The Christian Gatherings In City Churches and House Churches

Early Christian gatherings for worship included assemblies for the Lord's Supper, for the sharing of spiritual gifts, and for the baptism of new believers. The discussion of these assemblies in the New Testament, especially the writings of Paul, is clarified when we understand that some of these descriptions apply to the gathering of the citywide church, while others refer to the setting of the local house church. The Corinthian correspondence is our main source for understanding what went on at a Christian gathering. The data, however, is fragmentary mostly because Paul did not need to describe the details of the assembly to his readers. Rather, he had to deal with problems. Nor does Paul anywhere tell us clearly about assembly activities specific to the house churches as different from those of local churches. Barring any information that would allow us to distinguish between the two assemblies, we must suppose that the two types of assemblies basically functioned the same way. Exc…