I wrote this hymn for Cathedral in the Night, an ecumenical, outdoor ministry in Northampton, MA, where I served as seminary intern from 2011 to 2012. Each Sunday evening, Cathedral’s mixed congregation of housed and homeless people gathers together on a downtown street corner for worship, communion, and a free common meal. At Cathedral, I gained a new awareness of the presence of Christ at the Table.  For we are the body of Christ, broken and divided from one another, made whole when we break bread together.

(Tune: Be Thou my Vision)

Come to the table and break bread with me;
Drink of one cup, and one body we’ll be.
Hungry for justice or hungry for bread,
Come to the table where the hungry are fed.

Come to the table, from near and afar;
No need to fear, you may come as you are.
Broken in body or broken in soul,
Come to the table and be part of the Whole.

Come to the table, let grace now be shared;
O taste and see what our host has prepared!
Empty of pocket or empty within,
Come to the table: let the banquet begin.

(Photo: Liza B. Knapp, all rights reserved)