YE-GE-GHE-TSEE – CHURCH

By Fr. Tateos R. Abdalian

Have you heard about “The “Simple Church?” It is a movement started in 2014 by a small group of individuals to make the modern-day church experience as close to the early church described in the Acts of the Apostles.

Adherents to the Simple Church movement say that the early believers met in people’s homes, their worship had very little structure, and for them to be genuine Christians, are to believe in following that example. The Simple Church movement advocates that Christians are to be led by the Holy Spirit in all that we do, and a ‘return to basics’ is needed, for so many structures and traditions have polluted the church experience.

What really got my attention was reading “so many structures and traditions have polluted the church experience.” Really?

These folks – I’ll call them simpletons in line with their organizational name and approach, – think the Church should be a “simple church” that can meet anywhere with or without trained leaders, formal liturgy, doctrine, sacraments, or any structure.

This Simple Church term is used interchangeably with others such as: organic church, essential church, primitive church, relational church, and micro-church. All have in common a rejection of larger churches organized along denominational lines, formal leadership, church buildings, or formal worship services. Emphasis in simple churches is on building relationships within the small group and missionary outreach. I call these “clubs.”

The primary limitation with these simpletons, their Simple Church, and the house- church movement in general, is that they see the Book of Acts as a model for the Church, which it never was intended to be. I question whether any in their organization have accreditation in espousing the history of the Early Church and how the structure of the Church came to be.

When the organization states they need no trained leaders or a formal liturgy, I wonder what do they do when they gather? Is there any teaching being done within their people and if so, what is it that is being taught; who teaches it; what do they define as faith, the person of Jesus Christ, or anything that is remotely “Church” related?

The Book of Acts is an account, a history of the early church, not a mandate for church structure throughout the ages. Acts is “descriptive” in that it describes the Early Church but is not always “prescriptive” in stating how things should be. If we look to scripture for guidance in church government, the biblical books of 1Timothy and Titus do give specific outlines.

Then there are Early Church documents beginning with “The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, commonly called the Didache“, a manual in two parts dated as early as 70 or 90 A.D. The first is a code of Christian morals presented as a choice between the ways of life and the way of death. The second part is a manual of Church order, which, in a well-arranged manner, lays down some simple, at times even naive, rules for the conduct of a rural congregation. It deals with such topics as baptism, fasting, the Lord’s Supper and the local ministry of bishops and deacons. This and other such documents I leave o the classrooms and legitimate teachers of Church history.

Jesus was very clear in how His Church on earth was to be organized and managed: Himself as the head of the Church and its supreme authority (Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; Colossians 1:18); and governed by spiritual leadership consisting of two main offices – elders and deacons. When the simpletons decry the establishment of leadership within the Church, they reject God’s plan for the local church, rather than affirming it.

What then is the Church? Many undoubtedly understand the church as a building. This is not the biblical understanding of the Church. The root meaning of “Church” comes from the Greek word ekklesia, (the Armenian, ye-ge-ghe-tsee) which is defined as “an assembly of the faithful.”

It is not a building, but the people. The building is the Temple, Dajar.

It is ironic that when people are asked, what church they attend, they usually identify a parish building, – St. Mary’s or Holy Cross, – as their church rather than the Armenian Orthodox or Roman Catholic, Methodist, or another.

The Church is the body of Christ, of which Jesus Christ is the head. The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians (1:22-23) says, “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” The body of Christ is made up of all believers in Jesus Christ, from the day of Pentecost (Acts 2.) until Christ’s return.

Let’s take this one step further. The body of Christ is comprised of two aspects:
1) The Church Universal consists of all those who have been baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity into the Church: “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free —and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Corinthians 12:13).

2) The local church is described in Galatians (1:1-2): “Paul, an apostle … and all the brothers with me, to the churches in Galatia.” Here in the province of Galatia there were many local churches or parishes.

A Baptist church, an Orthodox church, a Catholic church, etc., is not the Church as in the Universal Church, but rather a local church, a local body of believers. The Universal Church is comprised of all those who belong to Jesus Christ and who have faith in Him for their salvation. The Armenian Church celebrates this on the second Sunday after Easter, Green Sunday, or the Sunday of the Universal Church.

The Book of Acts (2:42) can be a purpose statement for the church: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Accordingly, the purposes/activities of the Church should be 1) teaching biblical doctrine, 2) providing a place of fellowship for believers, 3) observing the Lord’s supper, and 4) praying.

The Great Commission given to the Apostles (Matthew 28:18-20.) and to all of us today is proclaiming the Gospel of salvation to all nations. While the Church is called to be faithful in sharing the Gospel through word and deed, it is to be a “lighthouse” in the community, pointing people toward our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Church – all of us – is to both promote the Gospel, and prepare its members to proclaim the Gospel (1 Peter 3:15).

And finally, purposes of the Church are also given in James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

St. Paul illustration to the believers in Corinth say that the Church is God’s hands, mouth, and feet in this world — the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). We are to be doing the things that Jesus Christ would do if he were here physically on the earth: to be “Christian,” “Christ-like,” and Christ-following.

So, the next time you gather as the Church for worship or for an organizational meeting, recall one or two of those “purpose statements” which hopefully will roll around in the back of your mind like a steel ball in a pinball machine, lighting up your circuits as you offer your prayers or discuss the business that is before you. Imagine what our Armenian Church would look like if we all paid attention to those passages.
Imagine!

Fr. Tateos Abdalian was the former Pastor of St. John Armenian Church of Milwaukee, WI,  in 1980s.