MC500 – day four

As we talked about the changes and developments from Jesus and the Kingdom of God through the Early Church into the Pre-Constantinian Church (AD 100-300), I am struck by the obvious increasingly formalization and the devolution of leadership.  I understand that increasing complexity and diversity necessitated the need for more organization, but I can’t help but to grieve what was lost by the process.  I’m particularly interested in the ontological change that Bishops (diocesan, metropolitan, etc…) and later Priests assumed.  Why did they assume that there was such a change and what did that do to the gathered body both practically and theologically?