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__NOTOC__{{quote | text=The church is not a building. Nor is it an organisation or human institution. The church is simply the people whose sins have been forgiven through their faith Jesus Christ... (An extract from the book [[Once a Catholic]] by [[Tony Coffey]])}}{{Infobox_Contents | topic_name = Church / Ecclesiology[[Image:Christians at lourdes.jpg|thumb|center|Christians at [[Lourdes]].]] | subtopics = [[Nature of the church]]* [[Mission of the church]]* [[Church Terms Index]]* Contemporary Ecclesiology Issues and Terminology - [[Megachurch]], [[Home church]], [[Emerging church]], [[Incarnational church]]* [[Church building]]* [[Church history]]* [[Denominations]]* [[World-wide church directory]]* [[Church service]] | opinion_pieces = [[Church (discussion)]]* {{ebd}}* [[What is the Church? (G.G.)]]* [[The Theology of the Church (AmericanCatholic)]]* [[The Church (justforcatholics.org)]] |}} The word '''church''' is used in many different ways. The '''church''' is the Christian community of believers, that is, it is the people. Sometimes the word '''church''' is also used to refer to a [[church building]] (the building used in [[Christian]] [[worship]]) or a [[church service]] (the weekly meeting of a group of Christians in a church building) or to a church [[denomination]]. '''Ecclesiology''' means the study of the doctrine of the church. ===Etymology=== The Greek word ekklesia ([[Εκκλησια]]) is translated as "church" in English.
{{quote This word ekklesia was used in ancient [[Koine Greek| text=The church is not Greek]] to mean "gathering" or "assembly" in a political sense. In the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, the [[LXX]], the word ekklesia occurs over 200 times (usually as a buildingtranslation from the Hebrew word qahal), most commonly to refer to the assembly of the covenant people of God. Nor is In the [[New Testament]] the word ekklesia occurs in the [[gospels]] only twice ([[Matthew 16:16]] and [[Matthew 18:20]]), but it an organisation or human institutionoccurs many times elsewhere in the [[New Testament]]. The church is simply nothing
==Synopsis==The English word "church" itself is actually derived from the Old English word "cirice" (which is related to the [[Greek]] word "κυριακή" which means "of the Lord")
[[Image:Christians at lourdes.jpg|thumb|Christians marching ===Uses of the word "church" in a procession at [[Lourdes]].]]common English===
A [[TIn English, the word "church building]] " means different things to different people in different contexts. It can be used in reference to a gathering of people for a religious meeting. It is also sometimes used to refer to a peice building or group of crap used in buildings, and occasionally it refers to an entire [[Christian]] [[worshipdenomination]]. The It can also be used in an institutional sense to refer to all churches, such as "... the church is the Christian community of poofacestoday...."
{{also}} {{ebd}}There are a variety of understandings about what the church actually is.
{{topics}}* The context in which the word [[Church buildingekklesia]]* [[Church history]]* [[Denominations]]* [[World-wide (church) is used in the Bible suggests that it was not originally intended to mean a building or an organization, but instead was intended to primarily mean a congregation or meeting of God's people. Thus the church directory]]* [[Church Terms Index]], although consisting of the community of believers, is not simply the community of believers, but also includes activity.
{{quotes}}The Bible uses the term church in both a local and universal nature. Mostly the word refers to local churches, for example, the church in Rome or Antioch. Quite often it is spoken about the plural. On a few occasions the New Testament uses the word in a general or universal sense.
==Main article==Throughout church history, starting with [[Augustine]], the church has sometimes been spoken about in terms of the "invisible church" as opposed to the "visible church". The invisible church basically means the community or collection of true believers in Jesus regardless of denominational affiliation. The term visible church is used to refer to the physical countable members or leaders that make up a church or group of churches. Many Protestant churches tend to emphasize the invisible church, and view this as something quite distinct from the visible church. The Roman Catholic Church, on the other hand, teaches that the invisible church and visible church are very closely connected, although there is recognition that some elements of the invisible church can be present outside the visible Roman Catholic church.<ref>[[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]]: [http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070629_responsa-quaestiones_en.html Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine of the Church], 2007, second and third question.</ref>
The word "church" is derived through Middle and Old English cirice, circe from the ===[[Greek]] κυριακον (δωμα) Lord's (house). However, most English versions Mission of the New Testament use the word "church" to translate [[ecclesia]] (Greek ἐκκλησία "congregation, assembly", a word originally used without specific reference to religious gatherings).===
In English, the word The church's mission can be used in reference summarized as to a gathering of people for a religious meeting, but is sometimes used to refer bring glory to a building or group God through humanity mirroring God’s own holy character of buildings. It is also used to refer to a love<ref>[[denominationStanley J. Grenz]] that places , ''[[Theology for the leadership Community of all congregations in a central locationGod]]'' (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, such as the "Roman Catholic Church". It can also be used in an institutional sense to refer to all churches2000), such as ".489.</ref>. This involves:# Honourable worship to God# Building up of each other within the church today...." # Reaching out into the world through service and evangelism
removed video - has been taken down. removed categories Videos & Pages with YouTube content
From the Greek root ekklesia, the English word Ecclesiology is derived, which is the study of the doctrine of the church.
==Contents=[[Nature of the Church]]===
Furthermore, although consisting of people, the church is not simply an instution created by people. In [[Matthew 16:18]] Jesus spoke about building '''his''' church and later, in [[Matthew 18:20]] he spoke about being present among the church: ''{{opinionsBible verse|matthew|16|18|lang=WEB}}* [[What is the Church? '' (G.G.Matthew 16:18)]]* [[The Church : ''{{Bible verse|matthew|18|20|lang=WEB}}'' (justforcatholics.orgMatthew 18:20)]]
===[[Church building]]===
Image:DCP 4427.jpg|The main church in [[Echmiadzin]], the physical centre of the [[Armenian Orthodox Church]]
Image:Wittenburg church door gg.jpg|The door of the famous church in [[Wittenburg]] where [[Martin Luther]] is thought to have nailed his [[95 Theses]] to the door
Image:Olney church.jpg|This is the The church in [[Olney]] where [[John Newton]], author of the priest raped that kid...hymn [[Amazing Grace (song)|Amazing Grace]] worked
Image:Stanfordmemorialchurch.jpg|Stanford Memorial Church in [[California]]
Image:Trinity baptist colonel light gardens.jpg|A small local church, [[Trinity Baptist Church (Colonel Light Gardens, South Australia)|Trinity Baptist Church]] in [[Adelaide]], [[Australia]], once known as the "City of Churches"
Since the church was formed after the resurrection of Jesus, major events and conflict, often over matters of [[doctrine]] have resulted in significant rifts. Initially the early Christians spread the good news of Jesus throughout the Roman empire and small congregations of Christians sprang up in many towns. Rome soon became the geographical centre of the church. However, there was a rift between the Church in Greece and the one in Rome that slowly developed over centuries culminating in a schism in 1054 AD. Later, in sixteenth century, Christians in northern Europe split from the Roman church, an event known as the [[Reformation]]. Today there seems to be a bewildering array of [[denominations]]. Some of the larger ones include [[Roman Catholicism]], the Greek and Russian [[Eastern Orthodox|Orthodox]] churches and the wide variety of [[Protestant]] churches.
==Quotes==
[[Once a Catholic]] by [[Tony Coffey]]
: The church is not a building. Nor is it an organisation or human institution. The church is simply the people whose sins have been forgiven through their faith Jesus Christ.
Lenny Bruce
: Every day people are straying away from the church and going back to God.
Charles de Lint
: Why did men worship in churches, locking themselves away in the dark, when the world lay beyond its doors in all its real glory?
Robert Short
: The church is the great lost and found department.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
: I like the silence of a church, before the service begins better than any preaching.
George Mueller
: An unvisited church will sooner or later become an unhealthy church.
Ignatius of Antioch
: Where the bishop, there the church (''Ubi episcopus, ibi ecclesia.'')
Eugene de Mazenod
: To love Jesus Christ means to love the church
== References ==
<references />
==Links==
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church Wikipedia - Church]
* [http://sharingknowledge.org/wb/pages/bible-teachings/fundamental-doctrines.php Sharing knowledge - Church]
{{returnto}} [[Christianity]]
[[Category:Theology]]
