. And as we shared the meal together we got just a taste of the common faith that brings us together.

Thanks be to God!