At your table, Lord, we gather (website only)
- Elements of Worship:
- Eucharistic
- Theme:
- Holy Communion
- Authors & translators:
- Hill, Gareth
- Hymns on StF+:
- Hymns only online (submit to stfplus@methodistchurch.org.uk)
At your table, Lord, we gather
to receive the bread and wine,
drawn by love that calls us closer
as we come to taste your love divine.
Here we know that we are welcome
deep within the heart of God.
In this moment, all are equal:
nourished by the body and the blood
Refrain
This is the mystery of faith
that Christ has died
This is the mystery of faith
that Christ is risen
This is the mystery of faith
that Christ will come again
As we meet you in communion,
reach our hands towards the cross;
touch us all with heaven’s vision
to redeem the broken and the lost.
This is the mystery of faith. . .
From your table, Lord, you send us,
bearers of the love of Christ,
scattered with the Saviour’s blessing
and a welcome born in sacrifice.
This is the mystery of faith. . . (refrain x2)
[Final time “ . . . for us”]
Words: © 2017 Gareth Hill Publishing/Song Solutions CopyCare, 14 Horsted Square, Uckfield, TN22 1QG www.songsolutions.org
CCLI song ID 7091606
Music: download melody and chords as a PDF
Listen to Gareth rehearsing At your table, Lord, we gather (MP3)
Ideas for use
Gareth Hill's hymn incorporates words from the communion liturgy and employs a contemporary music style suitable for a worship band.
Listening to Gareth rehearsing and singing this hymn is a helpful starting point for thinking about your own use. Gareth uses a small instrumental group made up of guitar, drums and keyboard. The keyboard offers a simple link between verses and refrain (shown in the score). Notice that Gareth adapts the rhythm of the tune in places to best sit with the words.
More information
The refrain of this hymn echoes words familiar from the communion liturgy. The implications of that shared meal are beautifully expressed in the final verse: “From your table, Lord, you send us, / bearers of the love of Christ”. The StF+ hymn submissions group felt that the gentle but precise expression throughout the hymn, combined with a memorable melody in a contemporary style, offers us a fresh way of summarising in song our experience of God meeting us through bread and wine.