Hatch: the composition of a church

Saturday, June 9, 2018
    Feast of Columba, Abbot of Iona, Missionary, 597
    Commemoration of Ephrem of Syria, Deacon, Hymnographer, Teacher, 373
Meditation:
    Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
    —Ephesians 2:19-22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Although it is indisputable that our Lord founded a church, it is an unproved assumption that that church is an aggregation of visible and organized societies... The theory upon which the public worship of the primitive churches proceeded was that each community was complete in itself, and that, in every act of public worship, every element of the community was present.
    ... Edwin Hatch (1835-1889), The Organization of the Early Christian Churches [1880], London: Longmans, Green, 1918, preface, p.xii,79 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Cor. 3:16; 12:14-28; 1 Pet. 2:4-5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, break down all divisions in Your church. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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