Historical Background of Christian Worship
by Ellyzabeth

Worship In the Early Churches

By looking at the history of worship as practiced in the earlier centuries one can learn to separate what is right from what is wrong so as to avoid misconceptions held by some parts of the Christian world.

First of all, a worship service in the early church was more informal than formal. As Renwick observes:

The worship of the early church was modeled upon the simple service of the synagogue rather than upon the ritualistic service of the Temple, and the worshippers really came into vital touch with God. The result was a most powerful and effective church. We are astonished at what they accomplished. With no worldly grandeur, with little social influence, without even church buildings, those early Christians went on from strength to strength, in spite of the opposition of the great Roman Empire and the bitter animosity of a sinful, pagan world which hated them because the purity of the Christians’ lives condemned their own lack of moral standards.

The very essence of church organization and Christian life and worship in the first two centuries was simplicity. There was an absence of that formalism and pomp which took possession of the field in later times when spiritual life declined. Christians met for worship whenever they could, often in private homes and sometimes in more public places, such as  “The School of Tyrannus.” Their worship was free and spontaneous under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and had not yet become inflexible in its form through the use of manuals of devotion. The church was vigorously active. Not only the pastor but also many of those present took part in the services, for to them the priesthood of all believers was a tremendous reality.[1]

Starting in the first century, Christians held worship services in homes. They therefore tended to be more free and spontaneous. As mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14:26, “How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation . . . .” It is apparent that those elements were considered to be worship elements. These practices would continue on for a period of time until the latter part of the first century, when it was believed that worship was transformed, as testified in the manual known as The Didache or The Teaching of The Twelve Apostles.[2] Other worship elements that impacted the early Christian services and that influence services even until today, include speaking with tongues and the love feast or the agape. In this regard, the apostle Paul addressed the issue in 1 Corinthians 14. One must understand the background of those early Christians, in order to understand why there was a need for worship practices to undergo a transformation.

Basically, the early Christians were aware of their differences with Judaism in terms of beliefs and worship practices. Eventually, different practices of worship were developed. That different churches developed different liturgies indicates that liturgy was under development. In fact, in the year of AD 155 Justin Martyr and Ignatius of Antioch had already given some guidelines about the contemporary church, including a description of the worship of the time. The explanation from Justin Martyr touched on elements such as baptism (initiating the new converts), the Eucharist and Sunday Worship. Justin Martyr wrote:

After we have thus washed him who has expressed his conviction, and assented to our doctrines, we take him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, in order that we may offer up earnest prayers in common for ourselves and for the baptized person, and for all others in every place, that, having learned the truth, we may be deemed worthy to be found walking in good works, and keeping the commandments, so that we may attain to eternal salvation. Having ended our prayers, we salute each other with a kiss…. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have declared that Jesus gave them this injunction, that having taken bread and given thanks, He said, ‘Do this in remembrance of Me, this is My body;’ and that, in like manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, ‘This is My blood;’ and that He distributed the bread and wine to them alone.[3]

Justin Martyr also claimed that Sunday worship must include the eucharistia, means ‘thanksgiving.’ Justin, believed the celebration of the eucharist on a weekly basis fulfilled Malachi’s prophecy, whereby ‘incense . . . and a pure offering’ would be brought unto God from the rising to the setting of the sun (Malachi 1:11).[4]

Moving into the third century, worship became more formalized with services held in buildings set aside for worship. By the time of Constantine in the early fourth century, services, as well as other practices in the church, became even more formalized. By way of example, the ceremonial structure of Holy Week began to take its form, starting with the special observance of Maundy Thursday. In the sixth century, Palm Sunday began to be observed.[5] After his conversion, Constantine declared Sunday to be a public holiday. This resulted in larger congregations attending worship services. In terms of the ceremonial aspects of worship, incense, candles and other symbols were also introduced at this time. In other words, liturgies for worship were developing, and eventually these practices survived into the fifth and sixth centuries. These included set forms for the eucharist, baptism (infant and adult) and ordination. Lectionaries for Bible readings in services were also produced along with books of sermons for clergy who were not well enough educated to write their own.[6]

Worship In the Middle Ages

As music in liturgy developed during the Middle Ages, the two names that stand out are Ambrose and Gregory.[7] No doubt what they contributed to society would also be associated with the worship of the church. Two separate services developed, one was the Eucharist, which came to be called the “Mass” in the West. And the other was a series of eight prayer services that came to be called the “daily office.”[8]

Eventually, few collections of the book of Mass used for the service.[9] Different functions of services would use different collections of the book of Mass. By way of example, ‘libelli’ which was used by a priest for praying on different Sundays and feast days. After a period of time, came to be known as ‘sacramentaries’ which was the revised version from the libelli. ‘Sacramentaries’ contained prayers for initiation and ordination as well as important feast days. Other collections in the book of the Mass, included the ‘ordo’ which was used for ceremonial directives on how to perform a particular service, particularly papal services. By the late eighth century, Charlemagne began to observe that the liturgical uniformity in using different books for the Mass, mainly the ‘ordo’ collections could be the means to unite his empire. Not only Charlemagne benefited from the collections, even his father, Pepin III, used the same collections to reform the worship in France and Germany. The Mass became flourished for the Eucharist liturgy in its use though it was more frequently used in the diocesan service.[10] 

The following chart shows different Eucharistic liturgies used in the early and medieval church.

The Eucharist[11]

First three centuries	Fourth to sixth centuries	Medieval
Greeting (Old Testament lections) (Psalm) Epistle (Psalm) Gospel Sermon (Dismissal of catechumens) (Prayer of the faithful) (Kiss of peace) (Offertory) Eucharistic prayer Fraction Giving bread and wine	Introit (litany), Kyrie response Gloria in excelsis collect Gradual, alleluia, tract prayer over the gifts preface, sanctus, intercessions Lord’s Prayer kiss of peace communion song prayer after communion blessing with dismissal	Psalm 43 confiteor (sequence) Nicene Creed offertory prayers and ceremonies Agnus Dei commixture priest’s prayers “Lord, I am not worthy.” silent prayer ablutions (last gospel) (concluding prayers)

By the eleventh century, the Mass was divided into a two part service: the 'Liturgy of the Word' and 'Eucharistic feast,' an arrangement that has impacted the Eucharistic celebrations in most churches today. In line with that, two terms given in regard to the text used: one is ‘Ordinary’ of the Mass which the term for the text that is never change; and second is ‘Proper’[12] which the term for the text varied according to the church’s calendar. Below is shown how the two services were practiced.[13] - The Liturgy of the Word and Eucharistic feast – ‘The Ordinary’ will be indicated with bold text.

The Liturgy of the Word:

• Introit
  Antiphon, psalm-verse and repeat of antiphon
  Sung by the choir as the priest and ministers process to the altar

• Kyrie
  Often a three-fold repetition of 'Lord, have mercy' and 'Christ, have mercy'
  Everyone sings

• Prayers
  The priest offers prayers of confession and forgiveness

• Gloria
  Free composition
  A song of thanks and praise (see Luke chapter 2 verse 14)

• Versicle and response
  'The Lord be with you' - 'And also with you'
  Exchanged between priest and congregation

• Collects
  Cantillation
  Prayers for the day

• Epistle
  Cantillation
  New Testament reading

• Gradual
  Antiphon, psalm-verse, antiphon
  Highly elaborate music for the choir

• Alleluia
  'Alleluia', psalm-verse, 'Alleluia'
  For the choir

• Sequence
  Free composition
  For the choir

• Gospel
  Cantillation
  The service book is carried to the rood-loft with great ceremony

• Credo
  Free composition
  A statement of faith for all to say and sing

Eucharist feast:

• Offertorium
  Antiphon only
  For the choir

• Prayers
  Including Sursum corda - ‘Lift up your hearts’ – and the Proper Preface for the day
  Preparation for the Communion

• Sanctus and Benedictus
  Free composition. The Sanctus is repeated again after the Benedictus
  Everyone sings

• The Canon of the Mass
  consecration of the bread and wine

• Pater Noster - 'The Lord's Prayer'
  Free composition
  Recitation by the priest

• Agnus Dei
  Free composition in three parts, each beginning Agnus Dei - 'Lamb of God'
  Everyone sings

• The Communion
  The bread and wine are received with great ceremony

• Communion
  Antiphon only
  For the choir

• Versicle and response

• Postcommunion
  Cantillation

• Ite, Missa Est
  Versicle of dismissal to which everyone responds Deo gratias - 'thanks be to God'

The practice of the Mass would continue to be the structure of the church service. Though there might have been some differences in the structure of the Mass, yet the setting of the Mass would remain essentially the same until the Reformation that began in the sixteenth century.

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Miscellaneous Resources

• Description of Christian Worship
• Historical Background of Christian Worship
• The Role of Evangelism in Corporate Worship
• The Role of Music in Evangelistic Service
• Different Approaches to Corporate Worship and Evangelistic Ministry
• Christian Martyrs