How did the Early Christians Worship? - Part 1

Today I wanted to ask some questions about Christian worship:  How did the early Christians worship?  Specifically, on what day did they gather?  What did they do when they gathered?  Those are the questions I want to explore today.

When Do We Meet?

Regarding the day of the week on which Christian gathered, there is a little bit of evidence in the text of the Bible.  Luke records that the Christians gathered together on the first day of the week to, also known as Sunday or “the Lord’s Day”, to “break bread”:

“On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart the next day; and he prolonged his speech until midnight.” – Acts 20:7

Similarly, Paul makes reference to gathering together on Sunday as well. 

“On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside to store it up, as he may be able, so that contributions need not be made when I come.” – 1 Corinthians 16:2

What Do We Do?

But what did they do when they gathered?  The phrase “breaking bread” quoted above offers us some insight.  But the real description comes in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians:

“For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way he took the cup also, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’  

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves.”  – 1 Corinthians 11:23-29

So it would seem that this “breaking bread” included a sort of reenactment of the Last Supper. And that stands to reason because that is precisely the religious ritual that Jesus commanded his Apostles to perpetuate in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22. 

This practice is also reflected upon a little earlier in that same letter:

“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?  Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” – 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

Putting it Together:

So, going by the bare text, one could interpret this to mean that the way the early Christians worshiped was thus:

·         They gathered on Sunday.

·         They broke bread and drank wine in a reenactment of the Last Supper.

·         They believed this bread and wine was the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Reading in My Bias?

Of course, one could say that is merely my interpretation.  Someone from one of the “Seventh Day” Christian traditions might explain that I’ve got it all wrong considering worship on Sunday.  Or perhaps someone of an Evangelical or Baptist background might say I’ve gotten myself into trouble when I say the early Christians believed the bread and wine becomes the flesh of Jesus.

We could argue all day about it - throwing Bible verses around like hand grenades - but we might not get very far.  So now what? 

Well, we can see what the writings of the earliest Christians point us to.  That will hopefully answer the question for us.

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