History of Communion and Love Feast
As part of the Jewish observance of Passover it is traditional that the youngest person
ask several questions, one of which is, "Why is this night different from all others?"
Brethren might well ask the same question at the Love Feast service, when the familiar
smells of home cooking are combined with solemn prayer and the challenging rite of
feetwashing.
The Love Feast, including the feetwashing, has been God's special gift to the Brethren.
This gift was not given because we are more worthy or more special or more loved. It is
a trust which we have preserved for the rest of Christendom, which is slowly
rediscovering the blessings of this service. Deacons have been a part of the Brethren
practice of Love Feast and Communion for as long as the record can be traced.
Traditionally, deacons have taken the lead in the physical preparations for these
services.
Communion is an ordinance established by Jesus the night before his death, during the
course of the Passover meal which he shared with his disciples. In this Passover and
the first communion service, both a symbolic meal and an actual meal was shared. The
earliest Brethren understood the message Jesus gave loud and clear: "Do this in
memory of me."
The earliest Christian communions probably resembled the typical church carry-in
meal, with individuals bringing food for the Love Feast. The genius of the early
Christian movement was that its membership cut across both racial and economic lines,
the two chief lanes of segregation in today's church. The first century church witnessed
great disparities in personal income in the society at large. The communion table was a
rare focus point for equality. The earliest Christians remembered in their communion
services not only the Last Supper, but the feeding of the 5,000, an event in which all
ate and were satisfied. Representations of communion in early Christian art consistently
include symbols of that particular miracle. For the poor of society, who rarely ate meat
or ate well, this sort of feasting was a clear foreshadowing of the kingdom as expressed
by both the Hebrew prophets and Jesus.
The administration of communion, however, did not always go smoothly; this is seen in
Paul's letter to the Corinthian church, where he accuses the rich and leisured
Christians of finishing the good food before the poor people came from work (1
Corinthians 11:17-22).
The first century church manual known as the Didache, which purported to be the
teachings of the twelve apostles, and which preserves important insights into the
administration of the early church, records a communion liturgy which includes
language for the Love Feast.
The practice of the Love Feast continued past the first Christian century. The pagan
administrator Pliny the younger wrote to the emperor Trajan about the Christians who
lived in his district. Rumors were spreading about the Christians, suggesting they were
cannibals (because of the symbolism of eating Christ's body at communion). Pliny
reported that when Christians gathered in worship they ate ordinary food. This is similar
to the practice of Brethren today, where ordinary food is prepared in homespun fashion
-to become part of a sacred meal.
During the course of the first Christian centuries the Love Feast was combined with the
meal known as the Refrigerarium, celebrated in honor of loved ones who had passed
away, and later in honor of Christian martyrs who belonged to the whole church. This
particular form of worship belonged to the believers and could be celebrated without
benefit of clergy. As a result, when Christianity became a legal religion under the
emperor Constantine around the year 315 AD, the practice of the Love Feast was
stamped out by an entrenched clergy with the backing of the state. Not without
bloodshed.
Centuries later, as early Brethren read the scriptures, they sought to restore the
communion service as a commemoration of the Lord's Supper because this was
specifically commanded by Jesus. The elements in this restoration included an actual
meal and the bread and cup communion. Furthermore, Brethren read in the commands
of Jesus a clear message to wash the feet of each other following the example of their
Lord. The complete Brethren Love Feast included a time of introspection and
preparation, the fellowship meal, the feetwashing, and the bread and cup communion.
Brethren Love Feasts often lasted two to three days, and included not only members of
the local fellowship, but Brethren from far and wide. Host congregations pro- vided
housing and food for the guests. Barns were cleared so all could sleep in comfort.
Delicacies were prepared for the other meals to be shared. Brethren often traveled
from one Love Feast to another, and people outside the faith sometimes gathered
outside to watch the proceedings.
Today Brethren congregations generally celebrate the full Love Feast once or twice a
year. Love Feast is celebrated on Maundy Thursday, the evening before Good Friday.
Many congregations also celebrate Love Feast the first Sunday of October, which is
World Communion Sunday. And many congregations now share the bread and cup
communion during Sunday morning worship several times a year.
From the Deacon Manual for Caring Ministries, copyright 1998 by Association of Brethren Caregivers.
Used by permission.
As part of the Jewish observance of Passover it is traditional that the youngest person
ask several questions, one of which is, "Why is this night different from all others?"
Brethren might well ask the same question at the Love Feast service, when the familiar
smells of home cooking are combined with solemn prayer and the challenging rite of
feetwashing.
The Love Feast, including the feetwashing, has been God's special gift to the Brethren.
This gift was not given because we are more worthy or more special or more loved. It is
a trust which we have preserved for the rest of Christendom, which is slowly
rediscovering the blessings of this service. Deacons have been a part of the Brethren
practice of Love Feast and Communion for as long as the record can be traced.
Traditionally, deacons have taken the lead in the physical preparations for these
services.
Communion is an ordinance established by Jesus the night before his death, during the
course of the Passover meal which he shared with his disciples. In this Passover and
the first communion service, both a symbolic meal and an actual meal was shared. The
earliest Brethren understood the message Jesus gave loud and clear: "Do this in
memory of me."
The earliest Christian communions probably resembled the typical church carry-in
meal, with individuals bringing food for the Love Feast. The genius of the early
Christian movement was that its membership cut across both racial and economic lines,
the two chief lanes of segregation in today's church. The first century church witnessed
great disparities in personal income in the society at large. The communion table was a
rare focus point for equality. The earliest Christians remembered in their communion
services not only the Last Supper, but the feeding of the 5,000, an event in which all
ate and were satisfied. Representations of communion in early Christian art consistently
include symbols of that particular miracle. For the poor of society, who rarely ate meat
or ate well, this sort of feasting was a clear foreshadowing of the kingdom as expressed
by both the Hebrew prophets and Jesus.
The administration of communion, however, did not always go smoothly; this is seen in
Paul's letter to the Corinthian church, where he accuses the rich and leisured
Christians of finishing the good food before the poor people came from work (1
Corinthians 11:17-22).
The first century church manual known as the Didache, which purported to be the
teachings of the twelve apostles, and which preserves important insights into the
administration of the early church, records a communion liturgy which includes
language for the Love Feast.
The practice of the Love Feast continued past the first Christian century. The pagan
administrator Pliny the younger wrote to the emperor Trajan about the Christians who
lived in his district. Rumors were spreading about the Christians, suggesting they were
cannibals (because of the symbolism of eating Christ's body at communion). Pliny
reported that when Christians gathered in worship they ate ordinary food. This is similar
to the practice of Brethren today, where ordinary food is prepared in homespun fashion
-to become part of a sacred meal.
During the course of the first Christian centuries the Love Feast was combined with the
meal known as the Refrigerarium, celebrated in honor of loved ones who had passed
away, and later in honor of Christian martyrs who belonged to the whole church. This
particular form of worship belonged to the believers and could be celebrated without
benefit of clergy. As a result, when Christianity became a legal religion under the
emperor Constantine around the year 315 AD, the practice of the Love Feast was
stamped out by an entrenched clergy with the backing of the state. Not without
bloodshed.
Centuries later, as early Brethren read the scriptures, they sought to restore the
communion service as a commemoration of the Lord's Supper because this was
specifically commanded by Jesus. The elements in this restoration included an actual
meal and the bread and cup communion. Furthermore, Brethren read in the commands
of Jesus a clear message to wash the feet of each other following the example of their
Lord. The complete Brethren Love Feast included a time of introspection and
preparation, the fellowship meal, the feetwashing, and the bread and cup communion.
Brethren Love Feasts often lasted two to three days, and included not only members of
the local fellowship, but Brethren from far and wide. Host congregations pro- vided
housing and food for the guests. Barns were cleared so all could sleep in comfort.
Delicacies were prepared for the other meals to be shared. Brethren often traveled
from one Love Feast to another, and people outside the faith sometimes gathered
outside to watch the proceedings.
Today Brethren congregations generally celebrate the full Love Feast once or twice a
year. Love Feast is celebrated on Maundy Thursday, the evening before Good Friday.
Many congregations also celebrate Love Feast the first Sunday of October, which is
World Communion Sunday. And many congregations now share the bread and cup
communion during Sunday morning worship several times a year.
From the Deacon Manual for Caring Ministries, copyright 1998 by Association of Brethren Caregivers.
Used by permission.
| The Hagerstown Church of the Brethren |
| Hagerstown Church of the Brethren 15 S. Mulberry Street Hagerstown, MD 21740. Telephone: 301-733-3565. Fax: 301-733-3598. Office hours: Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. - noon & 1:00 –4:00 p.m. |
| MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the Hagerstown Church of the Brethren is to celebrate the love of Jesus Christ and glorify the Lord by striving to live as Christ lived, experiencing the power of God's healing in our lives. We seek to nurture our faith community through prayer, music and the proclaimed Word, while enthusiastically reaching out to others with compassion, respect and love for everyone so that we may grow in faith and commitment together. VISION STATEMENT Journeying with Christ Serving Our Neighbors Uniting at the Master’s Table |
| Memories of Love Feast 1888 "On the Jacob G. Hershey farm, one mile east of Florin, along the railroad, by the Brethren in Christ church, a few dozen members came to clean out the barn and put benches in the main floors and put two large tents in the orchard for restaurants, two tables of 100 each, one for women and one for men. They made 660 snitz pies and they were all eaten. A large beef was killed. If any beef was left, it was given to the poor. There were six or eight hay wagons in the field for horses to feed on. Many people came by horse power. The accommodation train stopped four times on the top of the hill where the subway now is. They came to the feast from four counties. C. N. Hershey was ten years old and counted 72 passengers that walked up the lane, at 10:00 a.m. Some came in the afternoon. It lasted one and a half days. Folks went home the second day. Twelve hundred people were fed at noon and 1,400 for supper. Those were the good old days when most people carried a smile and were sociable and didn't worry about pride. Long to be remembered. " -Written on December 4, 1963, when C. N. Hershey was 85 1/2 years old. Submitted by S. Joan Hershey. From the Deacon Manual for Caring Ministries, copyright 1998 by Association of Brethren Caregivers. Used by permission. |
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