The Early Church and Church Government – Part 1

Did All of the First-Century Churches Meet in Homes?

Although it seems like there should be a simple answer to a simple question, there really isn’t a well-documented, agreed to consensus on this.  I have done a little research to try to answer this question, which follows…

 Some Churches Definitely Met in Homes

First of all, it is quite clear from Paul’s letters that there were some churches meeting in homes during the writing of the New Testament…

Without a doubt, there were some home churches recorded in the New Testament.  But, did every church meet in homes?  Based on all of the Scriptures, and other very early Christian writings, I believe that the answer must be no.

The Very Very First Church

It would have been impossible for the very earliest church, which numbered 3,120 people (see Acts 1:15 & 2:41) to meet in someone’s home. It seems (Acts 2:42-47) that they had a large group meeting every day in the Temple, and then ‘fellowshipped’ by eating together in smaller groups in their various homes. The Temple had a large outer court where all the people could meet (even Gentiles), and this must have been where their large daily gatherings took place.

Because the Jewish leaders soon found issue with this situation, it didn’t last for very long. When most of the Christians were forced to leave Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), probably about 34 AD or so, the large Temple meetings obviously came to a halt. Now, wherever the Christians went throughout the Roman Empire, they began to share their faith, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and people in these regions began to be saved. As always, what Satan intended for evil, God used for good (Genesis 50:20).

A church formed in Antioch (which was the capital of Syria at that time). Paul was sent out from there, and began to work across Asia and Europe, spreading the Gospel. Paul usually began by going to the local Synagogue to preach the truth about Jesus. Some examples of this are found in Acts 13:5 & 14; and 17:1-2, 10 & 17. Actually, Jesus also preached in the synagogues during His earthly ministry.

It’s too bad that most of the people in the synagogues didn’t receive Jesus’ or Paul’s message, because if they had, the existing facilities could have been a great place for the New Testament churches to meet.

Synagogues were quite a bit bigger than the common homes of that day.  A synagogue has been uncovered by archeologists dating back to the time of Jesus…

While small relative to our time, these synagogues were actually ten times bigger than the common houses of that day.

In Ephesus, Paul began by teaching at the synagogue.  But when they rejected him after three months, he started meeting at a school, and continued doing so for two years.  (See Acts 19:8-10.)

It seems that Paul (and Jesus) always tried teaching at the synagogues first if there was one in town.  When the people or leaders rejected Paul’s message, he would then go out and plant a new work.  Thus, I think that in a perfect world, God would have used the existing synagogue buildings and congregations, gotten them saved, and then used them and their resources to minister to new believers, and as a ‘spring-board’ for new church plants.  That certainly would have made the most sense financially.  But, because for the most part the ‘religious’ people took themselves out by rejecting God’s will, He simply bypassed them and planted new works.  Men can be great hindrances to the Gospel, but no man is ever going to stop God’s plan from moving forward.

A ‘Normal’ House During the Time of Christ…

Most Jewish first century homes were quite small.

“The basic house for the poorest members of the community living in the country was a single room, about ten feet (three metres) square.”

“… most people lived in simple, one roomed houses. Usually, the family animals slept at one end while the humans lived on a raised portion at the other…Stairs up an outside wall led to the flat roofs where a busy roof top culture existed and still does. The command to build a parapet around the roof makes good sense…Roofs were only made of brushwood spread across beams and covered with mortar. They were easily broken and soon repaired.”

“The difference between the homes of the wealthy and of the poor lay in the provision of a courtyard. At the lowest level this was simply an enclosure added onto the house. But the courtyard made immediate differences. Animals could be kept outside the house, cooking could be done in a corner, there would be no problems of security over access to the roof because the stairway from the roof would come into the courtyard, windows could open onto the courtyard to let in more light, and the door of the enclosure could always be kept shut. A cistern now became a possibility. People with greater wealth would build two or three rooms round the courtyard, and rooms would sometimes be built to provide an upper story.”

“The Mishnah calls a small house one that is 9 feet long by 12 broad, and a large house one that is 12 feet long by 15 broad…”

According to Edershiem’s numbers, the total square footage for a small house (multiplying the length times the width or ‘breadth’) would be 108 square feet; and for a large house, 180 square feet.

How many square feet is the house or apartment that you live in? (This is just another reminder of how blessed we are to be Americans in this day and age.)

How many people could you fit into your house for a Sunday morning worship service?

Acts 19:10 says that “…all who dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” In Colossians 1:23 Paul wrote (around 62 AD) “…the gospel…was preached to every creature under heaven…” Thus according to Scripture, by about 62 AD the Gospel had travelled around the entire world. Could all of these Christians have been meeting in about 120 square foot houses? That just doesn’t seem very likely to me. Most of these churches may have started that way, but I would have to believe that they would soon outgrow the home and need a larger gathering place. As you’ll see below, I think that 1 Corinthians shows that in Corinth they had a big meeting place for their church.

The bottom line (I think), is that the size of most homes would severely limit their potential to be used for church meetings, unless the congregation was very small. Recall that we previously stated that a synagogue uncovered from the time of Jesus measured about 1300 square feet – this would make it about 10 times larger than most homes of that day. So, in times of peace, it would make sense for a growing church to find a larger facility to meet in. On the other hand, during times of persecution, secret meetings in homes would probably be the only viable alternative (like the underground church in China). In these cases, the groups meeting would need to be pretty small.

Times of Government Persecution

During the period recorded in our New Testament Bible, there were two periods of severe persecution by Roman Emperors:

From that time until Constantine’s ‘Edict of Milan in 313, which ended state-sanctioned persecution of Christians, there were varying levels of persecution, depending on the Caesar in power.  During times of intense persecution, it would be obviously difficult for large churches to meet openly.

History does not teach that all early New Testament churches were small and meeting in homes.  It appears that there were some large churches, with well-defined leadership roles.

I Don’t Think that the Church in Corinth Met in a House,
and This is Why

Corinth was a major city in Greece.  Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthian church about 57 AD.  In Chapter 11, verses 17 through 34 he discusses some of the problems they were having with the ‘Lord’s Supper’.  The ‘Lord’s Supper’ was definitely a time for Communion to be shared as Jesus’ crucifixion was remembered; and also apparently a time for them to have a group meal for the members of the church.  They probably celebrated the Lord’s Supper every week, and thus this was probably a regular part of their Sunday worship meetings.  Some of the verses in this passage show that the church must have been gathering in a large building rather than a home.

1 Corinthians 14 also contains passages which imply a large meeting place rather than small home churches.

(In other words, if you invite an unbeliever to church, and everybody in the room is speaking in tongues, it’s very unlikely that the visitor will want to come back with you next week.)

As well as providing strong evidence for a large church gathering taking place outside of a home, this passage is also interesting doctrinally.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:5 that a woman should cover her head when she prayed or prophesied.  However, in 1 Corinthians 11:16 he says “But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.”  So, it appears that wearing head coverings was not the norm for all of the churches, but just for the church in Corinth.  They believe the reason for this is that there was a large pagan temple in Corinth, where temple prostitutes had shaved heads.  So, Paul’s message to the Christian ladies was: ‘Please don’t dress like those idolaters do – we don’t want to cause others to be confused or stumbled.  It’s better to err on the side of conservatism’.

Also, it is believed that larger meeting places for the early churches were modeled after synagogues (since most of the first Christians were Jewish).  In the synagogues, men sat on one side of the room, and women on the other side.  So, in effect Paul was saying – ‘Wives, please don’t call out to your husbands during church service – wait until you get home to discuss the sermon and any other items of concern’.

All of these passages imply to me that the Corinthian church was gathering in a larger meeting place, probably being rented.  As we mentioned above, in Ephesus, Paul used the “school of Tyrannus” for two years as a meeting place to teach about Jesus.  (See Acts 19:8-10.)  This could have served as a model for other growing churches.

Some (quite extensive) Early Writings Which Imply Large Gathering Places Rather Than Homes

Neither Scripture nor history teaches that all early New Testament churches were small and meeting in homes. It appears that there were some larger churches, with well-defined leadership roles, that gathered in public places for their meetings.

Ignatius

Ignatius, the bishop of Antioch, is one of the earliest Christians with writings that have been preserved. Ignatius was a disciple of John the Apostle. During the time of Caesar Trajan, he was arrested and sentenced to death. On his way to Rome to be eaten by lions at the Coliseum, he wrote letters to six churches, and to Polycarp, the bishop in Smyrna. Looking at these letters gives us insight into his experience and perception of the Church of his time– about 108 AD.

It should be noted that John wrote his Gospel, Epistles, and the Book of Revelation in the 90’s AD. So, Ignatius’ letters were written roughly 15-20 years after John’s writings.

From his introduction to the letters of Ignatius, the editor makes the following comments…

“It appears that three concerns were uppermost in Ignatius’s mind at this time: (1) the struggle against false teachers within the churches; (2) the unity and structure of the churches; and (3) his own impending death…In opposing the false teachers Ignatius, in addition to affirming both the divinity of Jesus and the reality of his incarnation, suffering, and resurrection, stresses the importance of the bishop in preserving the unity of the church. He does this on two levels. First, while Ignatius’s ideal church may have a threefold ministry that includes deacons and presbyters, it is the bishop who is constitutive of the church: where he is, the church is. Any activity or service that takes place without either his presence or permission has no validity. Thus those schismatics who gather separately cut themselves off from the true church. Second, the central role of the bishop organizationally has a theological rationale: the bishop is nothing less than God’s representative to the congregation. Just as Christians are united with God spiritually in heaven, so it is their duty to be in communion or harmony with their bishop on earth. Conversely, one’s attitude toward the bishop reflects one’s attitude toward God, and thus one’s behavior relative to the bishop becomes critically important. It is interesting that Ignatius provides a theological rationale for the authority and place of the bishop and does not base it, as his near contemporary Clement of Rome does, upon the concept of apostolic succession.” [5]

Here are a few excerpts quoted directly from Ignatius’ letters…

We should note, by the way, that these letters are not inspired ‘Scripture’. The letters of the ‘apostolic fathers’ such as Ignatius are well respected because of the status these men held in the early church, as confirmed by history. They differ from ‘Apocryphal’ writings which are indisputably old, but not highly regarded for their accuracy or authorship. Just because something is old doesn’t make it right. Every old guy is not wise, even though his gray hair may lead others to think so. Thank God for senior discounts at area restaurants – but they are given probably out of hope for profit (old guys have money and time to spend), or maybe sympathy – intelligence has nothing to do with it. (Also, thank God that some restaurant owners think that 55 year olds are ‘seniors’ – they’re wrong, but if they want to give us cheap food, we’ll take it.)

Here then are a few quotes from Ignatius’ letters, which provide glimpses into his experiences with the church and its government. You will see over and over again a central meeting place, and a well-defined leadership structure. This first excerpt is from his letter to the Ephesian church…

The above passage mentions the Church’s leaders by name: the Bishop, a Deacon, and the ‘Presbytery’ (the leadership team); it shows the Bishop to be the ‘leader’ supported by the Presbytery; and it also shows that those who would separate themselves from the large meetings with the congregation in the sanctuary were not to be commended.

Here’s a second example, from Ignatius’ letter to the church in a place called Magnesia…

This quote again seems to stress a well defined church leadership structure, and adds a little more depth to the roles seen by Ignatius – a presiding Bishop [we would call him a Pastor]; a team of assisting leaders called ‘Presbyters’ [we would call them the Elder’s Board]; and then Deacons [‘hands-on’ type guys who served].  Again, the importance of unity and gathering together are emphasized.

Here’s one more excerpt, from Ignatius’ letter to the church in a place in Asia called Tralles…

In summary, it seems that the church that Ignatius was familiar with (1) had a pretty well-defined leadership structure; and (2) met in larger gatherings than the small homes of those days could allow.  Thus, I would have to conclude that the churches receiving these letters met in larger rooms or buildings, and had a well defined leadership structure.

Justin Martyr

Another early writer was an ‘apologist’ (a writer who defended Christianity) named Justin Martyr, who was in fact martyred somewhere between 162 and 167 AD.  His ‘First Apology’, written somewhere between 151 and 155 AD (thus about 60 years after John the Apostle’s writings), includes a brief description of a church service at that time…

It is interesting to note that while Justin Martyr’s writings are not ‘Scripture’ (which would be authoritative in specifying how the Holy Spirit wants a church service to be run), it gives a good description of the church service that he was familiar with in 153 AD, about 60 years after John’s inspired writings.  It (1) shows the church gathering in one place on Sundays; (2) alludes to church government (‘the ruler’ and ‘deacons’); and (3) describes the order of service beginning with prayer, then a reading of God’s Word followed by an exhortation or teaching, then more prayer and the celebration of Communion.  An account of a free-will offering is also included.

The term ‘ruler’ may sound strange to us, but in the Jewish Synagogue the leader was referred to as ‘ruler’.  (See Mark 5:35, Luke 8:41 & 13:14, and
Acts 18:8&17.)  So, this title for the Synagogue leader may have found its way into some of the early churches.  (I’ve had some older saints call me ‘Father’ at various times, because that’s the title they’re used to using.)  Because communications in those days were nothing like they are today, different churches in different parts of the Roman world could develop their own unique styles.

Is All of This Clear?

I don’t know.  I don’t think that enough information exists today for anybody to be 100% certain on every detail of how the early churches met and were run.  It will certainly make for some interesting discussions in Heaven some day, when we can ask Jesus directly, and also interact with the first saints, listening to their first hand experiences about their churches.

Too Small Church / Too Big Church

For us, I know that it’s important for every believer to attend a church.  Whether that’s a home church, or a more traditional, larger gathering is between you and the Lord.  Here are some of my personal thoughts…

A ‘Too Small’ Church
(1)  Iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17).  Are you being ‘challenged’ in a positive way by the group you’re with?

(2)  Inbreeding is bad.  Not enough fresh blood can lead to some huge growth defects.

(3)  The human body is made up of literally thousands of parts.  1 Corinthians 12 speaks about each Christian having a different spiritual gift to contribute, and how the result of the various members working together is a beautifully functioning body.  Quite frankly, more spiritually mature parts (saints) means a healthier, more effective body (church), which results in a lot of blessed people.

A ‘Too Big’ Church
(1)  Is accountability lacking?  Do you have people that you are close to that encourage you, and do you encourage them to walk in a manner worthy of Jesus?  It’s unfortunately very easy to hide in a big place, and to ‘go to church without really going to church’.

(2)  Corporate America isn’t necessarily the best.  It’s just my opinion – but I don’t like things that are too ‘processed’.  Spontaneity is important to me, because the Holy Spirit is spontaneous like the wind (John 3:8).  Having no plan is disrespectful to God; but so are homogenized, sanitized programs straight from some seminary classroom.  God’s people can understand His full Word, because it’s really the Holy Spirit Who brings them insight.  And so, I don’t think that watered down, entertaining ‘sermon-ettes’ are necessary.  God’s entire, pure Word should be taught, not some programmed series that covers ‘acceptable’ portions of God’s Word, but never mentions other ‘unacceptable’ portions of it.  Every teaching and service should bear Christ’s imprint – not that of some pastor or seminary or processed series.

The bottom line is – I believe that unless you’re forced to live in isolation on Patmos, you should be at church.  Small is not necessarily bad – but if you’re the senior pastor, worship leader, board of elders, and most of the congregation of your church – you should make sure that you’re in God’s will.  Maybe you’re a pioneer, and God is going to use you for His glory.  Or, maybe He is telling you to join a larger group of believers and make them better by freely contributing your gifts to make that Body stronger.  Large also is not necessarily bad – but if in all honesty you’re just there because you don’t want to get too close or too committed to Jesus – you should ask Him to straighten things out.

So, Where Do I Fit In?

The best place to be is where God wants you.  Ask Him.

As you pray about where to worship, ponder this question:  In the above Scripture, how much of it is about you receiving, and how much is about you giving to others?

Some good questions to consider about your place and style of worship…

If the answers to these questions are all ‘yes’, and the Holy Spirit confirms it – then praise God, because you’re in the right place!!!

If that place is Calvary Chapel of the Niagara Frontier – praise God!!!

If that place is somewhere else – still praise God!!!

Someday we’ll all be in the same congregation, and Pastor Jesus will be the best, most awesome pastor that could ever exist.  We will all learn together, and on Pastor’s Appreciation Day we can all chip in to buy Him some incredible cards and presents.

Until then, we’ll just do our best, for Him.
May Jesus lead and guide us!
And, may you be part of a beautiful, Christ-centered church!