Disciples Worship
by Hugh Delong
Even a cursory search will provide these pictures of the Christians in the first and second centuries and their continuing worship on the first day of the Week (cp. Acts 20:7 in the New Testament).
The New Testament Itself (A.D. 50s–90s)
Before turning to external sources, the New Testament gives us several glimpses. Acts 2:42 lists the four pillars of the Jerusalem church's common life: "the apostles' teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer." Acts 20:7 places this gathering explicitly on the first day of the week, with extended teaching and the breaking of bread as its two central acts.
Paul's letters fill in more detail. In I Corinthians 11–14, he addresses the gathered assembly directly: the Lord's Supper is observed (I Corinthians 11), spiritual gifts, including prophecy and teaching, are exercised (I Corinthians 12–14), and the whole assembly is expected to build one another up. He instructs that collections be gathered "on the first day of every week" (1 Corinthians 16:2), which implies a regular, expected assembly on that day.
Revelation 1:10 gives us the earliest use of the phrase "the Lord's Day" (Greek: kyriake hemera) as a distinct designation for a specific day — already understood by John's readers without further explanation.
The Didache (Late 1st–Early 2nd Century, c. A.D. 80–120)
The Didache ("Teaching of the Twelve Apostles") is an anonymous manual of church practice that most scholars date to the late first or very early second century, possibly originating in Syria. It is the earliest church handbook we possess, and it gives direct instruction on the Lord's Day assembly.
Chapter 14 of the Didache says plainly: "On the Lord's own day gather together and break bread and give thanks, having first confessed your sins so that your sacrifice may be pure."
Several things stand out here. First, the gathering is commanded, not optional. Second, the breaking of bread — the Eucharist — is the central act. Third, confession of sin was required before partaking of the Lord's Supper. The assembly was not casual; it was prepared for.
The Didache also preserves the actual prayers used at the table. Over the cup, the community prayed: "We give you thanks, Father, for the holy vine of David your servant, which you made known to us through Jesus your servant. To you be glory for ever." Over the broken bread: "We give you thanks, Father, for the life and knowledge which you have revealed to us through Jesus your servant... As this broken bread scattered on the mountains was gathered and became one, so too may your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom."
The Didache also made clear that this meal was not open to everyone: "Do not let anyone eat or drink of your eucharist except those who have been baptized in the name of the Lord." The assembly had defined membership. The table had a boundary.
Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan (c. A.D. 112)
This is perhaps the most striking document in the collection, because it comes from an outsider — a Roman governor who had never encountered Christians before and was simply reporting to his emperor what he had learned by interrogating them.
Pliny the Younger was governor of Bithynia-Pontus from around A.D. 109–112. He wrote to Emperor Trajan asking for guidance on how to deal with Christians. In his letter, he describes what the accused Christians told him about their meetings.
They declared that the sum of their practice amounted to this: that on a stated day they had been accustomed to meet before daybreak and to recite a hymn among themselves to Christ as to a god. They then dispersed and reconvened later in the day for a meal — a communal table that Pliny notes was entirely ordinary in content and conduct.
Pliny also learned that when Christians gathered, they would sing hymns to Christ as to a god, and that they promised not to steal or commit adultery, and vowed to pay back money when they owed it.
What Pliny documents without intending to is a two-part structure to the early Christian Sunday: a pre-dawn assembly for worship and song, and a later gathering for the communal meal. The letter reveals that Christians met on a fixed day before dawn, sang hymns to Christ as to a god, bound themselves to ethical behavior, and later shared a meal — providing a concise summary of early Christian worship and community life in the provinces.
Their following included people of all ages, ranks, genders, and citizenships. The church was not a homogeneous social club. It crossed every boundary the Roman world drew.
Justin Martyr, First Apology, Chapter 67 (c. A.D. 150–155)
This is the single most detailed description of early Christian worship from the ancient world, and it is worth treating at length. Justin was a philosopher-turned Christian apologist who wrote a defense of Christianity addressed to the emperor Antoninus Pius. He includes a description of Sunday worship to show that Christians were not the cannibals and subversives rumors made them out to be.
Justin knew Christianity in Asia as well as in Rome, perhaps in Palestine also. He wrote as an active layperson, not as a leader of the assembly. His account is an insider report from the pew, not the pulpit.
Here is the sequence he describes, drawn from Chapter 67:
"On the day called Sunday there is a gathering together in the same place of all who live in a given city or rural district. The memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits. Then when the reader ceases, the president in a discourse admonishes and urges the imitation of these good things. Next we all rise together and send up prayers. When we cease from our prayer, bread is presented and wine and water. The president in the same manner sends up prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people sing out their assent, saying the 'Amen.'"
After the distribution of the bread and cup, deacons carried a portion to those who were absent. Those who were able gave willingly whatever sum they thought appropriate, and the money collected was deposited with the president, who used it to care for orphans, widows, and those in need.
Justin also explains why Sunday was chosen: "We all make our assembly in common on Sunday, since it is the first day on which God changed the darkness and matter and made the world, and Jesus Christ our Savior arose from the dead on the same day." The day carried a double theological weight — creation and new creation, both anchored to the first day.
Already by the mid-second century, Sunday worship was not a local innovation but the standard rhythm across widely dispersed Christian communities.
Ignatius of Antioch (c. A.D. 107–115)
Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, wrote seven letters while being transported to Rome for execution under Trajan. In his letter to the Magnesians, he addresses Jewish Christians who were still observing the Sabbath and offers one of the earliest theological contrasts between the old and new days of gathering.
He writes: "No longer keeping Sabbath, but living in accordance with the Lord's Day, on which also our life arose through him and his death." For Ignatius, the switch from the seventh day to the first day was not an arbitrary preference. It was resurrection theology lived out weekly. Life in Christ had a different rhythm than life under the law.
