LET’S TALK ABOUT THE EARLY CHURCH

For years, honestly, for decades, I’ve found myself curious about what the earliest Christians actually did. I’d read Scripture, look up passages, talk with friends who wondered about the same things, and think out loud about what church must have been like before buildings, denominations, and traditions developed.

But I never did a super deep dive into the history behind it. I looked at the biblical pieces… but not always the context.

Lately, something in me finally wanted to slow down and look at it more closely. Gently, conversationally, and without an agenda. Just exploring something Christians often wonder about but don’t always examine historically.

What did Christianity look like in its infancy?

How did believers worship when there were no “church buildings”?

What did a gathering actually sound like?

What prayers did they pray?

What did they focus on?

Some things I mention here are topics that I’ve unpacked more deeply in earlier blog posts, so if you want extended versions of those, feel free to scroll through my past posts.

For now, let’s talk about the early church.

Not the modern idea of church, but the AD 60 version.

Before exploring early Christian gatherings, I needed to step back and remember what Scripture actually says worship is.

Worship is not a style.

Worship is not a playlist.

Worship is not a certain “vibe.”

According to the Bible, worship is:

A posture of the heart

“True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” — John 4:23–24

Offering our whole lives to God

“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God — which is your spiritual worship.” — Romans 12:1

Reverence and awe

“…let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.” — Hebrews 12:28

Actions that flow from surrender

In Scripture, worship includes:

• singing

• bowing

• silence

• repentance

• prayer

• fasting

• feasting

• obedience

Jesus Himself worshiped through:

• prayer

• obedience

• Scripture

• synagogue worship (Luke 4:16)

• singing hymns with His disciples (Mark 14:26)

Worship has always been bigger than music; but music still had an important place.

Which leads to something beautiful…

Before choirs, before church buildings, before hymnals or worship bands, before incense or vestments or organs.…there were voices.

The earliest Christians inherited something ancient from the synagogue:

Chanting. Scripture sung, not spoken.

This was not dramatic or operatic. It was simple, natural, steady, & communal.

A single melodic line, rising and falling with the words. Not a performance or entertainment.

Just Scripture, carried on the voice.

Jesus Himself prayed this way. At the Last Supper, He and His disciples sang the Hallel psalms, which were chanted in Jewish worship.

The early Christians continued this practice in their homes:

• chanting psalms

• chanting the Shema

• chanting blessings over bread and wine

• chanting Scripture passages

• chanting early hymns

It was Scripture-based, reverent, and deeply unifying. If you close your eyes, you can almost imagine it:

A small group of believers gathered in someone’s home. Oil lamps flickering, bread and wine on the table, an elder beginning to chant a psalm and then the room joining him. Not as performers, but as a family praying the Word together.

This was worship in AD 60.

Voices, scripture, community. No instruments, no spectacle, just hearts turned toward God.

Side note, I wonder if this is what a service at a current day messianic synagogue is like? I think I’ll find out soon…

I want to show you what a real example of what early worship sounded like.

This recording has no instruments — only a voice chanting Scripture the way Jesus Himself would have heard it in the synagogue.

Torah Cantillation (closest to first-century chanting): listen —-> HERE

If you want to truly feel the early church, listen to this with your eyes closed, with headphones on if possible. This is the sound-world the first Christians lived in. This is the atmosphere early Christian worship grew from.

Now let’s get into what the earliest christians actually did.

From Scripture and early historical sources, AD 60 Christian gatherings looked like this:

• met in homes (Acts 2:46, Romans 16:5)

• devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42)

• prayed fixed prayers together

• broke bread as a shared meal (Acts 2:46; 1 Cor 11)

• read Scripture aloud

• read apostolic letters

• cared for the poor

• practiced hospitality

• laid hands on the sick

• fasted together

• worshiped simply and reverently

It wasn’t formal; it wasn’t theatrical; it wasn’t consumer-centered. It was family gathered around Jesus.

What Did Not Exist Yet:

Just for historical clarity (not criticism), the following things did not exist yet in AD 60:

• church buildings

• popes

• Marian doctrines

• purgatory

• confession to priests

• transubstantiation

• indulgences

• liturgical vestments

• incense

• church statues

• rosaries

• formalized seven-sacrament systems

• large-scale hierarchies

• Worship bands with dramatic lights & such

• denominations (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant didn’t yet exist)

Again, this isn’t a critique; it’s simply history.

The early church was small, simple, home-based, and focused on Scripture, prayer, and shared life. Honestly, it sounds like what Protestants today call “small groups” or Bible studies. Kind of...

What the Early Church Explicitly Rejected?

When we talk about the early church, it’s important to note that they weren’t just doing new things, they were also intentionally refusing certain patterns, even when those patterns were culturally normal. Rejection tells us as much as practice. They rejected temple-centered worship as the primary gathering After Jesus’ resurrection, Christians did not build a new temple, recreate priestly sacrifices, or centralize worship around a sacred building. Even though some early believers still visited the Temple, Christian worship moved into homes. They rejected a professional religious class. There is no evidence in the New Testament church of salaried clergy, priestly castes, spiritual elites, or celebrity teachers. Leadership existed, but it was relational, shared, and local. They rejected performance-based worship.

Early Christian worship was participatory, communal, and Scripture-centered. Not staged or spectated. Paul’s correction in Corinth assumes that many people were contributing.

They rejected faith detached from daily life

There was no separation between belief and practice. Worship and economics, prayer and generosity were intertwined. They rejected ethnocentric exclusivity. The early church did not require Gentiles to become Jews (Acts 15), and did not erase Jewish identity either. Unity was in Messiah, not cultural sameness. They rejected coercion, power, and empire.

For the first centuries, Christians held no political power and did not spread faith through force. Jesus’ kingdom advanced through witness, service, martyrdom, and love.

Mapping Acts 2:42–47 Step-by-Step Onto Modern Models

Acts 2:42

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

Then: Scripture teaching rooted in Jesus, deep relational commitment, shared meals, fixed communal prayers.

Closest modern parallels: house churches, Messianic Jewish gatherings, small-group–centered communities, and liturgical traditions (for fixed prayers).

Acts 2:43

“And awe came upon every soul…”

Then: reverence produced by God’s activity, not hype or spectacle.

Today: communities emphasizing prayer, humility, and dependence on God rather than personality-driven platforms.

Acts 2:44–45

“All who believed were together… distributing… as any had need.”

Then: shared life and radical generosity.

Today: intentional Christian communities, close-knit fellowships, mutual aid.

Acts 2:46

“Day by day… breaking bread in their homes…”

Then: daily rhythms, synagogue + home gatherings, shared meals as worship.

Today: Messianic congregations (synagogue rhythm) and house churches (home-based worship).

Acts 2:47

“Praising God… And the Lord added…”

Then: visible joy and organic growth through witness.

Today: growth through relationship and witness rather than marketing.

As I was researching all of this, I realized there’s an entire group of believers that often gets left out of conversations about the early church; even though they may be closest, culturally, to what the first Christians actually looked like.

Messianic Judaism refers to Jewish believers who confess Jesus (Yeshua) as the Messiah, while continuing to live out their Jewish identity and rhythms. This isn’t a modern invention, it’s actually the original context of Christianity.

The very first Christians were:

• Jewish

• Torah-literate

• synagogue-attending

• festival-observing

• prayer-chanting

• Scripture-saturated

The split between “Judaism” and “Christianity” didn’t happen overnight. In AD 60, the categories we use today simply didn’t exist yet.

Early believers in Jesus were still:

• attending synagogue

• praying Jewish prayers

• keeping Jewish rhythms

• reading Hebrew Scripture

• and gathering in homes to break bread in Jesus’ name

Messianic Judaism today is an attempt to live out that same reality, consciously holding together:

• faith in Jesus as Messiah

• Jewish worship forms

• Hebrew Scripture

• and first-century patterns of prayer

What AD 60 Christianity Looked Like

CHURCH/CATEGORY	AD 60 CHRISTIANITY	LATER CATHOLICISM	LATER ORTHODOXY	LATER PROTESTANTISM	MESSIANIC JUDAISM
GATHERINGS	Homes of believers	Church buildings	Church buildings	Varies (chapels, sanctuaries, homes of believers)	Synagogue-style gatherings + homes
LEADERSHIP	Elders & Deacons	Priests, bishops, pope	Priests, bishops, patriarchs	Pastors & elders	Elders / rabbis
AUTHORITY	Apostles + Scripture	Scripture + Tradition + Magisterium	Scripture + Holy Traditions	Scripture as primary authority	Scripture centered (OT + NT)
COMMUNION	Shared meal	Eucharistic liturgy	Divine Liturgy	Commemoration (varies)	Shared meal with blessings
WORSHIP STYLE	Simple, communal, reverent	Liturgy, incense, vestments	Chant-heavy, liturgical	Singing, teaching (varies)	Chant, Scripture, Hebrew prayers
PRAYERS	Fixed + spontaneous	Liturgy, rosary, saints	Chant, liturgy	Spontaneous + Scripture-based	Fixed Hebrew prayers + spontaneous
FOCUS	Jesus, Scripture, fellowship	Sacraments + Tradition	Mystical worship + Tradition	Scripture, discipleship	Jesus (Yeshua), Scripture, covenant

This chart is not about which tradition is “right.” It simply highlights how all of us have evolved since the first century.

So… Which Traditions Most Closely Resemble the Early Church?

This is the question many people often ask...

The honest historical answer is: no modern tradition perfectly replicates the early church.

That said, different traditions preserve different elements of AD 60 Christianity more visibly.

• Messianic Judaism most closely reflects the Jewish worship framework the early church lived inside — synagogue prayers, Hebrew Scripture, chant, feast rhythms, and communal meals.

• Eastern Orthodoxy and Byzantine Catholicism preserve the communal, chant-based, reverent feel of early worship, even though later theology and structure developed.

• Protestantism most closely resembles the simplicity, Scripture focus, home-based gatherings, and teaching emphasis of early Christian life.

• Roman Catholicism reflects the institutional development that came later, shaped by empire, councils, and sacramental theology.

None of these are “wrong.” They are all descendants, not duplicates.

The early church wasn’t a denomination, it was a family of believers centered on Jesus, shaped by Jewish worship, Scripture, prayer, and shared life.

I also recently learned that there’s more than one kind of Catholic… I honestly had no idea!

When many people say “Catholic,” they mean Roman Catholic — the Western branch.

But there are also Byzantine Catholics (Eastern) who are fully in communion with Rome yet worship very differently.

Understanding these branches helped me understand the early church better, because Eastern traditions preserve elements (like chant and communal rhythms) that feel closer to early Christianity.

Here’s a comparison:

CHART: Roman Catholic vs. Byzantine Catholic vs. Eastern Orthodox vs. Protestant

Category	Roman Catholic	Byzantine Catholic	Eastern Orthodox	Protestant (Blended)	Messianic Judaism
Origin	Western (Latin)	Eastern (Greek) but in union with Rome	Eastern (not under Rome)	1500's onward (Scripture-focused reform)	First-century Jewish believers in Jesus
Authority	Pope	Pope	Councils + Patriarchs	Scripture as primary authority	Scripture (Hebrew Bible + NT)
Liturgy	Roman Rite	Divine Liturgy	Divine Liturgy	Sermon + singing (varies)	Synagogue-based prayers + teaching
Style	Structured, sacramental	Mystical, chant, incense	Mystical, chant, icons	Contemporary or traditional singing, teaching	Chant, Scripture, Hebrew prayers
Married	No	Yes	Yes	Yes in most branches	Yes
Art	Statues + icons	Icons	Icons	Minimal or varied	Minimal (Scripture-focused)

Again, this is not to “compare” spiritually — only to show how different later traditions grew out of the same early simplicity. I must add that under the authority section here, for Messianic Juaism... it says "Hebrew Bible" BUT I did find many sources that say "OT" instead of "Hebrew Bible" and that includes all of the OT books found in the Catholic Bible. Do with that what you will.

Let’s reconstructed an AD 60 worship gathering (Based on Scripture and early writings).

Here is what a typical gathering may have looked like:

1. Reciting the Shema:

   “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” — Deuteronomy 6:4

2. Blessing over bread (HaMotzi):

   “Blessed are You, O LORD our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.”

3. Blessing over wine:

   “Blessed are You, O LORD our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.”

4. Reading from the Old Testament

5. Reading from an apostolic letter (like 1 Thessalonians, Ephesians, etc.)

6. Teaching from an elder

7. Reciting fixed prayers; such as the Lord’s Prayer or the Didache thanksgiving

8. Singing early hymns, including the Christ hymn of Philippians 2 or the confession of 1 Timothy 3

9. Breaking bread (Eucharist / Lord’s Supper)

10. Shared meal (agape feast)

11. Prayers for one another — laying on of hands

12. Blessing + dismissal

I love the simplicity of this SO MUCH! It feels ancient and intimate, but also surprisingly familiar.

Below are some of the fixed prayers that Christians and Jews prayed in the first century. Prayers that Jesus Himself prayed.

1. Blessing Over Bread (HaMotzi)

“Blessed are You, O LORD our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.”

2. Blessing Over Wine

“Blessed are You, O LORD our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.”

3. The Shema

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” — Deuteronomy 6:4

4. The Lord’s Prayer

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come,

Your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.” - Matthew 6:9–13

5. Didache Thanksgiving Prayer (AD 50–70)

“We thank You, our Father, for the life and knowledge which You have made known to us through Jesus Your Servant; to You be the glory forever. As this broken bread was scattered on the mountains and gathered together became one, so let Your Church be gathered together

from the ends of the earth into Your kingdom.”

Early Christian Hymns…

Philippians 2:6–11 — The Christ Hymn

“Who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.”

1 Timothy 3:16 — Early Confession of Faith

“He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”

These were likely chanted. Imagining this, trying to put myself back in time, in one of these church homes and chanting these hymns jus feels right to me.

Why does this matters to me anyway?

I know not everyone spends time thinking about the early church. But for years I’ve wondered about it — talked about it with friends, looked up verses, thought about the simplicity of those early believers — and recently, something in me wanted to explore it more intentionally.

It matters to me because:

• I want to understand the roots of my faith.

• I want to know what the earliest Christians actually valued.

• I want clarity, not assumptions.

• I want to see how worship began, long before denominations.

• I want to understand Jesus’ world — and the world of His first followers.

Maybe it won’t always matter this deeply to me? Perhaps I’ll look back in a year and smile at how intensely I researched this season. But today, right now, it matters… understanding where we came from helps us understand who we are.

I don’t have any answers or new conclusions

I am just full of wonder…

Wonder at the simplicity of those early gatherings, at how communal and Scripture-filled everything was, at the beauty of chant and shared meals and fixed prayers, at how God builds His church; from voices & hearts turned toward Him.

I’m still learning and exploring and bringing everything back to Jesus. And I want to invite you into that, too; not to agree with me, or see things the same way, but simply to join me in the curiosity and the awe.

Sometimes the most worshipful thing we can do

is ask a sincere question…and let God meet us in the wondering.

What do you think? I would truly love to know your thoughts and how you got there.