http://www.dsoyouth.org/Resources/GTNGAgapeMealscript.doc descibes the agape meal/service this way: "It is structured much like the version we see in the Gospel of Luke, which itself is clearly a Jewish meal. This meal began with a blessing of the bread and a drink blessing, and then ended with the blessing of the common cup. In between these actions were the Jewish actions Jesus would have known so well: the proclamation of Holy Scripture, the teaching of an elder, shared conversation over a meal, and singing to God."

in addition to the aforementioned link, i ran across several detailed agape meal/services online:

• http://synodresourcecenter.org/wma/worship/occasional/other/0016/agape_feast.html
  
• http://amistad-vacaville.org/agape_meal.htm
  
• http://www.newchurchlife.com/index.php/holy-spirit-prayer/agape-meal-ideas/
  
• http://www.corrymeela.org/uploads/docs/A%20LITURGY%20FOR%20AN%20AGAPE%20MEAL.doc
  
• http://thebillabong.info/otm_lent/otm07_p19.html
  
• http://www.ccws.ca/serviceplans/papers/Agape%20Service.PDF
  

websites listed these as biblical references for agape meals:
Mark 14:22; I Corinthians 11:25; Acts 2:42, 46-47; I Corinthians 11:17-34; Acts 20:7 & 11; Matthew 26:30; Acts 2:47; Jude 1:12, 2nd Peter 2:13

why am i researching this? several church folks mentioned feeling that communion as it was being done at U.G. wasn't feeling special or communal enough (i was one of those people), and then someone else mentioned that communion was originally incorporated in an agape meal/service. so, i proposed a 5th sunday agape meal, which would have the emphasis on the communion aspect--not a purely social event (social, yes of course, just not purely so).

i think we have a lot of social stuff at U.G. already. what i find really missing at U.G. is a shared sacred event. yeah, we worship each sunday in the same room, but it doesn't seem like we really worship "together". i was hoping to try something to provide that missing piece. might work. might flop. but that was the goal.

now most of the examples for this type of service that i've found online are very liturgical in nature, and U.G. is completely non-liturgical. so, i thought maybe some pieces of these services could be revised from a priest/congregation exchange into a sort of group-participation thing.

imagine, if you will, each person attending the service receives a slip of paper with a portion of the service on it so that each person in attendance says a portion -- everyone is creating the service, everyone is leading, everyone is following. no hierachy.

our pastor asked that time for testimonials be included, which would be easy enough.

since the meal and worship are somewhat mixed together, there is some question as to what to do about the kiddies. several parents have spoken up quite adamantly about the need for childcare during the worship, with kids joining for the food. i still wonder if it might be good for this blue-moon event (5th sundays are only 4 times a year) for the kiddies to join us for a change.

jesus is quite clear about how special children are. it seems that we are to learn from them to be better christians, so why not include them now and then? it also seems that children could benefit from occasional exposure to worship, rather than been segregated from it until much older. but, i don't have kids myself, so i can't speak with any kind of authority on this and will therefore have to defer to the parents.

i must say, i'm a bit frustrated by the lack of feedback on this event. i've asked for input a couple of times and have only heard from a handful of people. and most i've heard from seem to want this event to be yet another social event, with worship separate. that's not really what i felt called to do, but i also don't feel called to upset people who seem to feel strongly that meal and worship don't mix.

so, once again, i'm putting these thoughts out there for input. maybe i've just heard from the minority opinion so far??

st. francis' hymns are my favorite of all traditional worship music. they are so joyful and so reverent of nature as god's sacred creation. they are so different from what i run into so often here in the bible-belt where people seem to view nature as base and devoid of god.

i was reminded again today during our worship service at The Underground Church in Asheville of just how uplifting st. francis' hymns are. we sang "All Creatures of Our God & King," which is a song that my former church home always sang on the Feast of The Good Shepherd. on that feast, people were encouraged to bring in their pets for blessing. using this hymn at this feast was especially cool because many of the dogs would join in with howls, which seemed appropo in light of the opening lyrics: "All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing".

here is the entire hymn...

====================

All Creatures Of Our God And King

All creatures of our God and King,
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam,
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou rushing wind that art so strong,
Ye clouds that sail in heaven along,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice,
Ye lights of evening, find a voice!
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou flowing water, pure and clear,
Make music for thy Lord to hear,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou fire so masterful and bright,
That givest man both warmth and light,
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship Him in humbleness,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One!
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

====================

when i looked up the lyrics above, i noticed a footnote that said that st. francis wrote more than 60 hymns in all!!

here are the lyrics to another famous st. francis hymn....

====================

Canticle Of The Sun

Refrain:
The heavens are telling the glory of God,
and all creation is shouting for joy.
Come dance in the forest,
come, play in the field,
and sing, sing to the glory of the Lord.

Praise for the sun, the bringer of day,
he carries the light of the Lord in his rays;
the moon and the stars who light up the way unto your throne.

(Refrain)

Praise for the wind that blows through the trees,
the seas mighty storms, the gentlest breeze;
they blow where they will, they blow where they please to please the Lord.

(Refrain)

Praise for the rain that waters our fields,
and blesses our crops so all the earth yields;
from death unto life her mystery revealed springs forth in joy.

(Refrain)

Praise for the fire who gives us his light,
the warmth of the sun to brighten our night;
he dances with joy, his spirit so bright, he sings of you.

(Refrain)

Praise for the earth who makes life to grow,
the creatures you made to let your life show;
the flowers and trees that help us to know the heart of love.

(Refrain)

Praise for our death that makes our life real,
the knowledge of loss that helps us to feel;
the gift of your self, you presence revealed to bring us home.

(Refrain)

====================

The Peace Prayer, as the name implies, was written as a prayer, not a hymn, but it has been set to music (not sure by whom), and is fairly well-known as both prayer and hymn...

====================

The Peace Prayer

Make me a channel of your peace:
where there is hatred let me bring your love,
where there is injury, your pardon, Lord,
and where there's doubt, true faith in you:

O Master grant that I may never seek
so much to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved, as to love with all my soul!
Make me a channel of your peace:
where there's despair in life let me bring hope,
where there is darkness, only light,
and where there's sadness, ever joy:
Make me a channel of your peace:
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
in giving of ourselves that we receive,
and in dying that we're born to eternal life.
Make me a channel of your peace:
where there is hatred let me bring your love,
where there is injury, your pardon, Lord,
and where there's doubt, true faith in you.

====================

but, these are just three st. francis hymns and the footnote said he'd written over 60. i tried to track down others through a web search without much success; so i wonder if that footnote was accurate.

even the franciscan archive website didn't seem to have a listing of other hymns.

it does seem from the introduction on a webpage about The Canticle Of The Sun that there were some of his writings that are known to have existed but that are lost to us.

anybody out there know of other st. francis hymns?

i did find an audio CD on amazon for "The Mass of St. Francis of Assissi 'Let Me Bring Love'". However, the composer listed for the songs is not st. francis; so i wonder if they are st. francis prayers that have been set to non-franciscan music or if they are just st. francis-inspired hymns. it's unclear from the product description.

regardless of whether he wrote 3 or 60+, the three i know of are wonderful!!!

other interesting st. francis factoids i ran across...
he is credited with first introducing christmas carols to the church service and with introducing the first nativity scene.

Well, as mentioned before, I've been a bit of a church tourist these last couple of years since leaving the Episcopal Church.

I left the Episcopal Church because my husband felt they were thwarting Biblical tenets of belief (primarily their ordaining a gay bishop in New Hampshire). Though, I myself had no problem with their ordination of a gay bishop, I have since developed my own problems with the actions of the Episcopal Church. The main reason I so liked them was their acceptance of differing beliefs. My impression of them during our years attending their churches locally was that they said, "This is what we believe. But we don't require you to agree with us. So long as you strive to walk with Christ, you are welcome." Since my own spiritual beliefs don't fit any major religion's norm, it was refreshing to find a church where I was allowed to be myself, even though I didn't conform to all of that church's dogma. Again, I didn't leave because of the gay thing. I didn't understand people leaving because of it either. When the church had begun ordaining women, who diocese were allowed to disagree and not allow female clergy in their own districts. So, I thought the same would hold true with the gay issue -- that those who disagreed would not be required to follow the mother church's ruling. But priests have been fired, parishioners have been ostracized, and whole congregations have found themselves in legal battles because they disagree with ordination of homosexuals. Yes, I think they're wrong, but I think they have a right to their opinion and a right to worship as they feel called. I cannot abide by the mother church trying to ram this down their throats and defiling their precedent of accepting differences. So, I didn't start out wanting to leave, but I'm glad I left.

Lately, we've been going to an Anglican Church (Anglican Province of America) that started up near our house. They hold to the 1929 Episcopal Prayer Book rather than the 1979 one currently in use in the Episcopal Church. Unfortunately, the 1929 Prayer Book is very dower. There's a line in the movie Dogma where one of the characters admonishes another saying something like, "You Catholics don't celebrate your faith, you mourn it." I find that statement to be all too true of the 1929 Prayer Book. I miss the 1979 P.B.'s celebratory tone. I miss feeling uplifted by mass rather than depressed by it. Otherwise, I like the church. The people are very nice. I get really good vibes from the priest ... I believe him to be honest and earnest in his beliefs. Because it's a start-up church and a small congregation, there is greater opportunity for input. It's also terribly convenient to home. But, I'm still restless. I'm still looking for the "right" church for me/us, if one exists.

To that end, I've scoured the local events calendars for other churches, meetings, and classes that I might like to try out. Some are just because I'm curious and have no real expectation of going there more than once.

So, here's my spiritual to-do list (copied from the mountainxpress.com website 03/27/08):

Beth Israel Synagogue
Located at 229 Murdock Ave. An egalitarian house of prayer, study and assembly in the Conservative Jewish tradition where all are welcome. Join us for Shabbat services, Minyans, high holidays and festival services and celebrations. Info: 252-8431 or www.bethisraelnc.org.
• THURSDAYS, 7:30am - Minyan (9:30am on public holidays). • 2nd & 4th FRIDAYS, 6pm - Services. • SATURDAYS, 9:30am - Services. • SUNDAYS, 5pm - Introduction to Judaism with Rabbi Robert Cabelli. For Jews and non-Jews alike. Call for details. • SUNDAYS, 9am - Minyan. • 1st FRIDAYS, 6pm - Family potluck and services.

Center for Creative Living
A Science of Mind, Religious Science, New Thought Center. Be recognized as the powerful, creative, spiritual being that you are. 2 Science of Mind Way. Info, events & directions: 253-2325 or www.cfcl.org.
• SUNDAYS, 9:30am & 11am - Two Celebrations. The second celebration is followed by a covered-dish luncheon the 1st Sunday of every month. • FR (4/4) & SU (4/6), 7pm - James Twyman’s new film, The Moses Code, featuring spiritual teachers and authors sharing their wisdom and insights about the true meaning of abundance, will be screened. Free.

City View Quakers
An emerging Quaker worship gathering
Evening Worship
We are attempting a genuine approach to worship that leaves no doubt that we are in the presence of God. It is not about clever preaching, great worship bands, or high drama. It is about people experiencing the presence of Jesus in our midst. The weekly worship service is celebratory and participatory and includes hymns, bible study, and silent prayer.
Saturday evening at 6:00; Tuesday evening at 7:00
City View meets in the home of Jimmy and Margaret Vestal at 39 Ottari Road. Though a small gathering for worship, all are welcome. Please check the time and place each week, as they are subject to change.
Personal Aside: You've really got to check out the 2nd article on their Worship Page ... it was so beautiful, it made me cry.

Coalition of Earth Religions Events
Info: 230-5069 or www.ceres-wnc.org. Volunteers needed to help with Earth Religions Awareness Month: Pagan October.
• 1st WEDNESDAYS, 6:30-9pm - Pagans Night Out. Meet at the Bier Garden in downtown Asheville.

Eckankar Center of WNC
The teachings of Eckankar emphasize the value of personal experience as the most natural way back to God, whatever your religious background. 797 Haywood St., lower level. Info: 254-6775 or www.eckankar-nc.org.
• SUNDAYS, 11am - Worship Services & interactive discussions, public always welcome.

El Circulo
Playful, deadly, spontaneous healing. A new, evolving martial art and conscious movement formally known as Pa Kua. Info: 280-7287.
• WEDNESDAYS, 5:30pm - Free classes at Montford Park.

Events at Mystic Journeys
333 Merrimon Ave. Info: 253-4272, www.mysticjourneysonline.com.
• MONDAYS, 7-9pm - Abraham Study Group. Info: 253-7472.

First Congregational Church
Located at 20 Oak St. in downtown Asheville. "An open and affirming congregation." Info: 252-8729 or www.uccasheville.org.
• SUNDAYS, 10:30am - Worship service with Rev. Joe Hoffman. Childcare provided.

A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle Study Group
The ongoing study group will explore this book by Tolle, which expounds on how transcending our ego-based state of consciousness is not only essential to personal happiness, but also key to ending conflict and suffering throughout the world. Tolle describes how to "awaken to one's life purpose." Love offering. Info: 681-5415.
• THURSDAYS, 10-11:30am - Study group meets.

Messianic Studies and Hebrew Classes
Studies for Christians and/or Jews. Hebraic roots with biblical and basic Hebrew language, Israeli dance. Free. Join the group for updates, contacts, calendars of feast days and other info: 582-4430 or trooper753@yahoo.com. To subscribe: search under ashevillemessianics on yahoogroups.com.
• FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS - Messianic studies and Hebrew classes.

Oasis Center for Conscious Living
An intentional community in Asheville devoted to supporting individuals on the path of spiritual awakening, the evolution of our collective consciousness and the transformation of our planet. Located at 185 Pearson Dr. Info: 255-4634.
• WEDNESDAYS, 7pm - Eckhart Tolle DVD. • MONDAYS through FRIDAYS - 9am - Eckhart Tolle CD. • MONDAYS, 1pm - ACIM workbook group --- 7pm - Essential ACIM class.

Ray of Hope Nondenominational Church
Located at 441 N. Louisiana Ave., Suites K & L. Info: 252-PRAY.
• WEDNESDAYS, 7pm - Training for Christian Service. • SUNDAYS, 10am - Training for Christian Service --- 11am - Worship with Pastor Inez D. Ray.

Sufi Healing Circle
Traditional Sufi chanting circle to heal ourselves, the community and the world. Taste the love deep in your heart. Info: 258-5300.
• SUNDAYS, 6-7pm - The Sufi healing circle gathers. Call for location info.

The Underground Church
Merging with God, culture and others. We were sick of church but still loved God, so we decided to start meeting together. If that resonates, come and join the group on Sundays. Info: www.ug-3.com or 318-6940.
• SUNDAYS, 10am - Meeting at the downtown YMCA.

Unity Cafe
Looking for a change from the usual Sunday service? Spiritual conversation and sharing, music, meditation, coffee and pastry. Info: 254-8488 or www.SacredNature.com/unitycafe.html.
• 1st, 3rd & 5th SUNDAYS, 10-Noon - Weekly service at Greenlife Grocery Community Center, 90 Merrimon Ave.

Unity Church of Asheville
Looking for something different? Unity of Asheville explores the deeper spiritual meaning of the scriptures combined with an upbeat contemporary music program to create a joyous and sincere worship service. Come join us this Sunday and try it for yourself. Located at 130 Shelburne Rd., W. Asheville. Info: 252-5010 or www.unityofasheville.org.
Available for meetings, workshops, etc. Call 926-3688. • SUNDAYS, 11am - Spiritual Celebration Service --- 12:15pm - A Course In Miracles ongoing classes with Rev. Gene Conner and Laurel Elstrom. • TUESDAYS, 2-4pm - Edgar Cayce Search for God Study Group. Info: 650-6479.

Asheville Chaos Magick Clique
An informal group that discusses and practices modern magick/sorcery. Our concepts of Chaos Magick are based on the writings of Austin Osman Spare, Peter Carroll, Phil Hine, Robert Anton Wilson and others. For meeting times and location: 777-9368 or Dbraxton9@yahoo.com

Soteria Ministries
"Soteria" is a Greek word that means "health, deliverance and salvation." Soteria Ministries is a Christian Empowerment Center that offers prophetic ministry & classes, weekly contemporary power worship and healing through balanced healthful living. Info: 350-7744 or www.soteriaministries.org.

The Sons of the Law of One Podcast
Unveiling creation. Monthly audio podcast of material on the nature of the universe. A multitude of sources are telling us the same wonderful information. This planet is the focus of the Universe for this transition. All things concerning The Law of One. Love and Light. Info: www.thesonsofthelawofone.com.

Church...
I have been an on-again, off-again church-goer since maybe 1999. From 1985-1999 I avoided church and only went maybe twice. From 1976-1984, I went to Catholic school and went to mass about twice a week.

I remember the love I had for religion as a young child. I remember wanting to be a nun when I grew up so that I could dedicate my life to this thing that I loved. I remember having the thing that I loved shattered by experiencing the hypocrisy and selfishness within the church.

I spent several years abhorring organized religion, especially Christianity for it was within that context that I was hurt, and avoided church like the plague. But through all of this, I still longed for a connection with the divine and was still searching for a faith that would provide or support that connection.

I spent several years following a pagan path. It was largely fulfilling. I found truth there, but I also found many of the same problems there -- hypocrisy, selfishness, prejudice … the usual humanly fallible smattering of faults. Silly me, I was expecting to find something, anything done by humans that didn’t have the usual battery of human shortcomings? Duh on me!

Strangely, it was my experience in the pagan community -- please understand that I am NOT faulting them, just saying that they’re just as flawed as everyone else, myself included -- that allowed me to revisit Christianity with more tolerance. I found that I had “thrown the baby out with the bathwater.” Christianity also had truth and I had wrongly condemned the whole of it for the faults that EVERY human system has.

So, I began going back to church periodically. The pagan community likes to claim many of the traditions of liturgical branches of Christianity as having originated with pagans and stolen by the usurping Christianity. I’m sure, to a certain extent, that’s probably true. But I suspect that many early converts preserved traditions because they saw these older traditions as being in harmony with the new faith, not that they were sneaking in heretical practice but that they were holding onto the common thread and did so openly in many cases because these weren’t viewed as “pagan” vs. “Christian”, they were viewed as universal.

For example, did the Romans “steal” the goddess Persephone from the Greeks when they renamed her “Demeter”? Were they sneaking Greek ideas about the gods into their own faith and hiding it under a new name? Or, were they recognizing something that they both had in common and simply using a different name, a name in their own language for the same thing? Are God and Allah two gods or is God simply the English word and Allah simply the Arabic word for the same being? Do the pre-Christian pagans “own” their practices? If a later faith holds onto pagan practices that seem to work just fine in the context of the new faith, does that automatically make it surreptitious?

As you can tell from my tone, I would say that the door swings both ways and that much ritual and symbolism is universal and thereby shared and not owned by one faith more than another. In returning to Christian church (mostly Episcopal and Catholic), I was able to more fully appreciate the service with all of its symbolism and intent. I teared up many times because it was so good to rediscover the thing I had loved and thought I lost as a child.

Over the last two years, I have been infrequent in my church attendance. My husband is a much more conservative Christian than me. He does believe that the Bible is THE TRUTH, whether it be metaphorical or literal depends on the portion, but THE TRUTH nonetheless. As such, he didn’t want to attend Episcopal services after they ordained a gay bishop, since he feels the Bible is quite clear that homosexuality is a sin. He doesn’t feel it’s a big sin and he has gay friends, but he feels the church leaders should be examples and as free of sin as possible or at least striving not to sin, and practicing homosexuals, in his book, are not striving not to sin by continuing to pursue homosexual lifestyles.

Much as I feel it’s OK for me to eat pork, even though the Old Testament says it’s an abomination to do so, I also feel it’s OK to be gay. I see both as prohibitions against things that were unhealthy for the people of yesteryear but are no longer unhealthy when proper caution is shown. People who did not have refrigeration were better off not eating meat that was likely to sicken or kill them. People who lived in a society that did not allow for marriage-like homosexual relationships, where homosexuality often involved rape or pedophilia, and where the lack of antibiotics made sexually transmitted disease a sure death sentence, were probably better off avoiding homosexual relationships. Further, as I explained in part 2 of this exercise yesterday, I suspect that the authors’ human prejudices were also a factor in these condemnations of homosexuality.

Back to the subject, my husband and I have had a difficult time agreeing on a new church. I don’t want to go to a church that condemns any group of people for an accident of their birth … whether they were born female, black, or gay. I see prejudices in many churches against women and gays, even just the prejudice that says that you’re not allowed to be a church leader if you were born a woman or a homosexual to be in contradiction to the love that Jesus exemplified. Using the litmus test, I ask myself is there anything about a woman or homosexual priest or bishop, in a position of church authority, that violates the greatest commandment, to love God, or the one that is like unto it, to love one’s neighbor as oneself? I can only answer no. My husband says that the writings of the apostle Paul against homosexuality and against women being in positions of authority over men is an explanation of one of the many ways HOW one should go about obeying the greatest commandment(s). We don’t agree and it has given us a seemingly impossible hurdle in finding a church that satisfies us both.

Yes, we could go separately to separate churches, but that seems wrong to me. Religion should be something that brings people, especially a husband and wife, together. I have acquiesced somewhat in that I’ve told him that I’d be willing to go to church someplace that believes what he does but that allows its members to disagree … i.e. isn’t constantly trying to wear me down, change my mind, or berate me and say I’m wrong. Just someplace that agrees to disagree and is happy to have me there anyway. I welcome suggestions as to what denomination might satisfy both of us!!!

My husband and I both feel very strongly that it is important to worship with others as part of our faith. "Wherever two or more of you are gathered in my name, there I am." Beyond the Biblical foundation, I just FEEL that I NEED the connection with others to fully experience The Creator. I also feel a need to help people in need and I feel that church outreach is a way of doing this that is comfortable to me. I need to be part of =group= outreach, I'm too shy to do it on my own. I also like the feeling of extended family one gets by being a member of a church over time.

I pray that we will find the right church or the right-enough church soon. I miss it!