Worship in the Early Church
If
we look at two early accounts of the Church at worship
we can begin to get a feel for the foundations of our
own denominational style.
Pliny
was governor of the Roman province of Bithynia, and
in the year 112 AD wrote to the Emperor asking for advice
on what to do about troublesome Christians.
It
was the practice of these Christians '…to sing antiphonally
a song to Christ as a god, and to bind themselves on
oath… to commit no theft, murder, adultery, not to break
their word, not to deny possession of something entrusted
to them… to disperse and then reassemble to share a
common meal together…'
From
this we may deduce that the early Christian Church used
song and the Ten Commandments within their times of
worship together. From approximately forty years later
comes an account from the Christian Justin Martyr. He
describes the format of an early gathering of Christians.
There
are readings from the Word, followed by a sermon. The
people would then stand for prayer, after which would
be the sharing of the kiss of peace. Bread and wine
were shared, and prayers said by the president. Justin
uses the term 'Eucharist' (meaning 'thanksgiving') to
describe the sharing of sacrament and prayer.
There
are some lovely prayers that have survived from the
fledgling Church. In the Didache (a first or second
century Christian treatise on Church practice) comes
this prayer. 'Just as the bread broken was scattered
on the hills, then was gathered and became one, so let
your Church be gathered from all the ends of the earth
into your kingdom, for yours is the glory and power
through all ages.'
As
we pass into the third century and beyond we find descriptions
for various acts of worship. Hippolytus gives us a liturgy
for the Eucharist to be used during the consecration
of a bishop, which is similar in style to our modern
forms of liturgy, with familiar responses such as 'The
Lord be with you', 'And with your Spirit'.
Although
Justin Martyr's description of a Christian gathering
contains echoes of our more familiar 'service of word
and sacrament' there is very little known about the
'service of the word' (sometimes known as the synaxis)
in New Testament times. Later evidence suggests influence
from the synagogues, in the form of readings and prayers.
In
Colossians 3:16 we read that the Church was encouraged
to '..sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs' and in
Corinthians we have descriptions of the gifts used within
the Church - prophesy, ecstatic utterance, interpretation,
revelations and teaching.
For the apostle Paul, the most important consideration
seems to have been that Christians '..present your bodies
as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which
is your spiritual worship.'
From
the evidence of Scripture and the early centuries of
the Christian Church the sharing of bread and wine (the
Eucharist) seems to have been at the heart of Christian
worship.
This
sacred element together with the reading of the Word,
songs, sermon and prayer seem to have been the foundation
upon which most of our modern styles of worship have
built.
One
commentator has stated that all worship should be 'eucharistic'
in that it should centre on the cross of Christ, have
at its heart thanksgiving, allow for all to participate
and have a sense of sacred drama as truth is proclaimed
through actions.
See also:
Introduction to prayer
The components of prayer
Prayer in the early Church
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