Although The United Methodist Book of Worship contains a brief order of worship for the Love Feast (most often referred to as the "Moravian Love Feast"), I have never served a church in this Conference other than Main Street UMC in Greenwood that had a tradition of observing it.
What's more, a majority of the pastors I know tell me that they have never conducted a Love Feast or included it in their annual worship calendars. For my part, though, I have tried to “reintroduce” it (or introduce it, as the case may be) in the parishes I have served not only because of its beauty, but more importantly, because of its potential spiritual power. And despite the fact that a Love Feast calls far more preparation and work from a Worship Committee than Holy Communion (food, drink, candles, servers, etc.), it has generally been well received.
I have even had the opportunity to lead the Love Feast at Annual Conference on three separate occasions. In fact, I believe I am correct in saying that I am the last pastor to have done so before it was unceremoniously discontinued. Of course, there's always a part of me that will wonder if I'll go down in the annals of church history as the minister single handedly responsible for erasing the Love Feast from Methodism in South Carolina? (I also wonder if this is how the person who killed the last Carolina Parakeet felt?)
Curiously, I was never told why the Love Feast was discontinued at our Annual Conference, but I can't help but wonder wonder sometimes if it had anything to do with an argument I once had with a Conference official over the “elements”, or food and drink, used in the Love Feast?
I remember it like it was yesterday. “Bread and water is the traditional meal”, he said. “For who, I remember asking, prisoners?” “”No, no, no, was the reply. “Bread and water is what Wesley insisted on because that what the Moravians used!”
This, of course, came as news to me. “I will confess”, I said, “that while I may be as knowledgeable as any United Methodist pastor as to the Methodist-Moravian connection, I have never known why—or even if—Wesley used bread and water. But I do most certainly know this: the Moravians don't and never did.”
“That's not the case”, said the Conference official. “Show me, then, where it IS the case”, I asked. The Conference official seemed flustered because he could not produce anything other than the non-binding mention in the Book of Worship that indicates that water is the preferred beverage. Other than that, he offered nada. No obscure rubric, no statement from an ancient Discipline, not even a direct quote from Wesley.
Not satisfied with that answer, and knowing full-well that the Love Feast I most fondly remember—the one that prompted my love affair with the feast itself and with the Moravians from which it came—the one held every Christmas at Main Street UMC in Greenwood—never used bread and water, but rather, so-called Moravian buns and spiced apple cider.
So taking the initiative, I called Winston-Salem, to the Moravian headquarters and inquired of them what the proper “feast” portion of the Love Feast should be. I was connected to someone who seemed to know more about this little glitch in Methodist-Moravian relations than did my own Conference official. “Without a doubt,” said the Moravian official, “no Moravian church ever used bread and water. And while Wesley certainly attended Love Feasts, there is no evidence that anything other than cake and coffee were used in any of them. However, I have heard stories that the reason Wesley's version of the Love Feast used water is because his outreach was primarily to the poor, who would not have had such luxuries as coffee, cream and extra sugar.
But beyond that, I don't know if anyone knows for sure where Wesley got that idea. It certainly wasn't from us. In fact, throughout the history of the Love Feast among Moravians, our choice, as I said, has always been sugar cake or orange spiced buns and sweet coffee. Moravians in America sometimes opt for tea over coffee and some use lemonade in the summer. But if you know anything about the Moravian way of approaching matters such as these we think and let think.” “That's a very Methodist thing to say,” I replied. “No,” said the official, “that's a very Moravian thing to say. Something ELSE Wesley borrowed from us!”
Sometime after that conversation, I received a letter from another Moravian expert; this time, a bishop detailing for me the specifics of the Love Feast as it pertained to the “meal” itself. “The meal should be substantial, in that it is not merely a 'taste' of this and a 'sip' of that, although it should not be a banquet. It should remind worshipers of the early agape meals of our faith in which Christians joined together at mealtime and spoke freely of God's great love in Jesus Christ. Because it is a rite entirely different from Holy Communion, we take great measures to ensure that it cannot be confused with the Eucharist. For this reason, we do not use the element of plain bread, as Wesley himself did not do. In his own journal he records the fact that he used 'cake'.
As for the use of water, it is simply not our practice. It is believed that John Wesley's suggestion for using water came from his great desire to celebrate the Love Feast amongst the poor and his reluctance to make their humble provisions seem inadequate. Another possible explanation is that like the Moravians, Wesley viewed the Love Feast as a means of grace and encouraged it frequent use. As a result, it may not have been financially possible, even for those of greater means, to provide such rich foods as cream, sugar and coffee on a regular basis.
The following quote from Wesley, while not directly addressing this issue, is helpful as it clearly lists the food and drink used in early Methodist versions of Love Feasts: In order to increase in them (the persons in the early Methodist societies) a grateful sense of God's mercies, I desired that one evening in a quarter all men in the band, on a second all the women, would meet, and on a third, both men and women together, that we might together “eat bread” as the ancient Christians did, “with gladness and singleness of heart.” At these love-feasts (so we termed them, retaining the name as well as the thing which was in use from the beginning). Our food is only a little plain cake and water, but we seldom return from them without being fed not only with the “meat which perisheth” but “that which endureth to everlasting life.”
“Nevertheless,” wrote the bishop, “despite this entry from Wesley, if you were seeking the humble opinion of people who restored the Love Feast and who offered it to Methodism, we would suggest sharing the meal in our fashion by using a sweetened drink, such as coffee or tea and a sweetened bread, such as buns or cake. For remember, the sweetness of the food and drink are meant to remind us of the sweetness of God's eternal love in Christ Jesus.”
For the record, in the churches I have served (and at Annual Conference) we have eaten everything from actual Moravian buns, to hot-cross buns, ginger snaps, and sugar cookies, while spiced cider, tea, fruit punch and lemonade have all had turns at being the drink. To my knowledge, neither the essence nor the purpose of the Love Feast was lessened because bread and water were not used.
Certainly, when it comes to most matters of doctrine, worship and practice, I look to Wesley. But in this case, especially since this is something he learned from them, I think I'll bypass Father John and look to the Moravians. After all, it ain't called a Moravian Love Feast for nothing!
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