The Christian Reformers of the 15th & 16th centuries (people like Martin Luther and John Calvin) wrestled with the question of what was essential to the life of the church as the people of God, the body of Christ, the community of the Spirit.
Martin Luther (German Reformation) suggested that there were 7 things (marks):
• Preaching of the True Word of God
• Right Administration of Baptism
• Right Form of the Lord’s Supper
• Power of the Keys of the Kingdom (Right to Proclaim God’s Forgiveness)
• Rightful Calling & Ordination of Ministers
• Prayer & Hymn-Singing in the Vernacular (Language of the People)
• Suffering and Persecution
The Swiss Reformers (e.g. John Calvin) focussed on a reduced list which perhaps grouped some of Luther’s together:
• Proper Proclamation of the Gospel
• Right Administration of the Sacraments
• Proper Discipline within the Community
The Basis of Union of The Uniting Church in Australia describes the life of the community of faith as one of “worship, witness and service”. This description echoes a list from the early church which includes: leitourgia, kerygma, diakonia, koinonia (worship, proclamation, service, community). This list, in turn, has its basis in the account of church life found in Acts 2:41-47.
What would you describe as essential to the life of the church; or marking the church as church?
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