Post 8 (10/26)

In class, we talked about how churches started to become more organized as the leadership positions in the church began to become more defined. The bishops were the leaders in the church, forgiving sins, administering communion, etc. The deacons were the assistants to the bishops, while the presbyters and the elders were the leaders who governed the church. The schism between these church leaders and the rest of the church--the laity--became larger. Then in the third century, the bishops started to meet and from that came what Dr. Bolger called "super-bishops," to oversee larger areas than just the small communities that the individual bishops oversaw.

Post 7 (10/21)

In the movie, they talk about the impact Jesus being down on earth with human with his hand one their head. Jesus is not shown as a transcendental being, instead He’s down there with the broken with His hand on their head. This reminded me of how the other day, I made the connection of how Jesus was born in a manger surrounded by sheep in Bethlehem, then was crucified in Jerusalem. Much like the sheep he was surrounded by, who were raised in Bethlehem to be the sacrifices in Jerusalem, Jesus was the sacrificial lamb.

Post 6 (10/19)

What really strikes me about comparing our lives and church experiences to those of the early churches is centered around one word: community. While they spent probably hours upon hours together worshiping, studying and becoming one unit, we today (myself included) look at church at putting in our time with God. Once that hour is up, then it's back home for a nice day of watching football from my couch. Maybe that's why it was so much easier for them to be such a tight-knit community that they would literally sell their possessions if someone was in need. It would be tough for me to part ways with my iPod, XBox, computer, etc. I could say I would, but it's easier said than done. That is what makes their community, in the real sense of the word, so much more admirable.

Post 5 (10/14)

One of the interesting things I'm learning here, not only from this class but in others as well, is what household worship looked like and how much of a role it played in early Christianity. I never really took a Church History class in undergrad, so learning things such as what we did on Wednesday like structure of household services is really interesting to me. What is also interesting to learn is how small most of these household churches were--some were really tiny; yet they continued to worship Christ. Often times we get caught up in the numbers game at church--I have myself leading a youth group for the last two years. But it's not about the numbers as much as it is what you do with your group. God can work just fine with a small group of people--something I'm reminded of when we look at these small community churches.

Post 4 (10/12)

A point from talking about Jesus' Kingdom and Church that really stuck out to me on Monday was under the category of Mission/Witness. The point was how Jesus tried to change the focus from overthrowing Rome to loving their enemies. It seems to me that our culture today could use a dose of this mentality. So often in our politics and everyday life we think of (name group here) as our enemy, how they're so different than us and how we're so right and they're so wrong. In reality--and this is easier said than done--it's our responsibility to love them for who they are. This the the challenge Jesus gave to us, and it's sad to see us--myself included--failing at this opportunity to love one another.

Post 3 (10/7)

I was struck by the idea of different societies being modeled after Jesus' example in the last class. I'm curious to learn more about specific societies throughout history that use His ideas versus the ones who do not. How are they different? How do they treat the outcasts of society? Perhaps that one specifically since that is something I'm really interested in. Jesus was there with the lowest of the low in society, hanging around them, something nobody expected from the Messiah. The fact that he was around the poor, the prostitutes, the beggars is something we should take a closer look at and see how we as a society treat them. But not only as a society, but how we as individuals contribute to that as well.

Post 2 (9/30)

Today we ended by splitting up into small groups of four to discuss our church backgrounds based on a few categories: nature of the church, liturgy & sacraments, community & service, mission & witness, and organization & leadership. I grew up in a PC(USA) church, then worked at a United Methodist church for the past two years. I certainly noticed some differences between them, but have never really considered in a in-depth way why each of those churches are run the way they are. I only thought, at a basic level, of the contrasts. Hopefully in this class I will learn more about why things are done as they are in the church traditions I have been part of.