The Sacrament of Love Feast
Brethren Beliefs and Practices
Love Feast has a rich and deeply spiritual history in the Church of the Brethren. The event is one of the sources of the foundation and hallmark of the Brethren faith. This report will study the context and history of Love Feast within the Church of the Brethren. It will demonstrate how Love Feast encourages a spirit of unity and supports the work of love, humility and service as demonstrated by the life and example of Jesus Christ.
The study is the result of a communion service that was held at the home of a member of the Northview Church of the Brethren congregation in Indianapolis, Indiana. The service was held on Sunday, March 14, 2010 at 6:00PM and was conducted at the residence of an elderly member of the congregation, Marge Gaier. Those in attendance, in addition to Ms. Gaier, were the pastor of Northview Church of the Brethren, Rob Miller, Richard Propes, and myself (Michael Smith). The service was an abridged version of Love Feast therefore will also be discussed within the larger context of the Love Feast sacrament. However, the observed service did not include the washing of feet component that is normally part of Love Feast.
The service began with a time of invocation through prayer, responsive reading and song that evoked the presence of God. An oil fueled candle and tray that contained the communion bread and grape juice were then placed at the center of a table. The invocation brought attention to the reality that we who were in attendance were not merely gathered as individuals. We were part of a community, the larger body of Christians from which we came. Remarks were made that emphasized the significance of the event and the paradox in sharing the...
... middle of paper ...
...stimony and by product to the effects that Love Feast has on the church. The impact Love Feast continues to have on the church is evidence that God is still alive and at work in the world through the humble example of Jesus Christ.
Works Cited
Brubaker, Pamela K. 1985. "The history of women in the Church." Brethren Life
and Thought 30, no. 1: 9-16. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed March 15, 2010).
Hutchison, Sharon Cobb. 1992. "Baptism and Love Feast : rites of passage in the
Church of the Brethren." Brethren Life and Thought 37, no. 1: 47-53. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed March 17, 2010).
McKinnell, James C. 1962. "Lord's Supper : its relevance for faith and worship."
Brethren Life and Thought 7, no. 2: 44-59. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed March 17, 2010).
The work begins with Section I, ‘The Background’ which consists of a general overview in medieval women’s social and religious history. The first section delineates the basic societal framework for Western European women in the High Middle Ages and outlines the cultural forces at work in shaping their lives. The second part of this section reviews the changes in religious consciousness concerning sacramental practices and fasting, from the Church Fathers to the late medieval hagiographers. It should be noted here that although more careful attention is given to the practice of ‘fasting,’ especially in the latter portion of the work which I will be examining in more detail, the ‘feasting’ in question more generally denotes the ‘love feast’ of the Eucharist than the fe...
Gregory’s Episcopal Church. She had said that she became overwhelmed by the realization of God and that He became very real to her. Miles also talks about how unbalanced and emotional she was, and didn’t know how to handle herself, but continually came back for more (Miles, 58-59). I love hearing Sara talk about taking communion for the first time because it seems so beautiful, how Jesus was able to move through her and come to life inside of her. There have been a couple of times when I would go on retreats and mission trips and take communion in a more meaningful way because of the people I had become close to and had gotten to know on those trips would be with me. When I am take communion at the First United Methodist Church on a regular Sunday though, it can almost become just a regular thing you do at church without really remembering its sacredness. I still feel it is important, but because I’ve been doing it all my life and I think it is easy to forget all the things tied to it. Overall I feel as though this book has made me explore different ways of being a part of a community and enabled me to see that God works through all of us whether we believe it or not. It’s also extremely refreshing to see Sara’s excitement for her newfound faith and how she deals with the problems thrown at her. In Sara’s case I think God made the impossible possible. This story is an
Julian of Norwich. Showings of Love. Westminster, Paris, Sloane, Amherst, Gascoigne and Upholland Manuscripts. Translated by Julia Bolton Holloway. U.S.A., Darton, Longman and Todd, U.K: Liturgical Press, accessed February 14, 2012, http://www.umilta.net/showinglove.html.
Wilson, Barbara S., Arlene Flancher, and Susan T. Erdey. The Episcopal Handbook. New York, NY: Morehouse Pub., 2008. Print.
In my paper I will talk about my visit to The Community Church at Murphy's Landing (CCML). I have chosen this particular Church because it is a family church type and my neighbor goes there and she encouraged me to go with her. I went there with my neighbor on April 6, 2014.This church is an appropriate for this assignment because the people there are welcoming me with an open heart and they are willing to help and provide me with information. When I visit the Church’s site I read these words “We know visiting a new church can be intimidating. But, we want to help you to be as comfortable as possible when and if you join us”. The people gather in the church weekly to glorify God in joyful worship. The expressions of worship on CCML take many forms a prayer, a hymn of reverent awe, a guitar ringing with a chorus of praise, or a warm handshake and a welcoming smile. Their weekly services begin at 9:30 each Sunday at church. Also, they have weekly podcast if anyone wants to listen online. They have many types of services for parents, kids and students. People at CCML were so friendly; they gather around me and start welcoming me, one by one. People there introducing themselves to me, one after another and provide me with their contact information and help. Then we start talking about the church services and Christianity in particular. The mission of CCML was knowing, growing and loving. They seek to live out our mission by worshipping together as a local community of believers, growing in spiritual maturity through discipleship, education, and small groups, caring for one another within the context of the larger church body and small groups, and Communicating the love of Christ to our world, both through local outreach and global mis...
Melton, J. Gordon, James A. Beverley, Constance M. Jones, and Pamela Susan Nadell. Melton's encyclopedia of American religions. 8th ed. Detroit: Gale Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.
Smart, Ninian. "Blackboard, Religion 100." 6 March 2014. Seven Dimensions of Religion. Electronic Document. 6 March 2014.
New Revised Standard Version. New York: American Bible Society, 1989. Print. The. Russell, Eddie.
BibleGateway.com -. Web. The Web. The Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
In an age when culture continues to lower standards of intellect, Marva Dawn makes compelling observations and suggestions for the Church to rethink its’ strategy on impacting society. How do we evangelize without weakening the message of what we are communicating? The majority of her text focuses on the worship environment generally, but later she focuses on music, preaching, and liturgy specifically. According to Dawn, a gathering of believers should emphasize God as the subject and object of worship, challenge each individual to grow in godly character, and accentuate the community of believers (not only in the room, but throughout history as well). Through this grid, she encourages leaders and participants to evaluate each worship element. If these primary goals are accomplished, then worship will not be empty and simpleminded. Instead the worship atmosphere would be held to a higher standard and, she believes, both pleasing to God and attractive to those who do not know God.
"EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 & 2." EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 2. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2014.
- Living Faith - Home & Family - News - Catholic Online. (2014, November 18). Retrieved February 03, 2016, from http://www.catholic.org/news/hf/faith/story.php?id=57689
Johnson, Rev. George, Rev. Jerome D. Hannan, and Sister M. Dominica. The Story of the Church: Her Founding, Mission and Progress; A Textbook in Church History. Rockford: Tan Book and Publishers Inc., 1980.
The parable of the wedding feast unfolds into three parts; the inviting of guests, a call to the outcasts, and a removal. (Brown 664) Matthew paints the scene of Jesus using a parable to describe the fact, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son” (Mt 22:2). Using a wedding banquet as the setting for this parable allows people to apply the message of God to their everyday lives. The visualization of the preparations of the oxen and fat calves for feasting depicts the nature that this was an important event, worth the sacrifice of animals, which at the time was a great personal expense. Theologically, the kingdom of heaven was represented by the wedding banquet, for those who were invited to the wedding banquet were extended an invitation to the kingdom of God, while the King was an image of God, The Father and the king’s son was a portrait of Jesus. (Brown 665)
Organ, Troy Wilson. Eerdmans' Handbook to The World Religions. Woodbury, NY: Barron's Educational Series, 1974. Print.