Hi I was just wondering about the start of the church , I know that it says in the bible where Jesus says to Peter upon this rock I build my church or somthing like that
Jesus established the Church. Its first leaders were the Apostles. When Jesus returned into Heaven at the time of the Ascension, He gave the leadership of the Church to Peter. We see this in John 21:15-19, when Jesus tells Peter, “Feed my sheep,” and then “Feed my lambs,” and then again, “Feed my sheep.”
Jesus here is making Peter to be the “shepherd” (top leader) of His “sheep” (the Church).
We know from looking at history that the leadership of the Church did not end at Peter’s death - it continued with Linus, and then Cletus, and then Clement, and then other men in sequence, all the way down to the present day with Pope Benedict XVI.
There have also been many other organizations calling themselves “churches” that broke away from the Church (or were never part of it to begin with) - these organization do not partake in the authority that Jesus gave to Peter. The only people who can do that are those who remain connected to Peter (and thus, through Peter, to Jesus) - either in the direct line of Succession, as Popes, or else as a Bishop in full communion with the Pope. This is how Christ’s authority is passed to the Church. Those who separate themselves from the Church also separate themselves from Christ’s authority.
but the early Christians didn’t have a church they met in houses and stuff like that
The Church is not a building; the Church is the community of the faithful who believe in Christ and who (therefore, because they trust that Christ knows what He is doing) do not rebel against the authorities whom Christ has established.
The faithful can meet anywhere, of course. Nowadays we normally meet in church buildings because it is a convenient gathering place that has been purposely designed for the things that we do when we gather together.
