Join us, Christmas Eve, for a 5:00 pm Candlelight Worship Service with Milk and Cookies, our Moravian Lovefeast. Modeled after the Moravian Lovefeast (see more info below), our Christmas Eve Lovefeast is a special service when we share a simple meal together. Throughout the lovefeast, Christmas carols are played and sung. During the distribution of the lovefeast, the servers bring in trays of heart-shaped cookies wrapped in napkins and pass them down the pews. When they are finished, they come back in with small cups of chocolate milk. During the sharing of the lovefeast, you may offer words or gestures of Christ’s peace and love to one another as a sign of our unity in this household of ministry.

Lovefeasts originated in the first gathering of Christians after Pentecost. As the early Christians met and broke bread together in token of their fellowship and love, so the members of the Moravian Church family have made it their custom to celebrate special occasions by sharing with friends a simple meal, a “lovefeast.” The name of the service is a literal translation of the New Testament word “agape.” A lovefeast seeks to remove social barriers and strengthen the spirit of unity and goodwill among all people.

The early believers met and broke bread together, thereby signifying their union and equality. These meals of the church family were associated with the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, which followed them but are not to be confused with the Lord’s Supper. They were called agape, from the Greek word for love, that is for the highest type of spiritual love. Gradually the agape lost its devotional character, and toward the end of the fourth century, the Church gave it up.

The lovefeast of Apostolic times was resuscitated in its original simplicity by the Moravian Church in 1727. After the memorable celebration of the holy communion on August 13, seven groups of participants continued to talk about the great spiritual blessing which they had experienced and were reluctant to separate and return to their own homes for the noonday meal. Count Zinzendorf, sensing the situation, sent them food from his manor house, and each group partook together, continuing in prayer, religious conversation, and the singing of hymns. This incident reminded Zinzendorf of the primitive agape, and the idea was fostered until lovefeasts became a custom in Moravian life.

The Christmas Eve Lovefeast was brought to First Presbyterian Church of Fond du Lac around 25 years ago by Rev. Barbara Carmichael and continues to be a practice shared in a spirit of reverence and joy, reminding us that Christ is present in our lives, especially in those moments when we break bread and share a meal together.

This information was adapted from the following websites:

https://www.moravian.org/2018/11/the-lovefeast