Agape feast
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The Agape feast was one term used for the Eucharistic celebration of the early Christians. While centered on the ritual of the bread and wine, it also included various other ritual elements, including elements of the Passover Seder and of Mediterranean funerary banquets, also termed Agape Feasts. Agape is one of the Greek words for love, particularly applied to selfless love. Such meals were widespread, though not universal, in the early Christian world.
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[edit] Historical
The first historical references to these feasts come in the biblical books of Jude and 2 Peter when the authors refer to "spots" in the agape feasts. However, no further specific biblical detail is given to either regulate or describe such feasts. This service was apparently a full meal, with each participant bringing their own food, but eating in a common room. Perhaps predictably enough, it could at times deteriorate into merely an occasion for eating and drinking, or for ostentatious displays by the wealthier members of the community. This was criticized by St. Paul in the New Testament (cf. 1 Cor 11:20-22). Because of such abuses, the Agape gradually fell into disfavor, and after being subjected to various regulations and restrictions, it was definitively dropped by the Church between the 6th and 8th centuries.
[edit] Contemporary
Some contemporary Christians participate in Agape meals on rare occasions, to experience this historical form of the Eucharist. Many Christians, however, after celebrating the Eucharist, now routinely participate in a sharing of light refreshments and conversation in an informal gathering that is functionally an Agape. This post-Eucharistic gathering is often called "fellowship hour" or "coffee hour" and is regarded by many clergy as a particularly opportune time for engaging adults in Christian education. The Church of the Brethren is one which regularly practices Agape feasts (called "Love Feast"), generally including anywhere from a light to full meal eaten together, foot washing, and a short message.
[edit] Agape in Freemasonry
Agape is also the name given by some masonic traditions to the formal meals held after meetings. [1] The meal always includes a joint of meat (normally beef) to be cut ceremonially by the master of the lodge. The meal is often accompanied with wine, normally supplied by senior members of the lodge. It has been a tradition in freemasonry since the late eighteenth century, though may have taken place previous to the Grand Lodge being formed in London in 1717.
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