Agape feast

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Fresco of a banquetTemplate:Efn at a tomb in the Catacomb of Saints Marcellinus and Peter, Via Labicana, Rome.

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A Moravian diener serves bread to fellow members of her congregation during the celebration of a love feast at Bethania Moravian Church in North Carolina.

An agape feast, or love feast,Template:Efn refers to a communal meal that Christians and others such as Freemasons share. The name derives from the Koine Greek word (), meaning divine love.

The early church began the practice of agape meals to foster fellowship among believers. These early Christians initially celebrated the Eucharist as part of the love feast, but between the late 1st century and around 250 AD, the two rites became distinct. Today, churches that revive this tradition typically use terms like "love feast" to describe meals distinct from the Eucharist. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and various pietistic traditions, Christians continue to celebrate love feasts to strengthen fellowship among parishioners.

Scripture mentions the agape meal in , and many scholars describe it as a "common meal of the early church." The New Testament contains additional references to such meals, including , and Ignatius of Antioch, in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans, uses the word agape. Around 111 AD, Pliny the Younger wrote to Emperor Trajan describing how Christians met on a set day to offer prayers to Christ and then returned later in the day to share a "harmless meal."

The Coptic tradition preserves similar descriptions of communal meals, especially in writings attributed to Hippolytus of Rome, though he does not use the term agape. In contrast, Tertullian does use the term. By the time Cyprian (d. 258 AD) wrote, the Church had separated the Eucharist from the agape, reserving the Eucharist for the morning and the agape for evening fellowship. The Synod of Gangra (340 AD) mentioned love feasts in condemning a heretic who forbade his followers from attending them.

Although the Quinisext Council of 692 AD still referred to the agape feast, most churches soon abandoned the practice—except for churches in Ethiopia and India. In 1800, Carmelite friar Paolino da San Bartolomeo observed that the ancient Saint Thomas Christians in India continued to celebrate the agape meal using their traditional dish, appam. In the 18th century, Radical Pietist groups such as the Schwarzenau Brethren and the Moravian Church also embraced the love feast. The Methodist Church continues this tradition today.

In more recent times, Anglicans and groups involved in the American house church movement have either revived or adopted similar practices. The love feast has also served as an ecumenical tool, fostering unity between Methodists, Anglicans, and others.

History

Early Christianity

Paul the Apostle's First Epistle to the Corinthians provides the earliest reference to a meal of the type called agape, although the term appears only implicitly in 1 Corinthians 13. Many New Testament scholars believe that the Christians in Corinth met in the evening to share a common meal that included a sacramental act involving bread and wine. In 1 Corinthians 11:20–34, Paul associates the rite with participation in a more general communal meal. This meal involved participants bringing their food and eating together in a common room. However, the gathering sometimes deteriorated into mere eating and drinking or displays of wealth, especially in Corinth, which drew Paul's sharp criticism:

"I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?"

The Greek term agápē (ἀγάπη) also describes meals in Jude 1:12 and some manuscripts of 2 Peter 2:13.

Shortly after 100 AD, Ignatius of Antioch mentioned the agape feast. Around 112 AD, Pliny the Younger wrote to Emperor Trajan, reporting that Christians met before dawn, prayed to Christ as a divinity, took solemn oaths to avoid wrongdoing, and then gathered to share a harmless common meal, likely the agape feast. Corinthian selfishness and gluttony caused the rescheduling of this meal.

Tertullian also wrote about these meals, though his descriptions remain somewhat unclear.

Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–216 AD) distinguished between luxurious agape meals and the spiritual agape expressed through participation in the food that comes from Christ. Critics sometimes accused these banquets of gross indecency. Philip Schaff, referring to Clement's Stromata (III, 2), explained that the Christian agape likely disappeared early due to abuse by groups like the Carpocratians. Genuine agapæ were apostolic in origin (2 Peter 2:13; Jude 12), but hypocrites sometimes abused them even during apostolic times (1 Corinthians 11:21). In the Gallican Rite, remnants survive in the pain béni; in the Eastern Orthodox Church, in the (antidoron) or eulogiæ, also known as prosphora, distributed to non-communicants after the Divine Liturgy.

Augustine of Hippo condemned drunkenness at meals in North Africa that accompanied funerals or commemorations, distinguishing such meals from the Eucharist. He wrote, "Let us take the body of Christ in communion with those with whom we are forbidden to eat even the bread which sustains our bodies." He noted that Milan had already forbidden such customs before his arrival.

The Council of Laodicea (364) issued Canons 27 and 28 to restrict abuses like taking home provisions and holding meals in churches. The Third Council of Carthage (393) and the Second Council of Orléans (541) reaffirmed prohibitions on feasting in churches. The Quinisext Council (Trullan Council) of 692 forbade offering honey and milk on altars (Canon 57) and excommunicated those holding love feasts in churches (Canon 74).

The ancient Saint Thomas Christians of India continued celebrating agape feasts, featuring their traditional dish appam.

Medieval Georgia

The medieval Georgian Orthodox Church used the term agapi for commemorative meals or distributions of food to clergy, the poor, or travelers during funeral anniversaries. Legacies and foundations ensured these meals' continued celebration.

Reformation

After the Protestant Reformation, some Christian groups sought to revive practices from the New Testament Church. The Schwarzenau Brethren (1708) included a love feast—comprising feet washing, a shared meal, and the Eucharist—among their "outward yet sacred" ordinances. The Moravian Church, led by Count Zinzendorf, adopted a form involving a simple meal, testimonies or devotional addresses, and missionary letters.

John Wesley, founder of Methodism, admired the Moravians during his travels to America. After his conversion in 1738, he introduced the love feast to Methodism. Because ordained ministers were scarce, Methodists used the love feast as an alternative to Holy Communion. Primitive Methodists especially celebrated love feasts before their decline in the nineteenth century.

Practice by denomination

Oriental Orthodox

Several Oriental Orthodox churches continue the tradition of the agape meal, including the Saint Thomas Christians of India. Many attendees travel long distances to participate, and priests preside over these love feasts. Communities often celebrate love feasts to mark the ordination of a new priest, with attendees bringing gifts. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church celebrates the agape feast every Saturday, and many Coptic Orthodox churches also maintain this practice.

Brethren

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Traditional Love Feast among the Schwarzenau Brethren, 1883.

The Schwarzenau Brethren groups, including the largest body, the Church of the Brethren, regularly hold love feasts featuring feetwashing, a communal supper, and communion, accompanied by hymns and scriptural meditations.

Descendants of the Schwarzenau Brethren, such as the Brethren Church, Old German Baptist Brethren, and Dunkard Brethren, continue practicing love feasts rooted in New Testament accounts of the Last Supper. The Grace Brethren also observe the love feast. Typically, the Brethren combine the agape meal (often including lamb or beef and soup) with feetwashing before the meal and communion afterward. They generally use the term "love feast" to describe all three ordinances collectively. German Radical Pietism influenced the Brethren's early 18th-century establishment of the love feast, predating Moravian adoption.

Moravian

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Moravian dieners serve bread during the love feast at Bethania Moravian Church, North Carolina.

The Moravian Church models its love feast on the early church's agape meals described in the Acts of the Apostles, emphasizing unity and love. In European, Canadian, and American congregations, servers called dieners distribute sweetened buns and coffee (or sweetened milky tea in parts of Europe) to worshippers seated in the pews. Congregational food and drink vary depending on availability; early colonial love feasts sometimes featured plain bread and water.

Moravian love feasts focus heavily on hymn singing and music, often performed by an organ or choir. Hymns celebrate love and harmony, and attendees may quietly share testimonies or spiritual reflections. Christmas Eve love feasts frequently include elaborate musical performances, sometimes featuring trombone choirs or church bands as a call to worship.

Congregations hold love feasts on special occasions such as church founding anniversaries. Regularly observed dates include New Year's Eve (with a Watchnight service), Good Friday, 13 August (commemorating the 1727 Moravian renewal), and Christmas Eve, when attendees receive lighted candles along with the bun and coffee.

Methodist

Methodists hold love feasts quarterly and on major feast day evenings, as well as during camp meetings. They regard love feasts as a "means of grace" and a "converting ordinance," which John Wesley affirmed as apostolic in origin. A July 1776 account describes participants experiencing new birth and sanctification during the love feast:Template:Rp

We held our general love-feast. It began between eight and nine on Wednesday morning and continued till noon. Many testified that they had 'redemption in the blood of Jesus, even the forgiveness of sins.' And many were enabled to declare that it had 'cleansed them from all sin.' So clear, so full, so strong was their testimony that while some were speaking their experience, hundreds were in tears, and others vehemently crying to God for pardon or holiness. About eight o'clock, our watch-night began. Mr. J. preached an excellent sermon; the rest of the preachers exhorted and prayed with divine energy. Surely, for the work wrought on these two days, many will praise God to all eternity.

Methodist love feasts typically include:

• Hymn
• Prayer
• Sung Grace
• Distribution of bread by stewards
• Collection for the poor
• Circulation of the loving-cup
• Address by the presiding minister
• Testimonies and hymns
• Closing exhortation by the minister
• Hymn
• Benediction

Certain Methodist groups such as the Missionary Methodist Church and New Congregational Methodist Church also practice footwashing.

In the Wesleyan Methodist Church, love feasts consist of bread and water from the loving-cup. These love feasts aim to "promote piety, mutual affection and zeal". Unlike Methodist Eucharist, love feasts are traditionally fenced, restricted to members, though non-members may attend once.

Several Methodist hymns, including Charles Wesley's 1740 "The Love-Feast," were composed for this ritual:

Come and let us sweetly join
Christ to praise in hymns divine;
Give we all, with one accord.
Glory to our common Lord.
Hands and hearts and voices raise;
Sing as in the ancient days;
Antedate the joys above,
Celebrate the feast of love.

Liturgical books of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, and United Methodist Church all include love feast services.

Primitive Methodist Church congregations often hold large potluck-style love feasts.

The Evangelical Wesleyan Church Discipline mandates a quarterly love feast on each circuit, typically involving bread-breaking, praise, and testimony. The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection Discipline tasks pastors with holding love feasts.

Eastern Orthodox

Many Eastern Orthodox Christian parishes hold agape meals (in Turkish, sevgi ziyafeti), commonly called coffee hour (Spanish: café comunitario), on Sundays and feast days following the Divine Liturgy, especially after the Paschal Vigil.

Roman Catholic

The Catholic Neocatechumenal Way regularly incorporates an agape meal in the form of a light feast following the Eucharist on certain occasions. Outside this, Catholic love feasts vary widely with local customs. Parishes often celebrate major festivals like a patron saint's day or the Feast of Corpus Christi with parish-wide food and drink. Common post-Mass traditions include informal gatherings with coffee and doughnuts, or communal meals and snack after the early-morning Rorate Mass preceding Christmas. The festive Sunday family lunch or dinner often serves as a de facto love feast.

Adventist

The Creation Seventh Day Adventists observe an agape feast as part of their New Moon celebrations, holding formal all-natural meals after the communion supper.

Bibliography

• Bowman, Carl F. Brethren Society: The Cultural Transformation of a Peculiar People. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Stutzman, Paul Fike. Recovering the Love Feast: Broadening Our Eucharistic Celebrations. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 2011.

External links

• Template:Cbignore
• Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Template:Cbignore