Agape Service

Last night, my Dearly Beloved and I (aided and abetted by our trusty band of liturgical co-conspirators at Ringwood North Uniting Church) led an Agape Service. This service was part of a series of monthly services which we've titled "Pilgrimage Services" - both to reflect our individual and communal journey of faith, and to highlight the fact that these services have been a deliberate exploration of the rich tradition of Christian prayer and worship styles.

The agape (pronounced a-gah-pay, from the Koine Greek meaning love) is one of the most ancient traditions in Christianity, stretching back to the period of the early church community when there was no institutional church. Instead, Christians would gather at someone's home and celebrate their faith through a communal meal that commemorated both the Last Supper and the fellowship of their faith community.

For the purposes of this service, we borrowed heavily from the wonderful Iona Abbey Worship Book, which itself is a product of the Iona Community in Scotland. The Worship Book had lots of resources for Agape Services, including prayers and service structure, and we both drew on these and constructed the service in our own way with PowerPoint presentations, music, recordings, and periods of meditative silence. We also included a simple meal of soup (my Dearly Beloved made pumpkin, while Murray, one of our number, provided minestrone) and bread and water. We then followed with a communion that, instead of containing a formal liturgy, simply involved the group sharing delicious oatmeal cookies (thanks Nicola!) and grape juice; our minister, Ian, spoke a simple but powerful blessing, and we partook of the elements.

The group ate and drank in a deep, contemplative silence in which the bond of unity and sense of community were almost physical. There was a truly wonderful sense of spiritual presence, of the love and grace of God. I have always believed in the KISS principle, and last night helped reinforce my sense that the simple is so often the most profound and moving.

In lots of ways, it was an appropriate occasion. Earlier that day, my Dearly Beloved and I attended the wedding of our friends Bron and Fletch. It was a lovely service, elegant but uncomplicated, achieved with a real depth of emotion and occasion. And during the regular service that morning, my Dearly Beloved had cleverly used the classic Dr Seuss story, Horton Hatches an Egg, during the Children's Service to illustrate the themes of faith and commitment. So to finish off the day with an Agape Service felt like a more than germane bookend to the events of the day.

And it's always instructive what you can learn from others. One of the participants jokingly quipped that it was disappointing that we weren't reclining - a reminder of the fact that, during the early Christian period, such meals as the Agape would have been eaten while reclining, not sitting. And during a conversation with another participant, I learned that the Lindisfarne Community in northern England have also produced a Worship Book that contains lots of resources for community worship. I reckon the odds are pretty good my Dearly Beloved and I will be checking out - and making use of - this book in the near future!

Talk to you soon,

BB.

Quote for the Day: The greatest truths are the simplest; and so are the greatest men. (Julius & Augustus Hare)