They'll know you by your love

Hydrangea in full splendor

Gonzalez reminds us that while we don't have church bulletins from second and third century church services, there is still enough information to get a good picture of early Christian worship.

It is clear that while we have learned about a few early scholars like Irenaeus, most early Christians were regular working folks who were not part of the power structures. Interesting too, is the tone of early worship services and that every week communion was served.  They must not have had to be done in under an hour! 

Gonzalez:  ‘Those early communion services did not focus their attention on Good Friday, but rather on Easter.  A new reality had dawned and Christians gathered to celebrate that dawning and to become participants in it.’

It is also interesting to note that the primary event around the early worship service was communion and not a sermon.  Preaching did not take hold until much later.  So what was a typical worship service like?

Gonzalez:  ‘The most remarkable characteristic of those early communion services was that they were celebrations.  The tone was one of joy and gratitude, rather than sorrow and repentance.’

The services would likely been hosted in somebody’s house.  They consisted generally of scripture readings, prayers and communion.  Folks didn’t have bibles back then, so a communal copy of the gospel letters or epistles would have been read to the congregation.  Participants would have passed each other a kiss of peace and then shared in the communion meal which would have consisted of what participants were able to bring.  The communion would have been bookended by prayers of thanksgiving.

Gonzalez notes that only those who had been baptized were allowed as full participants in the services.  We can see here also a place of division among Christians.  The Methodist church which I attend hosts open communion.  Many other traditions, especially Catholics are rigid in their service of the Lord’s Supper.

The Christian calendar has been another area of tense debate within the church.  Early on, we have noted that Christians treated each Sunday as Easter.  Friday was a day of penance and sorrow.  As to the actual date the resurrection was to be remembered, this too has often caused division in our history.  Another date causing division was Christmas.  Early on Christians celebrated Jesus’ birth on January 6^th.  Later, the western church changed this to December 25^th.

It is also interesting to note, the significance that early Christians placed on being ready to be baptized.  Participants in baptism had a long road to travel.

Gonzalez:  ‘…As the church became increasingly Gentile, it was necessary to require a period of preparation, trial and instruction prior to baptism.  This was the ‘catechumenate,’ which, by the beginning of the third century, lasted three years.  During this time, catechumens received instruction on Christian doctrine, and were to give signs in their daily lives of the depth of their conviction.’

I’m glad our church offers open communion but at the same time, I wonder if we are not too lenient in that some may infer that just showing up to church once in awhile is good enough.  What if the pastoral staff inspected our daily lives to determine our conviction?  Would we prove good enough?

"You don't think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking." — Henri J.M. Nouwen

It was also during the second and third century that the structure and organization of the church started to take hold.    The main leadership positions were bishop, elder and deacon.  While we know from the New Testament that women were indeed leaders in some congregations, during the late second century the leadership of the church came to be dominated by men.

Gonzalez: ‘What actually seems to have taken place is that during the second century, in its efforts to combat heresy, the church centralized its authority, and a by-product of that process was that women were excluded from positions of leadership.

Still women played an important part in church life.  Widows were looked after by the church.   Many of these widows made vows to dedicate themselves fully to the care of the church and congregation as a result. 

Gonzalez:  ‘Eventually, this would give rise to feminine monasticism, which developed earlier than its masculine counterpart.’

Finally during the second and third centuries, there does not appear to have been a formal system for converting others to Christianity like the missionaries our churches support today. 

Gonzalez:  ‘…the fact remains that most converts were made by anonymous Christians who witness led others to their faith.’

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35)

Source:  Justo L. Gonzalez from ‘The Story of Christianity, Volume 1, the Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation’