Ecclesia: Identity
Despite many differences, the house churches developed a communal identity. Increasingly, they differentiated themselves from the Jewish community and Graeco-Roman culture.
In Antioch, the people who belonged to the house churches
Same Baptism, Meal and Rules
There were house churches in different parts of the Roman Empire. These congregations naturally differed in certain aspects of their beliefs and practices, but there were certain important traditions they shared:
- New members were welcomed into the group through the initiation rite of baptism
, signifying the end of their former life and the start of their new life. - Members of the congregation came together to share in the Lord’s Supper
. They broke bread together and drank from the same cup of wine. They prayed and sang, and in this way they shared fellowship with one another and with their Lord Jesus Christ. - There were rules for dealing with disruptive elements or even excluding them from the congregation.
An Individual Identity
Slowly, the congregations developed their own individual identity. They were different to the polytheistic groups in the Graeco-Roman cities, but also distinct from the Jewish communities. This was due to:
- their mixed membership of Jews and non-Jews;
- their creed, “one God, the Father, […] one Lord, Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 8:6
).
An Individual Name
The congregations noticeably became a separate movement and were given their own name. In Acts 9:2
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