Comments on: A ritual to widen, deepen UU identity: Love feasts

By: K Farrell

K Farrell — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:56:07 +0000

When I read your reminiscent account of your fraternity love feasts, I was immediately back in the day of my own Christian women’s service sorority gatherings. It may mean little to you–or maybe not–but to me I speak volumes to myself when I realize I wish I’d been able to be in your fraternity instead of my sorority. I perceived (or maybe built myself) a big wall between myself and my sisters, but you guys always seemed to be so close and having so much fun.

By: kim

kim — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 05:24:32 +0000

While the ceremonial aspects are great, I’m sorry but bread dipped in water sounds yukky.

By: 4alarm

4alarm — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 05:51:20 +0000

while i love the idea of giving money to charity, i’ve always sort of wanted WW to be like this. there really is no bread for the sake of breaking bread together.

folks do love the flower communion…

By: h sofia

h sofia — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:06:03 +0000

I’ve attended one of these – at an Opus gathering in Taos, New Mexico. It was organized by a member of the young adult community named Persephone Azadeh. Although I am not into having other people feed me, it was an incredible experience – really wonderful. It was pretty hygenic, beautiful layout, and absolutely nothing close to a food fight happened (thank goodness!).

By: Chalicechick

Chalicechick — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:03:02 +0000

Yeah, the food fight concern was what I was going to bring up. Actually, using just bread and water probably cuts down on that a lot.

By: Steve Caldwell

Steve Caldwell — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:56:20 +0000

Love feasts are also a YRUU tradition. It's an activity listed in the "Deep Fun" resource of community-building games. There are a few cautions before doing a love feast: "Love Feasts have the potential for both great positive and negative outcomes. Taking part in Love Feasts can be a very intimate act, and participants may feel uncomfortable or unsafe feeding others or being fed. Adult advisors, for example, set boundaries between themselves and youth to ensure a safe community. There may also be survivors of sexual violence and other traumas in our communities, and it is important for them and all participants to feel safe and comfortable. An important and valuable option for Love Feasts that has worked in the past is to have participants feed themselves. This is accountable to people who may not feel comfortable feeding or being fed by another person. Make sure you talk to advisors ahead of time and check their comfort levels with feeding or being fed by youth." These cautions are not just youth-only concerns. We have adult members who have survived sexual abuse and other traumas as well. The Deep Fun resource has a slightly different description for this commmunity-building activity: "Parameters: 15 to 60 people and a room or space that it is OK to mess up, and that can be closed off to the group while you prepare. Materials: Honey, cheese and chocolate fondue; fruit, bread, vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces, any other appropriate foods you can think of, candles, a boom box, and a table. Set the food up on the table, light the candles, put on some soft, mellow music. Make sure the room has a soothing ambiance. Gather the group outside the room, or in a space away from the table. Explain the guidelines for a Love Feast: Remain silent; respect anotherâ€s right to refuse an offered piece of food by holding a hand over their mouth. Lead them into the space and set them loose (Note: Love Feasts often result in food-fights. You can dissuade this from happening by making a covenant with the group before-hand, or let it happen if there is a source of water nearby)"