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10AM Service
What is an Inclusive
Eucharist?
Good Shepherd wants everyone who worships with us to feel welcome and
accepted as a child of God. We do this in our choice of language used
to describe both humans and God, in the way the congregation is asked
to join in the prayers and the words of institution (“Take, eat . . .”
and “Drink this, all of you . . “), in the invitation for all baptized
Christians of any age to receive communion, in the use of lay people
in the service as readers, ushers, element bearers (people who bring
bread and wine to the altar), and in ongoing work to make the
sanctuary accessible to all people (e.g. with ramps for wheelchairs or
strollers, assistive listening devices). Inclusive language expands the variety of names we use for God. God,
by definition, is greater than any name or image humans know. So all
language about God is metaphorical; that is, God actually is both like
and not like any image we can use. Since the language of the Bible
and of worship evolved in patriarchal times, for centuries the most
important and powerful symbols for God were male. English (and most
other languages) uses the male pronoun to describe God, even though
everyone agrees that God cannot really be male (or female). We use
personal images for God (Abba, Father, Mother, King) even though
everyone agrees that God, while personal, is neither a human nor a
person in the usual sense of the word. The Book of Common Prayer also
uses Almighty, Eternal, Gracious, Loving, and other less personal
attributes of God to help convey the variety of ways people have come
to know God.
While each believer develops their own language to address God as they
live a prayerful life, it is important that corporate worship offer as
diverse a range of images as possible to facilitate and deepen belief.
When the church repeats a few images of God exclusively, people come
to believe that God really is only those attributes named in
church—the church, believers, and God beyond all images are
short-changed.
Everyone is invited to join in the words of institution with the
celebrant, because it is the prayers of the faithful as well as the
prayers, words, and actions of the priest that make Christ’s presence
real in bread and wine. At Communion all are welcome to receive bread
and wine, or just bread, or just wine. You are also welcome to come
to the altar to receive a blessing without receiving Communion.
Simply kneel or stand at the rail and cross your hands over your
chest.
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