The word “Church” translates the Greek ekklesia, formed from ek, “out of”, and kaleô, “to call”. It refers to the assembly of those whom God calls. Its Hebrew equivalent is qahal, the assembly of Israel. Before being a building, the Church is therefore a community of people.
Three meanings of one word
Today, the word can refer to three different realities: the building where people meet, the universal Church, that is, all the Christians in the world, and the local Church, a community gathered in one place.
Which meaning comes first varies between traditions. A Catholic will think first of the universal Church, linked to the bishops. Many Protestants will think first of the local community. The study of the Church, its meaning and its organisation, is called ecclesiology.
The life of a local Church
The first Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). The calling of a local Church can be summed up in six words: worship, fellowship, teaching, sharing the faith, holiness and the participation of each person with their gifts (Romans 12:4-8). If one of these dimensions is missing, the Christian life becomes unbalanced. You can pray alone at home, but fellowship requires meeting together.
An organised assembly
The New Testament also shows organised Churches. Paul and Barnabas appoint elders in every Church (Acts 14:23), and the Church in Philippi has overseers and deacons (Philippians 1:1). The word episkopos, “bishop”, means “overseer”, diakonos, “deacon”, means “servant”, and poimên, “pastor”, means “shepherd”.
The pastor is first of all an elder, responsible for caring for the spiritual life of the members. But caring for one another, for example by visiting the sick, remains everyone’s business: the Church is first and foremost an assembly of people called by God.