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It would be fitting for such a service to be held out of doors, in honour of the Camp Meetings, which were the birthplace of Primitive Methodism. Tips for planning such a service and notes about the tradition of ‘Love Feasts’ are offered below.
Hymns recommended within this service were all included in the ‘Primitive Methodist Hymnal of 1886’. Their more modern settings can be found in Hymns & Psalms. You may prefer, in the tradition of Primitive Methodism, to choose contemporary hymns and songs.
SERVICE OF PRAISE AND PRAYER, INCLUDING A LOVE FEAST
CALL TO PRAYER
God declares:
I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
HYMN
H&P 1 All people that on earth do dwell
H&P 327 Spirit divine, attend our prayers
H&P 29 Thou whose almighty word
PRAYERS OF PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING
Invite people to offer prayers of praise and thanksgiving or use the following responsive prayer:
We offer you our praise, Creator God;
Your Spirit moved across the waters, bringing light and life, love and laughter.
On this day of celebration:
Help us to know your creative Spirit.
We offer you our praise, Redeemer God;
Your Word became flesh and dwelt among us, bringing good news of new life.
On this day of celebration:
Help us to hear your saving Word.
We offer you our praise, Sustainer God;
Your Spirit came as dove and flame, bringing peace, passion and new voices to your followers.
On this day of celebration:
Help us to trust your guiding Spirit.
Holy God, Three in One,
Thank you for the Primitive Methodist Church and its faithful people
who served their neighbours, witnessed to your love and grew in discipleship.
Thank you for the open air meetings of praise,
where so many people heard your message of love and offered their lives to your service.
Thank you for those things precious to Primitive Methodism that still shape our church today.
A commitment to the ministry of the whole people of God;
A passion for service to those in need;
A desire for a sincere discernment of God’s will in the life of individuals,
the church and the world.
May we learn from those who witnessed before us, how to live as God’s people today.
In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
LOVE FEAST
HYMN OR SONG
H&P 286 Gracious Spirit, dwell with me
H&P 528 Jesus, lover of my soul
H&P 702 O happy day that fixed my choice
H&P 705 Take my life
PRAYER
A brief table prayer, eg:
Be present at our table, Lord;
Be here and everywhere adored;
Thy creatures bless, and grant that we
May feast in paradise with thee. (John Cennick)
Father of earth and heaven,
Your hungry children feed,
Your grace be to our spirits given,
That true immortal bread.
Grant all the human race
In Jesus Christ to prove
The Sweetness of your pardoning grace,
The manna of your love. (Charles Wesley, altered)
NEW TESTAMENT READING
Acts 2.1-21 2 Corinthians 9:6-15
John 20: 19-23 1 Corinthians 12:3b -13
John 7:37-39 Romans 8:22-27
Matthew 22:34-40 1 John 4:7-21
WITNESS TO THE SCRIPTURE
Those present are invited to a brief personal reflection about the meaning of the Scripture just read.
Hymn
(text as in the Primitive Methodist Hymnal 1886)
Come and let us sweetly join
Christ to praise in hymns divine;
Give we all, with one accord.
Glory to our common Lord.
Hands and hearts and voices raise;
Sing as in the ancient days;
Antedate the joys above,
Celebrate the feast of love.
Strive we, in affection strive;
Let the purer flame revive,
Such as in the martyrs glowed,
Dying champions for their God:
We, like them, may live and love;
Called we are their joys to prove;
Saved with them from future wrath,
Partners of like precious faith.
Sing we then in Jesus’ name,
Now as yesterday the same;
One in every time and place,
Full for all of truth and grace:
We for Christ, our Master, stand,
Lights in a benighted land:
We our dying Lord confess:
We are Jesus’ witnesses.
Witnesses that Christ hath died,
We with him are crucified;
Christ has burst the bands of death,
We his quickening Spirit breathe;
Christ is now gone up on high,
Thither all our wishes fly;
Sits at God’s right hand above:
There with Him we reign in love. (Charles Wesley)
PASSING OF THE FOOD
Each person takes a piece of bread or cake, and, when each has received, all eat together.
COLLECTION FOR THE POOR
An important part of the Love Feast or Agape was the way it connected the love and fellowship of those taking part with the practical needs of the wider community.
PASSING OF THE CUP
Each person drinks from the same cup of water (or individual cups, if preferred). If possible try and find a ‘loving cup’ for this part of the service.
HYMN
A hymn written with this service in mind (Common Metre):
We gather in this sacred space,
made holy by God’s love;
And ask again the Spirit’s grace
that faithful we shall prove.
We offer praise and humble thanks,
for all who’ve gone before;
for simple saints beside whose ranks
our voices now adore.
We seek to serve the present age,
to witness to God’s Word,
to share the feast with child and sage
that love’s true voice be heard.
As we receive these precious gifts,
signs of God’s love and ours;
may grace again repair all rifts,
and break down hatred’s towers.
Now may the blessings we receive,
be taken from this place,
that those we meet know we believe
in God’s redeeming grace. (Michaela Youngson)
TESTIMONIES, PRAYER, SINGING
Those present are invited to share their experience of God’s love in their own lives. Some may want to suggest songs or offer prayers as part of this time of open fellowship.
HYMN OR SONG
H&P 267 Love Divine
H&P 216 And can it be
H&P 785 A charge to keep I have
H&P 745 O thou who camest from above
BLESSING
A short blessing, e.g.
The Spirit of truth lead us into all truth,
Give us grace to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
And to proclaim the word and works of God:
And the blessing of God,
Spirit, Son and Father, remain with us always. Amen.
We go into the world in the power of the Spirit
to fulfil our high calling as servants of Christ.
Thanks be to God. Amen. (MWB pg184)
Background Notes To The Service of Celebration for the Bicentenary of Primitive Methodism. Pentecost 2007.
PENTECOST 2007 is a splendid opportunity to celebrate the Bicentenary of the first Methodist camp meeting. This open-air meeting of prayer, praise and testimony heralded the birth of Primitive Methodism.
Hugh Bourne and William Clowes organised the first meeting on 31st May 1807. Since 1801 Bourne had been holding prayer meetings at Pointon’s Farm, Mow Cop, little knowing how popular these meetings wo uld become. The farmhouse was soon too small to accommodate all those who wanted to attend, this led to the idea of a full day of open air prayer on Mow Cop. Many people came to that meeting, so many in fact that pulpits had to be built from piles of rocks! The first meeting lasted for 14 hours and was a great success. Three months later a second was held, beginning at 4pm and continuing through the night.
Many Methodists tried unsuccessfully to have these open air meetings banned. Following John Wesley’s death in 1791 Methodism had begun to settle into a more traditional model of church life and, in the view of Primitive Methodists, moved away from the early teachings and principles of their founder. Wesley himself used the phrase ‘primitive Methodism’, looking back to the simplicity and pioneering nature of the early days of the Methodist movement.
Formally established in 1811, the Primitive Methodists became a force for good, not only for their key role within the evangelical revival of the 19th Century, but also because of their work with the very poor and role in establishing trade unionism. ‘Prims’ had a strong commitment to encouraging the fullest participation of lay people and were suspicious of ‘clericalism’. Lay preaching was central to the life of the Primitive Methodists. Women were active in preaching and in evangelism from the earliest of days. The testimony of church members was an important feature of the worship of Primitive Methodism. Personal discipleship was developed through small groups and expected to influence an individual’s moral decisions and use of time and money.
The Primitive Methodist Church joined together with the United Methodists and Wesleyan Methodist Church at Methodist Union in 1932.
Find out more
Visit Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum, Englesea Brook, Crewe, Cheshire, CW2 5QW 01270 820836
www.engleseabrook-museum.org.uk
Visit
www.mowcop.com
www.rewlach.org.uk/primitive.html
www.methodist.org.uk
Read
A Little Primitive Kenneth Lysons (ISBN 1 899147 30 6)
Primitive Methodism Geoffrey Milburn (ISBN 0 7162 05548)
CELEBRATE 200 years since the first Methodist Camp Meeting. Here are some ideas and tips to help you plan an open-air praise service on Pentecost Sunday 2007.
- Venue
Choose a public place, such as a park or market place. If you’re in a seaside town, why not use the prom? You will need to think about permission from the local authority and check for any regulations that restrict the volume of p.a. equipment.
- Practicalities
Do you need a platform for speakers and musicians? What electrical supply is available for p.a. and other equipment. Are there toilets nearby and what options are there for people to get food? Will you plan an alternative venue if the weather is poor?
- Music
The hymns suggested for the Celebration Service are early Methodist hymns, most were included in the Primitive Methodist Hymnal of 1886. You might like to consider also using modern music, honouring the spirit of the camp meetings where people sang contemporary songs with gusto.
A brass band or local Salvation Army band would be a wonderful resource to lift the music at your event and to make the sound carry a long way!
- Ecumenical
Pentecost is a great opportunity to share ecumenically in our celebrations. Plan your event together with other church groups and advertise widely in well in advance.
- Media
Send press releases to local papers, radio and t.v. stations - spread the good news!
- Overnight Vigil
Why not take a leaf from the book of those early Methodists and hold an overnight vigil of prayer, singing and sharing testimony?
Special Events
26 May 2007 7.30pm Celebration of Methodist Praise. The Queens Hall, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent with the British Methodist Youth Orchestra and the British Methodist Youth Choir.
27 May 2007 2.30 Open Air Celebration at Mow Cop with the President & Vice President of the Methodist Conference and the North Shropshire Methodist Youth Choir.
Singing our Faith
In his book, Primitive Methodism, Geoffrey Milburn offers the following modern hymn as one that expresses ‘the authentic spirit and character of Primitive Methodism which in changed circumstances still lives on today.’
The Church of Christ, in every age
Beset by change but Spirit-led,
Must claim and test its heritage
And keep on rising from the dead.
Across the world, across the street,
The victims of injustice cry
For shelter and for bread to eat,
And never live until they die.
Then let the servant Church arise,
A caring Church that longs to be
A partner in Christ’s sacrifice,
And clothed in Christ’s humanity.
For he alone, whose blood was shed,
Can cure the fever in our blood,
And teach us how to share our bread
And feed the starving multitude.
We have no mission but to serve
In full obedience to our Lord:
To care for all, without reserve,
And spread his liberating Word. (F. Pratt Green H&P 84)
A hymn written with this service in mind (Common Metre):
We gather in this sacred space,
made holy by God’s love;
And ask again the Spirit’s grace
that faithful we shall prove.
We offer praise and humble thanks,
for all who’ve gone before;
for simple saints beside whose ranks
our voices now adore.
We seek to serve the present age,
to witness to God’s Word,
to share the feast with child and sage
that love’s true voice be heard.
As we receive these precious gifts,
signs of God’s love and ours;
may grace again repair all rifts,
and break down hatred’s towers.
Now may the blessings we receive,
be taken from this place,
that those we meet know we believe
in God’s redeeming grace. (Michaela Youngson)
A contemporary hymn for Pentecost is ‘Making the Colours Sing’,
first published by Inspire in 2005. Tune: Repton (86886 & Repeat)
When deep despair casts out all light
and hope is wearing thin;
come, Spirit, dance with gentle grace,
shine through the dullness we embrace
and make the colours sing
and make the colours sing.
When greed dictates that children die
and poverty holds sway
come, Spirit, burn as living flame,
prompt us to act to end this shame;
cast apathy away
cast apathy away.
When colour, creed, lifestyle of name
cause groundless hate and fear;
come, Spirit, weave a web of peace,
that prejudice and violence cease;
reveal God’s purpose here
reveal God’s purpose here.
When guilt and fear tear us apart
and faith’s a bitter thing;
come, Spirit, dance with gentle grace,
shine through the dullness we embrace
and make God’s colours sing
and make God’s colours sing.
(Michaela Youngson, published in Making the Colours Sing, Inspire/mph 2005)
Notes on the Love Feast
From: Wesley Center Online, Northwest Nazarene University (http://wesley.nnu.edu/index.htm) William Parkes Extract from: WATCHNIGHT, COVENANT SERVICE, AND THE LOVE-FEAST IN EARLY BRITISH METHODISM
The popularity of the Love-feast was enhanced by the absence of the Lord's Supper, except in the larger Societies where the few ordained associates of the Wesleys were able to make a modicum of provision. This led to monthly celebrations in many places, but the more usual and later settled practice was to hold them quarterly. John Wesley's own vivid description in his Plain Account of the People Called Methodists is strong on background but frail on detail:
In order to increase. . .a grateful sense of all his mercies, I desired that, one evening in a quarter, all the men in band, on a second, all the women, would meet; and on a third, both men and women together; that we might together "eat bread" as the ancient Christians did, "with gladness and singleness of heart." At these love-feasts (so we termed them, retaining the name, as well as the thing, which was in use from the beginning) our food is only a little plain cake and water. But we seldom return from them without being fed, not only with the "meat which perisheth," but with "that which endureth to eternal life."
The food was no more than symbolic, a small portion of cake or bread. Cake was preferred so that there could be no confusion with the elements in the Eucharist. Water, or occasionally tea, was the chosen drink. Wine was never used for the same reason as bread, but there are accounts of it being introduced in some places by non-Wesleyans in the following century…. Large and often individually produced loving cups, with texts, figures, or the name of the Society on them, were passed from hand to hand rather than personally handled by the presiding preacher. The imagery of a common servanthood was thus allied to that of a common meal. Vital as this time of sharing was, most participants would consider it peripheral to the heart of the feast. By far the greater part of any Methodist celebration was occupied with open praise, singing, testimony, prayer, preaching, and calls for deeper discipleship. Brief reports on the Lord's work in other places might be given by visitors from other Societies. No set form was demanded and it was never circumscribed by the boundaries of liturgy. At the same time, it possessed all the necessary elements of a dynamic liturgy for it was truly "lay-work."
The hymnody associated with the feasts was carefully selected. Charles Wesley's Love-feast, first published in the 1740 edition of Hymns and Sacred Poems, has invariably been sung in some version to the present time. In the original form it had four distinct parts, each with four eight-line verses and a further part containing six. Countless thousands in the first eighty years of British Methodism would know the thrill of waiting for the opening of a Love-feast, always marked by the lining out of:
Come and let us sweetly join
Christ to praise in hymns divine;
Give we all, with one accord.
Glory to our common Lord.
Hands and hearts and voices raise;
Sing as in the ancient days;
Antedate the joys above,
Celebrate the feast of love.
Primitive Methodism and the Lovefeast (Stephen Hatcher)
The popularity of the love feast was due to the fact that it combined emotional, spiritual and social need with an interpretation of scripture.
First of all the love feast was identified with the “agape” or “breaking of bread” in the early church, and was therefore part of the earliest apostolic tradition (Acts 2:42, 46).
Secondly particular passages of scripture such as the parable of the great feast spoke most powerfully (Luke 14:15-24). In the early nineteenth century many ordinary working people had lost three things:
They had lost the little land that they had once owned because of the enclosure of common land. Their status had been reduced to that of hired hands.
They had lost their jobs in old industries where skill and independence flourished, to become cogs in the factory machine.
They had lost their families because they had moved to new work in new areas.
All of these took away human dignity. However the love feast proclaimed it! “The poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind” were present at the feast. The search had been made of the “highways and hedges”. These people were feasting in the kingdom of God, while the rich and the powerful because of their own self-interest and folly, were omitted from the celebration.
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