NOTES for Act 6:1-15
Today's reading describes the first problems in the history of the Church, which, like all other problems in human relationships, were connected with human sinfulness. They concerned those whom the Evangelist calls 'the widows of the Hellenists' (v. 1). In the synagogue and in the early Christian Church, Jews from the Greek-speaking diaspora were called Hellenists. There had always been a certain unspoken hierarchy in the synagogue, in which first place was given to the Jewish community of Judea and Jerusalem, while those from the diaspora, especially the Greek-speaking diaspora, held a less honored position. It is hardly surprising that this attitude eventually manifested itself at the Church's fraternal meals as well, provoking understandable indignation among the 'Hellenists': the Church was the last place where they expected to encounter discrimination of this kind. It should be noted that the corresponding Greek word does not mean 'distribution of necessities,' as reflected in the Russian Synodal translation—it only began to be used in that sense in the Middle Ages—but simply 'service.' Evidently this referred to the Church's gatherings, which took the form of fraternal meals centered on the breaking of bread, a practice widespread at that time not only in the Church but also among Jewish religious brotherhoods.
The apostles resolve this problem by proposing that the members of the early Christian community, which had already grown considerably in number, elect people to lead their gatherings. They in turn promise to lay hands on them and pray (vv. 2–3), which, according to the custom of the time, meant admitting these chosen ministers into the apostolic community (vv. 5–6). The purpose of this admission was to enlarge the apostolic community by including those who could take on the 'service of tables,' so that the apostles themselves could continue to devote themselves to the 'ministry of the word,' that is, preaching and witness (v. 4). Of course, the 'service of tables' included more than administrative and practical duties: it also entailed spiritual and pastoral responsibilities, since such a minister was to preside over community gatherings and bless the bread and wine at the breaking of bread. Responsibility for the community's spiritual life therefore rested on him as well. As a rule, however, no specifically missionary work was assigned to such a community leader, although the first ministers—the Greek name for them was deacons—were often, like Stephen, no less able as preachers than the apostles themselves (vv. 8–10).
Thus the Church's growing numbers and the imperfection of fallen human nature give rise to ecclesial structure. Yet even under these conditions, the early Christian Church, like the Church of the following two or three centuries, did not become an organization with a rigid hierarchy. It remained a movement of communities united above all by a common faith and spiritual life.