What do we mean by Church?

What do we mean by Church?

This was the subject of a recent lent group meeting I led. It might seem like a simple question with an obvious answer, but nothing could be further from the truth. Let's think first about some of the different meanings that we attach to the word;

1. The whole people of the Christian faith: "The Church of Christ, in every age..."(F. Pratt Green), "you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church" (Jesus).

2. A specific group of Christians: "Our church is growing", "I've been part of/going to this church for most of my life"

3. The people of the Christian faith in a particular place: (often coupled with the name of the denomination, the name of a saint and/or the type of area ): e.g. Somewhereton Methodist Church,  'Somewhereton Parish Church', 'Saint Somebody's Church of Somewhereton'

4. A specific denomination of Christians: e.g. Methodist Church, Anglican Church, Baptist Church, Pentecostal etc.

5. The gathering of Christians for the purpose of worship: "On Sunday I am going to Church"

6. The building in which Christians gather. "This church is a good example of neo-classical architecture", "the church roof needs repairs" 

7. The room or sanctuary within that building where worship is normally held: "Shall we have the meeting in the hall or the church?", "After a series of conversations in separate rooms we will gather again in the church for prayer."

8. The distinction between established and free church congregations: "Are you church or chapel?"

9. The leadership, clergy or governing body of the Christian community, either locally or globally: "The Church has decided...", "You are under the discipline of the church", "After many years working in business he decided to enter the Church"

• How many of these meanings do you use? 
• How many have you heard in conversation? 
• What meanings are missing from this list?

It's easy to differentiate between some usages of the word 'church', others may need some clarification; 

We can talk about local 'church' and global 'Church' - that's no problem. 

'The Baptist Church' is the part of the whole Church that call themselves Baptist. However if you are standing in a particular town and you say ' I like the Baptist Church', someone might think you mean the specific Baptist Church in their town as opposed to the Methodist or Anglican etc. rather than the Baptist Church globally or nationally. 

If we talk about Somewhereton Methodist Church, we know that we are talking about the congregation of Methodists in Somewhereton. However we might mean the building rather than the congregation.

'Church or chapel' could refer to buildings, but really it is a historic hangover from a time when the Church of England was seen as the proper church, and Methodists in particular were seen as for the lower/working classes. There are benefits for Methodists in being seen as the rebel, as sticking up for the working class, as not being the posh or established Church, but really it's an unhealthy and confusing distinction that in my opinion needs to be retired. Is this something you encounter much and how do you feel about it?

There are many other areas we could explore further, but I want to concentrate for a moment on the distinction between church as building and church as the people - and in particular the hidden dangers of maintaining the confusion within our language. Most Christians will tell you, if pressed for an answer, that the church is the people not the building, would you? Knowing that is one thing, but our language often betrays the truth that we are still confused about the issue. Our use of words also feeds our theology. We say the people are the Church, but we still talk about 'going to Church', we still talk about 'going home from church' at the 'end of church'.

Part of the confusion comes from the notion that the church is not just people, but the 'gathered people'. As we gather in a building so the building get's muddled with the notion of the gathering. There is a subtle but important difference between 'going to church' (by which we often mean worship) and 'going to the church' (by which we are more likely to mean going to the building).

Either way, the directional nature of our language implies that the community of believers only exists as the church when they are in the building.  If we mean the community of believers then it is not somewhere we can go, but something of which we are constantly a part. If we mean the community of believers then it is not somewhere we go, but something we are constantly a part of. When we speak of going to church It denies the missional, called out and sent out nature of the Church and it denies the importance of house groups, groups that meet in pubs, cafés, open fields and office buildings. When we speak of Church as the calling, sending, transforming community that engages with the deepest issues of the world - when we truly believe that to be the case, that deeper understanding of what Church is, makes the notion of 'going to' it nonsensical. 

There are some ironies about how we got to this place of confusion. The first irony is that the Greek word, Ekklesia, which we translate from the New Testament as church, literally means 'called out'. Yes, there is a notion of people being called to a gathering within that word, but the direction is 'out' - called out from our homes, called out from the mundane and the ordinary, called out to something special. The second irony is that the word 'church' doesn't originate from ekklesia itself but from another Greek word, 'kyriakos' - literally 'the lord's thing'. Some early communities of Christians started calling the places where they met kyriakos, which over time and translation into different languages became church. The translation of ekklesia to 'church' has not always been standard in English. Whilst, Wycliffe, Geneva, Douay and the KJV all translate ekklesia as 'church' or 'chirche', Tyndale, Coverdale and Bishop's translated as 'congregacion' or 'congregation'. There are more language questions to explore, like what 'words are used in the Old Testament for assemblies?' and 'what does synagogue mean?' but for now let me leave you with these more general questions;

• What effect does these language problems have on our discipleship as congregations?
• How does it affect the way that non Christians view 'the church'?
• What do you mean when you say church?
• What words might you use to clarify between building and people?
• Should we change the words we use and what different words might you choose?

The Church needs to learn how to have Godly fun

It is right that the Church is a community that deals with serious issues, a community that takes serious things seriously; it is right that the Church looks to challenging injustice, healing the sick, freeing the oppressed and finding food and shelter for the poor and homeless. It is right that the Church takes these things seriously and it is right that the Church takes seriously its own capacity to get these things wrong; to oppress and to cause harm. But surely the Church is about serving the whole human being not just solving the problems.

Some of the Church is just serious or even miserable for no good reason - and some of the Church has a sense of fun that isn’t really as healthy as we might think. There is that 'worthy' sense of joy that many Christians get out of doing good to others and being good people. There is a sense of fun that, from the inside of the fold seems like wholesome, clean and holy fun. However, it is also a sense of fun that often comes across as dismissive or aloof to those on the outside - and as disingenuous to those who may be hurting, either in spite of or even because of their experience of Church.

I believe that what we need is more of that joy that digs deep into the well of human experience; that laughs alongside the broken hearted and the lost; that sees godliness in the laughter of the drunk and the deep holy reverence of the person who dances long into the night in celebration of the fleeting experience that is a human life. We need this more than the kind of joy that revels in judging itself superior to such lower people. We need the joy of singing our hearts out in the karaoke bars and in the back seats of cars; we need the joy of the ones singing football chants in the stadium as well as the ones who bristle with joy at the complex rhythms of a jazz tune or feel their hearts lift as the protest singer sings out ‘we shall overcome'. We need this so much more than the self righteous joy that will not laugh at a joke because it contains a rude word, that cannot bear the laughter of people with short skirts and long nails, that is immune – inoculated against the effects of a samba beat upon their feet and panics at the ambiguity of sophisticated humour.

Christ ate with sinners and associated with outcasts and in amongst all the other stuff was washed by prostitutes, met politics with satire, shared food and drink with friends and was accused of gluttony by religious leaders. He went to parties and told stories about banquets, weddings, new wine and young women.

Ecclesiastes said there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance - I wonder, what time is it for you and where do you find true joy in your life?

The Long and Winding Road

            As a minister I often find myself staring at maps. Sometimes it is to work out how to get to someone I am going to visit, or to find the location of a Church at which I am preaching. For those travelling by car it is usually easiest these days to put a postcode into a Sat Nav and point the car in the right direction. As a minister who doesn't drive, my relationship with maps is a little more complex. When my wife is driving, I am usually the navigator and then it's mainly a case of using Google Maps on my 'smart phone'. But if I need to visit someone I may be considering walking, going by bus or getting on my bike. So then I study the map a little more carefully, I look to see how straight the roads are, how steep the hills are, how bumpy the tracks. I look to see if there are paths between the roads and tracks that go across the fields. I need to consult timetables for busses, I use Google maps' satellite image option to find those handy little pathways between houses that aren't on the printed maps and I need to take into account the possibility that my bike may not be welcome along the path that I have chosen.

            All these things help me decide which route to take and which mode of transport will be the most appropriate, but there is more to it than that. Sometimes I need to choose a route and a mode of transport based on what I need to take with me and sometimes I choose a route that helps me to see something new about the community, to let me bump into new people and see places I haven't seen before. I also use my map studying time to help me understand things about the local community. Seeing where the shops and the pubs are, where the schools and churches are, and where people go to work. I even seek out historical maps to help me understand how a place has grown over time. All these things say a lot about a community.

            In the same way the routes we choose in life show people a great deal about our intended destinations and they also say a lot about how we intend to get there; The metaphorical routes as well as the physical ones. When we choose products in the supermarket it affects people across the world, when we choose a bank account or a utility company do we just choose the cheapest or do we also consider the environment and our impact on developing countries? What truths do we carry with us as we travel through life? What burdens? When we look back over the route maps of our lives will they tell a story about how we wanted to get to where we wanted to go by the easiest route? Or will they speak of generosity, hospitality, a love for God's creation and a concern for the stranger who needed our help?