From this week’s newsletter:
What do you think of when I ask, “What is the church?” Do you think of a building? An local or national institution? Maybe something theological like, “the invisible body of all believers on Earth?”
How would your answer change if instead I asked, “Who is the church?” Would you think of a group of people – maybe even
our worshiping community? Maybe someone specific who has been Christ for you?
That’s an oddly worded question, isn’t it? But the word “Who?” expects an answer that’s alive. It seeks a name. It directs us beyond wood and steel and organizational structure to something that’s alive. Messy. Organic. Human. We’ve been asking that question lately. I hope you’ll join us this Sunday for Part 2 of “Big Questions for a New, Emerging Church: WHO is the church?” where we’ll talk about this important question.
We will vote this Sunday after worship on the proposed name “Spirit of Grace Lutheran Church.” I hope you can attend this brief meeting, but if not feel free to submit your vote via email or written note at the office through Friday.
May you encounter Jesus in other people this week,
Pastor Ted Carnahan
Read the rest of this week’s newsletter >
Pastor Ted,
I might challenge you to rephrase the question to What is Church? As if being church requires both identity and action. The added “the” makes me think of the grander universal (catholic) church were as with out the “the” I think of how we are being Church together.
Claire
Thanks for your thoughtful comment, Claire. I intended to convey the idea that our particular church, though without a building, is in fact part of the universal church. You bring up a good point for those in the theological know (as I know you are, my friend). When we speak of “church” do we mean “a church” (congregation) or part of “the church” (universal, invisible body of believers) or even what some in the ELCA call “this church” (our particular denomination) ? I agree with you that church is both identity and action, and I hope my message communicated that.
This is such a great question to ask and I applaud you for doing it. The reason? Most people think of church as an object, an “it” if you will. She is a real person, her name is Ekklesia and she is the Bride that He will be marrying in the end. A great book for this is “From Eternity to Here” by Frank Viola.
Hope you all have great meetings about this!…
Thanks for visiting, Michael. The New Testament uses the Greek word Ekklesia, but that term is not a name, it’s a term for an assembly of people for a given purpose. In fact, the Greek translation of the Old Testament in use during Jesus’ years on Earth uses that word to describe the people of Israel. The New Testament generally intends ekklesia to refer to the body of believers. Usually that’s a term for a local group, but especially in Ephesians the idea does come across as a universal, invisible church. Nevertheless, the bodily and personal terms used for the church are metaphors meant to describe God’s relationship to real communities of Christ followers.
Thanks a lot for your insight and clarification. Here’s the text from the book I referenced…
“So who is this lovely bride? Who is this one for whom your Lord died so that He could obtain her hand and win her heart? Who is this one whom Jesus Christ chose before time to unleash the passion of His being? Behold the mystery: She is the church. And her name is ekklesia. And you, dear Christian, are part of her!”
You said the term describes “the people of Israel.” Isn’t that the whole church? Also, are you saying the bride of Christ is not a person, but a metaphor?
This is a great conversation to have and get straight since it deals with God’s ultimate purpose. Thanks!