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→II. Ecclesiology
The strains of the agape meal or the “Lord’s supper” and the eucharist combined by the mid-second century into one full ceremonial meal, simply called the eucharist. And surrounding that meal were the attendant ritual celebrated so as to insure the propriety, an issue that arose at least by the mid-first century as reflected in the Pauline correspondence with the Corinthian churches.
Hence, the Christian worship was divided according to its body and to its work. The first part was the liturgy of the catechumenate involving the reading of the scripture with a sermon, the second part was the liturgy of the faithful and the giving of the eucharist. The dismissal of the catechumens after the first division holds to this day in Orthodoxy and is a vestige of the ancient liturgy. This is the division which is more alike to that of the synagogue worship. Profession of faith, reading of Scripture, a homily of encouragement; each of these finds its place of origin in the synagogue.
Nonetheless, the liturgy of the faithful finds it necessary for the attendance of the bishop, the symbol of church unity. Of course, the Pauline emphasis on either the "one loaf" or on the "one cup" indicates a Christian unity in the people themselves. Also, it would be a mistake to think that the importance of the bishop excludes the members; indeed, all are a royal priesthood. Still, the celebratory nature of the eucharist does not diminish its importance as a "sacrament" the ''mysterion''.