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The second, less permanent, concept was that of ''koinonia'' or "communion." This was less permanent because, after the fourth century, when it was analyzed and integrated into a theological system, the bond and "oneness" that united the [[clergy]] and the [[laity|faithful]] in liturgical worship was less potent. It is, however, one of the key ideas for understanding a number of realities for which we now have different names. With regard to musical performance, this concept of koinonia may be applied to the primitive use of the word choros. It referred, not to a separate group within the congregation entrusted with musical responsibilities, but to the congregation as a whole. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote to the Church in Ephesus in the following way:

A marked feature of liturgical ceremony was the active part taken by the people in its performance, particularly in the recitation or chanting of hymns, responses, and psalms. The terms ''choros'', ''koinonia'', and ''ekklesia'' were used synonymously in the early Byzantine Church. In [[Psalms]] 149 and 150, the [[Septuagint]] translates the Hebrew word ''machol'' (dance) by the Greek word ''choros''. As a result, the early Church borrowed this word from classical antiquity as a designation for the congregation, at worship and in song, both in heaven and on earth. Before long, however, a clericalizing tendency soon began to manifest itself in linguistic usage, particularly after the [[Council of Laodicea]], whose fifteenth [[Canaon Law|Canon]] permitted only the canonical ''psaltai'' ("[[chanter]]s") to sing at the services. The word ''choros'' came to refer to the special [[priest]]ly function in the [[Divine Liturgy|Liturgy]]—just as, architecturally speaking, the choir became a reserved area near the [[sanctuary]]—and ''choros'' eventually became the equivalent of the word ''kleros''.