Liturgies

No Peacemeal ever requires a ‘liturgy’. Each Peacemeal offers the opportunity to share the meal with creativity and freedom in whatever way the group chooses.

However, there are some who find that a pre-prepared interactive pattern, shape and rhythm to at least part of their shared meal helps.

The word ‘liturgy’ literally means ‘the work of the people’. We understand ‘liturgy’ as words and / or actions that enable everyone to express a common understanding of the significance of their meal.

Liturgies actively involve every member of the group. They instil confidence and empower each person. We would encourage Peacemeal liturgies to be ‘leaderless’, where words and actions, whether individual or collective, are shared in turn around the circle.

Below, we offer liturgies in the form of free PDF’s for you to download; these have been shared with us from various people and faith groups you’ll read about on our homepage.

We encourage you to use and share these liturgies with others. We hope to expand this resource, so please send us copies of liturgies that you have used – we can then put them on this page to share with others.

Table Grace: If you’re looking for a short prayer to use before your meal, you might find this list (link goes to an external site) of meal blessings from different religions and traditions helpful.

Passover Liturgy: Below you will find a full-length Passover liturgy (‘Peacemeal Haggadah’) and a shorter version (‘Jesus Haggadah’). These are both based on the traditional Jewish Seder or Passover meal and written by Noel Moules. They follow the Jewish ritual closely but are Jesus-focused.