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An agape feast, or lovefeast, is a communal meal shared among Christians. The name comes from the Greek word ἀγάπη (agape), which implies divine love.
Agape meals originated in the early Church and were a time of fellowship for believers. The Eucharist was initially a facet of the lovefeast, but at some point (probably between the latter part of the 1st century AD and 250 AD), the two became separate. Thus, in modern revivals of this tradition, terms such as "Lovefeast" refer to meals distinct from the Eucharist. Such lovefeasts, celebrated within the Eastern Orthodox tradition and also in pietism traditions, seek to strengthen fraternal bonds between parishioners.
The practice of sharing an agape meal is mentioned in of the Christian Bible and has been said to be a "common meal of the early church". References to communal meals are found in , Saint Ignatius of Antioch's Letter to the Smyrnaeans, where the term agape is used, and in a letter from Pliny the Younger to Trajan, (ca. 111 AD) in which he reported that the Christians, after having met "on a stated day" in the early morning to "address a form of prayer to Christ, as to a divinity", would "reassemble, to eat in common a harmless meal" later in the day. Similar communal meals are also mentioned in the Coptic tradition–often identified as the Apostolic tradition attributed to Hippolytus of Rome, who does not use the term agape–and in works of Tertullian, who does. The connection between such substantial meals and the Eucharist had virtually ceased by the time of Cyprian (who died 258 AD), when the Eucharist was celebrated with fasting in the morning and the agape in the evening. The Synod of Gangra in 340 AD makes mention of lovefeasts in relation to a heretic who had barred his followers from attending them.
Although still mentioned in the Quinisext Council of 692 AD, the agape feast fell into disuse soon after, except among the churches in Ethiopia and India. At the end of the 18th century, the Carmelites Paolino da San Bartolomeo reported that the ancient Saint Thomas Christians of India still celebrated the lovefeast, using their typical dish called appam. In addition, Radical Pietism groups originating in the eighteenth century, such as the Schwarzenau Brethren and the Moravian Church, celebrate the lovefeast. Methodist Church also continue the practice.
Similar practices have been revived or created more recently among other groups, including Anglicanism, as well as the American house church movement. The lovefeast has often been used in ecumenical settings, such as between Methodists and Anglicans.
"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 term agape (ἀγάπη) is also used in reference to meals in and in a few manuscripts of .
Soon after the year 100 AD, Ignatius of Antioch refers to the agape feast. In Letter 97 to Trajan in 112 AD, Pliny the Younger mentions that Christians are known to assemble for a common meal which may be the agape meal:"They met on a stated day before it was light, and addressed a form of prayer to Christ, as to a divinity, binding themselves by a solemn oath, not for the purposes of any wicked design, but never to commit any fraud, theft, or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble, to eat in common a harmless meal". The rescheduling of the agape meal was triggered by Corinthian selfishness and gluttony. Tertullian too seems to write of these meals, though what he describes is not quite clear.
Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–211/216 AD) distinguished so-called agape meals of luxurious character from the agape (love) "which the food that comes from Christ shows that we ought to partake of". Accusations of gross indecency were sometimes made against the more indulgent banquets. Referring to Clement of Alexandria's Stromata (III, 2), Philip Schaff commented: "The early disappearance of the Christian agapæ may probably be attributed to the terrible abuse of the word here referred to, by the licentious Carpocratians. The genuine agapæ were of apostolic origin (2 Pet. ii. 13; Jude 12), but were often abused by hypocrites, even under the apostolic eye (1 Corinthians 11:21). In the Gallican Church, a survival or relic of these feasts of charity is seen in the pain béni; and, in the Eastern Orthodox Church in the ἀντίδωρον ( antidoron) or eulogiæ, also known as prosphora distributed to non-communicants at the close of the Divine Liturgy (Eucharist), from the loaf out of which the Lamb (Host) and other portions have been cut during the Liturgy of Preparation."
Augustine of Hippo also objected to meals in his native North Africa, typically in funerary or commemorative settings, in which some indulged to the point of drunkenness, and he distinguished them from proper celebration of the Eucharist: "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 reports that even before the time of his stay in Milan, the custom had already been forbidden there.
Canons 27 and 28 of the Council of Laodicea (364) restricted the abuses of taking home part of the provisions and of holding the meals in churches. The Third Council of Carthage (393) and the Second Council of Orléans (541) reiterated the prohibition of feasting in churches, and the Trullan Council of 692 decreed that honey and milk were not to be offered on the altar (Canon 57), and that those who held love feasts in churches should be excommunicated (Canon 74).
The ancient Saint Thomas Christians of India continued to celebrate their agapa feasts, using their typical dish called appam.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, travelled to America in the company of Moravians and greatly admired their faith and practice. After his conversion in 1738 he introduced the Love Feast to what became known as the Methodist movement. Due to the lack of ordained ministers within Methodism, the Love Feast took on a life of its own, as there were very few opportunities to take Eucharist. As such, the Primitive Methodists celebrated the Love Feast, before it lessened in the nineteenth century as the revival cooled.
Groups that descend from the Schwarzenau Brethren such as the Church of the Brethren, Brethren Church, Old German Baptist Brethren, and Dunkard Brethren regularly practice a Lovefeast based on New Testament descriptions of the Last Supper. The Grace Brethren, an offshoot of the Schwarzenau Brethren, also practices the lovefeast. The Brethren combine the Agape meal (often consisting of lamb or beef and a bowl of soup) with a service of feetwashing before the meal and communion afterward. The term "Lovefeast" in this case generally refers to all three ordinances, not just the meal. Influenced by German Radical Pietism during the early eighteenth century, the Lovefeast was instituted among Brethren before Moravians adopted the practice.
The Moravian lovefeast also concentrates on the singing of hymns and listening to music, which may come from the organ or choir. The songs and hymns chosen usually describe love and harmony. The congregation can talk quietly with their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ about their spiritual walk with God. Christmas Eve lovefeasts can become particularly spectacular in the congregation's choice of music and instrumentation. Many churches have trombone choirs or church bands play before a lovefeast as a call to service.
A Moravian congregation may hold a lovefeast on any special occasion, such as the date their church was founded, but there are certain established dates that Lovefeasts are regularly observed. Some of these notable dates include New Year's Eve (on which the Watchnight service is observed), Good Friday, the Festival of 13 August (the 1727 date on which the Moravian Church was renewed), and Christmas Eve, where each member of the congregation receives a lighted candle at the end of the service in addition to the bun and coffee.
The liturgy for a lovefeast traditionally includes the following elements:
In certain Methodist connexions, such as the Missionary Methodist Church and the New Congregational Methodist Church, footwashing is practiced too. (1987). 9780810321335, Gale Research Company. ISBN 9780810321335
In the Wesleyan Methodist Church, lovefeasts consisted of bread and water that filled the loving-cup. (2005). 9780521818490, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521818490 These lovefeasts were said to "promote piety, mutual affection and zeal". Unlike the Eucharist in the Methodist tradition, lovefeasts are traditionally fenced, being only for members of Methodist churches, though non-members are permitted to attend once. Several Methodist hymns were written for this Christian ritual, including Charles Wesley's "The Love-Feast", penned in 1740:
The Christian liturgical books of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, and United Methodist Church all have services for the Lovefeast.
Congregations of the Primitive Methodist Church hold Lovefeasts in the form of large potluck-style meals among members of their congregations.
¶108 of the Discipline of the Evangelical Wesleyan Church states that "A Love feast shall be held on each circuit at least once in three months. It shall ordinarily consist of bread-breaking, praise, and testimony."
¶244 of the Discipline of the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection stipulates that one of the duties of pastors is "to hold love-feasts".
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