Decisions had to be made from time to time as to where or when services of the
church would be held; the
church needed to be told of the impending visit of an apostle, or of some prophet or teacher from abroad; a question has been raised as to the good faith of one of these visitors, and there must be some discussion of the point and a decision on it; a fellow Christian from another
church is on a journey and needs hospitality; a member of the local congregation planning to visit a
church abroad needs a letter of introduction to that
church, which someone must be authorized to provide; a serious dispute about property rights or some other legal matter has arisen between two of the brothers and the
church must name someone to help them settle the issue or must in some other way deal with it; a new local magistrate has begun to prosecute Christians for violating the law
against unlicensed assembly, and consideration must be given to ways and means of meeting this crisis;
charges have been
brought against one of the members by another member, and these must be investigated and perhaps some disciplinary action taken; one of the members has died, and the
church is called on for some special action in behalf of his family in the emergency; differences of opinion exist in the
church on certain questions of morals or belief (such as marriage and divorce, or the resurrection), differences which local prophets and teachers are apparently unable to compose, and a letter must be written to the apostle — who will write this letter and what exactly will it say?
18 Paul from whom this group stemmed was bishop of Samosata and viceroy under Queen Zenobia of Palmyra; he was condemned for heresy by two synods (264, 269); and one of the incidental
charges brought against him was that he trained women to sing in the
church choir.
She said her office has been unable to
bring charges against some individuals who have made threats
against schools and
churches because of gaps in state law.