The Questor

The Wild Gospel..… …..Managing change If you think Mark Zuckerberg has problems managing the growth of Facebook in the 21st century, try managing a spiritual movement that is growing exponentially and internationally in the 1st century – without the use of social media, phones, internet, TV......

It’s interesting that all the talk at present is of whether it will be necessary to regulate social media platforms as they experience explosive growth. The same was necessary for the early church. As a result of the rate of growth and the geographic spread, different interpretations emerged of how the church should operate and what its doctrine was.

The big issues were resolved at ‘Ecumenical Councils’ which were conferences of church leaders and theological experts brought together to settle matters of teaching and practice. These Councils took place from time to time and were a big deal because it involved many people coming together from all over the known world.

The first of these Councils is described in the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament and took place in Jerusalem. It wasn’t such a big affair as later ones but was extremely important to the future of the church. The big issue it considered was whether all male members of the church should be circumcised.

This issue came about because the church in Palestine was mainly made up of people who had originally been brought up as Jews. They still felt a strong allegiance to the Law of Moses and believed that all members of the new church should do the same. So they sent some of their people to Antioch where there was a large non Jewish church membership and told them that all males should be circumcised.

Paul and Barnabas were horrified because, not surprisingly, this was a major stumbling block for people who would otherwise have joined the church. They argued with the people from Jerusalem and the leaders of the local church decided to send them to Jerusalem to resolve the issue with the church leaders there.

Those for circumcision and those against each made their case and then the Leaders and Apostles withdrew to consider the arguments. After much discussion, Peter addressed them. He reminded them that at one time they had thought that the Message was only meant for the Jews; but God had shown them that it was also meant for the non Jews. What’s more, the non Jews had received the gift of the Holy Spirit in exactly the same way as the Jews. He went on to remind them God had purified the hearts of both Jews and non Jews by faith alone and that they were all saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus.

Then the whole assembly listened in silence as Paul and Barnabas told them of the wonderful things that had been done among the non Jews.

Finally, James, the brother of Jesus, gave his verdict. He said that they shouldn’t make it difficult for non Jews to become Christians. So they should write a letter to them making this clear while at the same time telling them that they shouldn’t eat food that had been offered to idols, they should refrain from sexual immorality

and should not consume blood or the meat of strangled animals. The letter is re-produced in Acts chapter 15.

They sent two of their people with Paul and Barnabas to deliver the letter and it was very well received in Antioch.

This first Council took place in AD50. It was followed by other, much larger gatherings over the next six or seven hundred years. In each case their purpose was to resolve differences of opinion between different parts of the church.

Some of these issues were not resolved to the satisfaction of all of the attendees and that led to the various branches of the church being established. So the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Egyptian Coptic Church etc diverged in terms of teaching while still belonging to the overall Christian community.

Such Councils continue to be held in our times. For example, the Vatican Council meets to consider issues such as whether the Catholic Church should allow birth control by contraception; and the worldwide Anglican Church Synod considers issues such as its position with regard to the LGBT community.

As with the Council in Jerusalem, we trust that the modern day issues are addressed in the light of the grace of our Lord Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Next month – Back on the Road

Sidesmen & Readers ~ St Mary the Virgin

April 4th

10.00 am Sides-duty Juliet Pattinson, Jan Mason & Matthew Cobb Readers TBC 1 Corinthians 15.1-11 Isaiah 25.6-9

April 11th

10.00 am Sides-duty TBC Reader Xander Balmain

April 18th

6.00 pm Sides-duty David Findley Readers Gail Bates Jan Hallam TBC

Acts 3.12-19 Zephaniah 3.14-20

Holy Dusters April

St James

Flowers and Cleaning Mary Wallis