Gathered at the Table: Celebrating Communion

In this companion title to Baptized in the Water: Becoming a Member of God's Family, author Glenys Nellist and illustrator Anna Kazimi employ a similar combination of prose and poetry and the same artistic illustrative style as in their previous picture book.

Simply and clearly, Nellist invites children into the mystery of the Lord’s Supper, also called the Eucharist or Holy Communion. Young readers will learn that Jesus instituted the sacrament on the night on which he gathered with his disciples in the Upper Room in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Jesus, knowing that his death on the cross for the salvation of the world was imminent, established the sacrament to help his friends and followers remember what he was about to do for them.

Today, still, God’s children are “Called to the table, / To share the wine and bread. / ‘I want you to remember me,’ / Jesus softly said. / … We think about the mystery— / The words that Jesus said, / And how he gave his life for us / As we break the bread. / … Gathered at the table, / God’s Spirit in the air, / We drink the cup of blessing, / The bread of life we share.”

With a sensitive touch, Nellist acknowledges the various emotional states in which people gather at the table: “When we get ready to take communion, Jesus knows exactly how we feel. If our hearts are heavy or sad, if we’ve messed up or feel unloved, Jesus knows. And as we reach out for the bread and wine, Jesus reaches out to us and fills us with love, forgiveness, and hope."

Nellist concludes this lovely worship resource with the promise of Luke 13:29 (NIrV): “People will come from east and west and north and south. They will take their places at the feast in God’s kingdom.”

Illustrator Anna Kazimi’s reverent, reflective, and jubilant pictures capture the breadth of God’s family throughout the world and the differing ways people celebrate communion within their own cultural contexts. (Zonderkidz)