There is only one passage in the New Testament that refers to the early Church breaking bread on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7), but a closer examination of the context reveals that it actually refers to Saturday night after the Sabbath had finished at sunset. Furthermore, breaking bread simply meant sharing a normal meal, the phrase coming from the observation that a meal officially began when someone had broken off a piece of bread.

Many Bible commentators incorrectly insist that breaking bread specifically implied a communion ceremony and that Acts 20:7 proves that the Church met every Sunday to take communion. While there is a yearly ritual of partaking of wine with unleavened bread, which is symbolically broken, this practice was never called "breaking bread" and was only done once each year on Passover to commemorate the date of Jesus Christ's suffering and death (see The Passover: Why Did Jesus Have to Die?). The New Testament consistently records the early Church meeting on the seventh day of the week, Saturday, and observing the Sabbath in fulfillment of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11).

Acts 20:7 says, "On the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight."

This is the only reference to the early Church meeting on "the first day of the week," but the Greek phrase, literally translated, is "one of the Sabbaths." The word translated "week" is sabbaton — a Greek transliteration of the plural Hebrew word for Sabbaths. The usual custom of the Church was to meet for worship every Sabbath (Acts 13:14, Acts 13:44, Acts 16:13, Acts 17:2, Acts 18:4), not Sunday. For a more thorough study of which day of worship the Bible supports both in the Old and New Testaments, see our free study aid Sunset to Sunset: God's Sabbath Rest.

Notice also that in Acts 20:7 there is no elaboration on the practice of breaking bread and no indication that it was any kind of formal service or communion. It is mentioned only casually in passing, and not revered as something particularly important, such as a holy act of worship. The same sense is conveyed in Acts 2:42-46, which says that the Church "continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread . . . continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart" (emphasis added). In Acts 27:33-35, Paul "broke bread" with his Roman captors, who were not even Christians, further showing that to break bread was not a uniquely Christian expression or a specific religious practice.

We conclude that Acts 20:7 describes an occasion when the early Church came together on a Saturday, the Sabbath, which was their usual day of worship. During their fellowship, they shared a meal, colloquially known as breaking bread. Paul continued speaking with them long into the night after the Sabbath ended at sunset because he was about to leave the next day and wanted to make the most of his time with them.