1 General Information about the Communion Service

The traditional ecclesiastical designation for the Holy Communion is the Mass (Lat. missa). The designation Messu was derived from the call in medieval Latin for the dismissal of congregation Ite, missa est (Leave, the service has been accomplished).

The celebration of the Sunday communion service, the Lord's Day, has been understood from the beginning as the heart of life in the Christian church. At the communion service, the Triune God is present in the midst of the congregation in a special way. He teaches, reprimands, and comforts us with His word. He reminds us of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. He nourishes us with His body and blood in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper and cares for us with His Holy Spirit.

The structure of the communion service is based on the dialogue that takes place between God and the congregation.

First one party speaks, then the other. The officiant, the priest in charge of the ministry and other auxiliaries, would act as if they are intermediaries between the two parties, sometimes representing God (e.g., reading the Bible or declaring absolution) and sometimes the congregation (e.g., leading the intercession).

However, this is not a performance where others are simply following what is happening. The whole congregation present is the actual offerer of worship. For example, each attendant, along with others, confirms prayers and absolution by answering “Amen” (i.e.,“verily this is true”).

The congregation also prays together by singing the words of the hymns and other prayers, makes a cross when hearing the name of the Triune God, shows reverence by standing up and humility by kneeling at the communion table. Worship is a common devotional service for both an individual and the congregation.

The point in singing a lot of hymns and other spiritual songs in Lutheran worship is not just to create a mere atmosphere; rather it is a common praise, prayer, and proclamation of the congregation. Through them, the congregation also responds to God’s words. They evoke feelings and memories, and build and strengthen community. As parishioners sing hymns, they also encourage, reproach, and comfort each other and thus take responsibility for each other. By participating in the hymn with determination, the experience of worship is always stronger.

2 Procession

The Bible describes people of God in many different ways as wandering people, people on the move. We are heading toward the heavenly Promised Land, our true home. Many times the road passes through dark valleys, difficult-to-navigate quarries, and barren wilderness, but even then always under God’s guidance. God's people always follow the resurrected Lord Christ as the sheep which follow their good shepherd.

Therefore, especially on major feasts, the communion service often begins with a procession of the cross, where the wandering people of God symbolically arrive at the oasis of God’s word, prayer, and thanksgiving to rest. The procession is led by the symbol of the resurrection of Jesus, the empty cross. Because Christ is the light of the world, the true God and the true man, two candles accompany the cross. In addition, communion vessels and possibly the Gospel are brought to the procession, as a sign of how the word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.

As a show of respect, the congregation stands during the procession. As the procession leaves at the end of the communion service, it is natural for the congregation to join in to continue their common journey in the joys and challenges of everyday life.

3 Invocation and Responsory Greeting

At the beginning of the church service, the officiant states in whose name the congregation has come together. In the phrase “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”, the name that, according to the Christian faith, best reflects God, is declared. He is the Father, or Creator of all things. He is also the Son, through whom all things have been created - who became a human being in Jesus Christ. And he is also the Holy Spirit who gives birth to life and faith - God’s invisible presence in the world.

The triune name arises from the many different accounts of the Bible, and is the name to which Christ himself commanded the people to be baptized (Matt. 28:19). The old Christian way is to make the sign of the cross when the name of the Triune God is uttered.

The congregation responds to the invocation by the threefold amen in the same way as all other prayers and blessings that include the gifts God has given us. When it comes to prayer, in which we ask God for something, the prayer in worship is concluded with a double amen.

After the invocation, there is a responsory greeting between the officiant and the congregation. Because it is a church service, the greeting is not just an everyday “Hello” but a biblical greeting: “The Lord be with you” (e.g., Ruth 2: 4; 1 Sam. 17:37; 2 Thess. 3:16). The same goes for the congregation's response, "and also with your spirit."

4 Confession and Remission of Sins

If you imagine worship as a visit to a good friend’s home for the sake of example, the opening greeting could be the occasion when the host and guests shake hands at the door. The confession and remission of sins that follow the initial greeting and introductory words, in turn, can be thought of as taking off the shoes in the hallway before stepping further into the house.

In the middle ages, the confession was not part of the communion service, but people went to confess in person beforehand. At that time, the communion service began with psalms. With the decline in the popularity of private confession, a common confession has been in use for a long time, in which all those attending the communion service jointly acknowledge their status as fallen people.

The Confession is not about pessimistic lamenting or dwelling in guilt; it is only about realism in the face of human reality. When we look at the world honestly, we can’t help but say “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom.3: 23). None of us can boast before God, but our hope to enter Heaven rests solely on God's grace.

Confession helps the church service attendee to remember: My place is here, reconciled as a sinner before the face of the Lord, not for my own excellence, but for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Nor is the remission of sins, read by an officiant or an assistant priest, following a common confession, a mere wish, but a word of God that affects what is said: “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven” (John 20:23). It is God’s answer to a person who confesses his or her sins. The remission of sin is always a return to the purity before God in our baptism. It is a return to the fact that Christ has already died once on the cross for our sins. Confession is like a checkpoint where we recall how great a gift we once received in baptism: peace with God.

5 Psalms

Throughout its history, people of God have sung and read psalms. The book of Psalms is the first hymnbook of the people of God. It was sung in temple and synagogue services and was most likely sung in Jesus’s time. With the words of the Psalms, we can pray to God with the same words that the descendants of Abraham have prayed through the ages. They connect us to a chain of prayer thousands of years long.

Psalms have traditionally been interpreted in very different ways. On the one hand, any Christian can identify him/herself with the prayer of the composer of the psalm, often said from the perspective of the first person. On the other hand, the psalms can be thought of as speaking in general terms about the relationship between man and God. In worship, psalms are often interpreted as Jesus himself speaking in a spiritual way. Therefore, for example, the psalm of Easter night begins with the words, “I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up from the depths, thou hast made my foes to rejoice over me” (Psalm 30: 2).

6 Lord have mercy, Gloria in Excelsis, and a Hymn of Thanksgiving to the Holy Trinity

However, since the psalm is often omitted, the confession is usually followed directly by the so-called Kyrie (in Greek, Kyrie eleison), or the prayer/hymn ‘Lord have Mercy’. It is one of the oldest parts of the communion service and has been passed on from our worship from the very first centuries. It can be used in its longer form, with the lead singer singing or reciting short prayers to which the congregation replies, “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy”. Usually, however, a shorter form is used in which only a short anthem ‘Lord of Mercy’ is sung.

It is good to keep in mind that Kyrie is not actually related to the confession above. It contains no apologies for sins - for which the remission of sins has just been read – rather it is a universal groan when worshipping God. It encompasses all the things in our lives for which we need God and God’s help. Because the Christian congregation already knows how in Christ God has made peace with mankind, the prayer ‘Lord have mercy’ is more of a praise than a request: the Lord has mercy; Christ has mercy; the Lord has mercy.

As a response to that request or remark, the congregation hears the same response with which God responded to mankind on the first Christmas night. The lead singer begins by singing the words of the angel choir to the shepherds of Christmas night: “Glory to God in the highest” and the congregation completes the message: “on earth peace to those whom He loves”.

Gloria in Excelsis is followed by a hymn of thanksgiving to the Holy Trinity. The congregation rises to sing praise and thanks to Him, who responded to the plight of mankind and did not leave us alone. The hymns are solemn in tone and address all the qualities of the Trinity.

7 Prayer of the Day

The so-called introductory part concludes with a short prayer. It has been called a ‘collect’ because it brings together the biblical themes of that feast into a small prayer. The prayers of the day are short but packed with meaning. They are usually addressed to God, the Father, and through them, we invoke an event in the history of salvation, and ask for something related to the sacred theme in the name of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

8 Bible Readings

In the same way that Gloria in Excelsis reverberated in the Christmas field just before the Word of God became flesh in Jesus Christ, in worship soon after Gloria in Excelsis comes the Word of God in the midst of the church as the Bible readings are recited.

First, we listen to a reading from the Old Testament. In the reading from the Old Testament, the focus is on the coming Messiah, which is still awaited in the Old Testament. After listening to the reading, we meditate for a moment during the musical response.

The second reading, in turn, is from the New Testament letters, Acts of the Apostles, or the Book of Revelation. A backward-looking perspective has been taken in them, which makes us reflect: what it means for God to become man in Jesus and how he rose from the dead and gave us the Holy Spirit.

The reading of the New Testament is followed by the so-called hymn of the day, which also deals with the special theme of the feast involved. The hymn of the day is the main hymn of the communion service and provides a single perspective for the interpretation of the texts heard and prepares the congregation for hearing the gospel.

The actual center of the Word of God is the reading of the gospel text. The Gospels tell of Jesus himself: his life, his death, and his teachings. In them, the messianic expectation in the Old Testament has been fulfilled. Therefore, the gospel text is distinguished from other texts by singing the song ‘hallelujah’ before and after reading the text, and rising to stand as a tribute when the text is being read. Although all Bible texts are the word of God, only through the Gospels do they get their true meaning.

9 Creed

The creed is the congregation's response to the Word of God heard (the Bible texts and the sermon as their interpretation). It is the common praise of the congregation and thanks for all the good things God has done for us. By reciting either one of the old Creeds of the church (i.e., the shorter apostolic or longer Nicene Creed), the congregation attaches itself to the chain of hundreds of generations through which the message of Christ has been

10 Intercession

If the communion service is still regarded as a visit to a friend’s home, one can think of reciting the readings and preaching as the host’s telling the guests about what is going on in his or her life. Before moving to the dinner table, the host also wants to hear how the guests feel. The common intercession of worship is also the common prayer of the congregation to God. Through this, it is possible for the congregation to thank God and present prayer requests to Him for a common cause.

In the intercession, we always pray for the new members of the parish, that is, those who are baptized, for those who intend to marry, and for those who have lately died.

Each participant in worship also brings his or her own groan from the deep inside to the common prayer. Intercession requests for special topics can be submitted via email to the office or written on a note in the church hall.

11 Offertory Hymn and Collection

Before going to the communion table, a so-called sacrificial hymn is usually sung, during which a collection is taken up for a cause or for work to be done for different groups of people.

When God once abundantly shares His treasures with us in worship and in our daily lives, it is natural that we respond to His generosity with our own generosity. However, God does not need our sacrifice, but our neighbor does. Offertory is a gift of love from those of us who have received much - and each of us always has something to be grateful for in our lives.

Whereas in the ancient Jewish temple service, animals were brought to the altar for sacrifice, in the Christian church only thanks and praise are offered as sacrifice. The crucified Christ is a one-time sacrifice, after which God wants us to offer nothing but thanks and love of our neighbor.

12 Eucharistic Prayer and the Lord’s Supper

At the beginning of the communion, the officiant and the congregation greet each other again, this time with a greeting of peace. The officiant then urges the congregation to "lift up their hearts," that is, to divert their minds from everyday affairs and to elevate them to heavenly affairs. Once Christ comes to us in the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper, it is natural to set aside worries and sorrows for a moment.

The Lord’s Supper is a prayer of thanksgiving, in which God is praised for his miraculous deeds for the good of men. The beginning of the prayer ends with a call to praise God along with all the saints, that is, those who have already passed away and may be celebrating a heavenly meal of thanksgiving.

After the holy hymn, the prayer continues with the words of the ordinance, that is, the words with which Jesus himself - especially according to Paul (1 Cor. 11: 23-25) instituted the first Lord’s Supper.

The Lord’s Supper usually ends with a request that the Holy Spirit have an impact on us to receive the Lord’s Supper in a dignified manner. The congregation then says together the prayer that Jesus himself taught his disciples, the prayer of our Father. Through this, we request God to give the congregation the true bread of life, or Christ. It also reminds the worshipers that the Lord’s Supper is a meal of peace. God’s grace to us also obligates us to be gracious to one another.

Before enjoying the Lord’s Supper, the so-called Agnus Dei or Lamb of God song is sung. It is adorational and thankful and includes a request that the body and blood of Christ bring grace and peace to our lives. During the hymn, the attention is naturally directed to the bread and wine of the altar.

At the heart of Lutheran spirituality and faith has always been the belief that the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper not only remind us of him or represent him, but, in a secret way, truly are the body and blood of Christ. Therefore, they should be handled with due respect and in a dignified manner.

When all have received the sacrament and heard the promises, "the body and blood of Christ given for you, shed for you," the Lord’s Supper ends with thanksgiving.

13 Praise, Blessing of the Lord, Conclusion

Given that God has nourished and strengthened His congregation in so many ways, what else can the congregation do than to thank and praise Him? The officiant, therefore, urges the congregation to rise up to praise God through a hymn of praise or a brief praise.

And just as the communion service began in the name of the Triune God, it also ends in the same name. The congregation is blessed with the blessing of the Lord, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Under the protection of that blessing, it is safe for all who participate in worship to continue their daily chores and challenges and, in accordance with the final call, to "Go in peace and serve the Lord with joy."

Compiled from various sources by Konsta Korhonen