|
Q&A Home > C > Church > First Church Built When was the first church built in Christianity? To answer this question, we must consider not only the structural building of the church, but also the meaning of "church". A church is the assembly of Christian believers uniting in prayer, worship, doctrine, and liturgical rites. The first Christian church was established in the home of St. Mark the Evangelist. It is in this home that the Lord Jesus Christ performed many of the rites of the first Liturgy, which included the first Eucharist (recorded in all the accounts of the Holy Gospel) and the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Pentecost Feast (Acts 2). It is also noteworthy to remember that St. Mark wrote the first liturgy, which was initially written in Greek, but later translated into Coptic by St. Cyril I, the Pillar of Faith and 24th Pope of Alexandria and the See of St. Mark. After the Lord's ascension, St. Mark's home continued to be the place where the apostles gathered for prayer (Acts 12:13). In St. Paul's epistles, he often wrote to churches located in different cities. In Romans 16, St. Paul mentions Phoebe, the consecrated sister, "a servant of the church in Cenchrea." In his letter to Philemon, St. Paul mentions Philemon and others and "the church at your (Philemon's) house." At the conclusion of his letter to the church at Corinth, he bids them farewell, and says, "Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house" (1 Corinthians 16:19). As communities grew, the church building also expanded. Thus, the first churches began in a similar way as we establish a church for a new community today. In the 3rd century, St. Helen had many churches built in the names of the martyrs at the location or near the area where they were martyred. At this time, her son, Emperor Constantine had made Christianity the official religion of Roman Empire.
|  |