What Do You Mean By Church

People have asked me over time where I go to church. Sometimes I will tell them that I don’t ‘go’ anywhere to church, I am always at church. And they usually look at me with a puzzled look on their face.

I know that they are asking me “which building do I attend on Sunday morning?” But my understanding of the meaning of church runs much deeper than the group people see once a week.

The term used in the New Testament that we translate as church is Ecclesia. To better understand what the New Testament writers meant when they were writing about church, it is helpful to understand what the definition of Ecclesia is.

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesia

Ecclesia (lat) is a term derived from the Greek root ekklesia [εκκλησία], which literally means a "gathering" of citizens, in an ancient Greek city-state, or a "called-out assembly"; usually defined as "gathering of the called-out ones"^[1] or “gathering of those summoned”^[2]. Theologically it has been equated from the New Testament passages, originally written in Greek language, as the Church (though the origin of the term "Church" is the Greek root kyriakon [from kyriake, kyriakos; kyrios; kyros])^[3] and also as the Body of Christ, a view which reflects a deeper Spiritual and invisible dimension into the use of the term Ecclesia.

I know… you are reading this and wondering what all of this means… basically in the early years of the church, they did not refer to specific buildings or denominations but rather a gathering of people who were following Christ. And this gathering could happen at any time or any place… they just needed to meet with each other and talk about Christ. As a Christian, we are all members of the Body of Christ. So where ever we go, that is where the Church is.

So to answer the question “Where do I go to church?” The answer would be “Anywhere I go because I am a Christian.”

Peace,

Lisa Ellwoods

Pastor Jacob’s Well