Pondering with the Pastor
You are invited to join us on Sunday, December 29 at
11 am in the fellowship hall for a Moravian Love Feast!
Together we will worship God, sing, pray, and enjoy
Moravian buns and sugar cake with coffee, tea, and
lemonade around tables of joy and fellowship.
Historically, a Love Feast is a fellowship meal remembering
the meals Jesus shared with his disciples and the communal
meals shared in the early church. The Moravian Church
revived these communal meals in the 1700’s and they
eventually evolved into a simpler meal of a sweet bun and
coffee with sugar and cream. Some folks also include hot
tea, lemonade, and Moravian Sugar Cake!
Though a Moravian Love Feast might look like communion
with the bread and drink, it does not include the
communion ritual, or the remembrance of Jesus’ sacrificial
body and blood given for our salvation. Rather, it is a simple
meal celebrating the joy of our unity and equality in Jesus
Christ as the beloved children of God.
Reverend John Wesley, the founder of our denomination,
was a very serious Christian. He led a disciplined life of
prayer, Bible study, communion, and weekly meetings with
other dedicated Christians for encouragement and
accountability. You could say he was methodical about his
desire to follow Jesus Christ. That’s why his movement and
eventual denomination was named, “Methodism.”
Then, John Wesley met the Moravians sailing on a ship to
England. Wesley greatly admired the joyful Moravian
Christians whose simple faith and unity led to Love Feasts
of celebration, worship, and singing—lots of singing! One
evening, in the midst of a big storm, Wesley watched as the
Moravians “calmly sang on” despite the dangerous
weather. When he asked how they could continue to sing
under such dangerous conditions, the Moravians told him
they sang because they were unafraid to die because of
their Savior, Jesus Christ. In admiration of their joy and
faith, Wesley often included their Love Feast tradition in
Methodist gatherings.
Many United Methodist Churches continue to include
Moravian Love Feasts in their worship calendars, especially
those churches in the Winston-Salem area where many
Moravian Christians came to settle in the United States.
I hope you’ll come and join us as we include a Moravian
Love Feast on the Sunday following Christmas. Let’s
celebrate our joy and unity as followers of the baby sent to
be our Savior! The day promises to be a real feast of love!
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