Joint Decision-making of Believers in the Early Church

The article deals with three thematic areas concerning joint decision-making in church communities of the first Christian century. The first is the establishment of the hierarchical ministers of the Church. These were most often elected, as evidenced by the Acts of the Apostles in the case of the Apostle Matthias and the group of seven deacons. The Didache also entrusts to church communities the appointment of bishops and deacons. The second area is the joint participation of believers in carrying out the most serious criminal measures to exclude those who have committed the most serious offenses from the church community. Finally, the most significant example of the system of common meetings for the adoption of decisions in the early Church is the Apostolic Council, reported in the Acts of the Apostles. The aim of the council was to resolve the controversial question of whether the newly baptized members who had been formerly pagans must be circumcised and must follow other Torah regulations. According to Luke, the council issued a decree that describes the Holy Spirit as the one who immediately inspired the final decision of the council.