1 Corinthians 11:8-22, especially vs. 18:
"For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it."
A cursory reading of today's Epistle reveals St. Paul addressing two distinct problems within the Corinthian church: should women be veiled during worship, and what ought to be the proper demeanor during the Lord's Supper? Still, these problems are one, in that both concerned a church and its worship as occasions for "contentions" and "divisions."
Recall the Prayer of the Anaphora in the present-day Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. The Priest prays on behalf of the congregation, "And grant us with one mouth and one heart to glorify and praise Thine all-honorable and majestic name: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." This liturgical petition for a united congregation captures well the spirit of St. Paul's notion of congregational worship which may be discerned through his rebuke of the Corinthians, for they clearly were not a community of "one mouth and one heart" in their worship.
The Apostle did not hesitate to uphold the distinctions between men and women in the Church with respect to hair, veils, and roles in life. However, it is equally clear that he was most definite about the interdependence and unity of men and women "in the Lord" (vs. 11).
Still, in this passage, the Apostle ‘steers a middle course' distinguishing between the roles of men and women on the one hand, but in the main, firmly standing for fundamental gender unity in Christ. Earlier, in chapter eleven, he praised the Corinthians for keeping "the traditions just as I delivered them to you" (1 Cor. 11:2). We can well believe that the Christians at Corinth had at least heard his teaching that "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28).
It seems clear that the women of the Corinthian congregation concluded that it was quite acceptable to abandon the use of veils or coverings for their hair during worship, and that they were asserting this deviation in custom on the basis of the Apostle's teaching concerning the unity of all believers in Christ. St. Paul, therefore, is quick to maintain that their break with tradition was contrary to the universal custom among "the churches of God;" women should be veiled for worship (vs. 16). He defends this from the created differences between males and females (vss. 8-9), "because of the angels" (vs.10), and on account of "nature itself" (vss. 14-15).
St. Paul was upholding veils for women because it was a culturally sensitive issue for Jewish Christians to encourage unity among Jews and Gentiles (vs. 16). His first concern was the contentions (vs.16). Hence, he was even sharper in admonishing the Corinthians for the blatant divisions manifest among them when they come together to "eat the Lord's Supper" (vs. 20).
The Eucharistic liturgies of the earliest Christian communities were arranged around a shared common meal, following the pattern of Jewish sacred meals, which included the formal blessing of cups before and after meals and the breaking of bread to open meals.
‘Sharing' in the love feast associated with the Lord's Supper was corrupted in the Corinthian church. Some were taking their "own supper ahead of others," which left their poorer brethren "hungry," while some of the brethren were getting "drunk" (vs. 21). St. Paul explodes angrily at their insensitivity to one another and at their disregard for the solemnity of their coming together for worship at the Lord's Supper. "Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you" (vs. 22). How could they "shame those who have nothing" (vs. 22)! It was a scandal that they were not expressing unity in worship. Orthodox worship is to be offered with "one heart and mouth."
O Lord, grant that with one accord we may make our common supplications unto Thee.