Church (congregation)

Last updated June 06, 2024

A church (or local church) is a religious organization or congregation that meets in a particular location. Many are formally organized, with constitutions and by-laws, maintain offices, are served by clergy or lay leaders, and, in nations where this is permissible, often seek non-profit corporate status.

Local churches often relate with, affiliate with, or consider themselves to be constitutive parts of denominations, which are also called churches in many traditions. Depending on the tradition, these organizations may connect local churches to larger church traditions, ordain and defrock clergy, define terms of membership and exercise church discipline, and have organizations for cooperative ministry such as educational institutions and missionary societies. Non-denominational churches are not part of denominations, but may consider themselves part of larger church movements without institutional expression.

The word church may also be used for other religious communities. For non-Christian communities the term may be considered archaic or even offensive, negating existing terms such as synagogue or mosque used to refer to their community or place of worship.^{[ citation needed ]}

History

The word church is used in the sense of a distinct congregation in a given city in slightly under half of the 200 uses of the term in the New Testament.^[1] John Locke defined a church as "a voluntary society of men, joining themselves together of their own accord in order to the public worshipping of God in such manner as they judge acceptable to him".^[2]^[3]

A local church may be run using congregationalist polity and may be associated with other similar congregations in a denomination or convention, as are the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention or like German or Swiss Landeskirchen. It may be united with other congregations under the oversight of a council of pastors as are Presbyterian churches. It may be united with other parishes under the oversight of bishops, as are Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches. Finally, the local church may function as the lowest subdivision in a global hierarchy under the leadership of one bishop, such as the pope (the bishop of Rome) of the Roman Catholic Church. Such association or unity is a church's ecclesiastical polity.

Etymology

The Greek word ekklēsia , literally "called out" or "called forth" and commonly used to indicate a group of individuals called to gather for some function, in particular an assembly of the citizens of a city, as in Acts 19:32–41, is the New Testament term referring to the Christian Church (either a particular local congregation or the whole body of the faithful). In the Septuagint, the Greek word "ἐκκλησία" is used to translate the Hebrew "קהל" (qahal). Most Romance and Celtic languages use derivations of this word, either inherited or borrowed from the Latin form ecclesia.

The English language word "church" is from the Old English word cirice, derived from West Germanic *kirika, which in turn comes from the Greek κυριακήkuriakē, meaning "of the Lord" (possessive form of κύριοςkurios "ruler" or "lord"). Kuriakē in the sense of "church" is most likely a shortening of κυριακὴ οἰκίαkuriakē oikia ("house of the Lord") or ἐκκλησία κυριακήekklēsia kuriakē ("congregation of the Lord").^[4] Some grammarians and scholars say that the word has uncertain roots and may derive from the Anglo-Saxon "kirke" from the Latin "circus" and the Greek "kuklos" for "circle", which shape is the form in which many religious groups met and gathered.^[5] Christian churches were sometimes called κυριακόνkuriakon (adjective meaning "of the Lord") in Greek starting in the fourth century, but ekklēsia and βασιλική basilikē were more common.^[6]

The word is one of many direct Greek-to-Germanic loans of Christian terminology, via the Goths. The Slavic terms for "church" (Old Church Slavonic црькꙑ [crĭky], Russian церковь [cerkov’], Slovenian cerkev) are via the Old High German cognate chirihha.^{[ citation needed ]}^{[ further explanation needed ]}

Description

Among congregational churches, since each local church is autonomous, there are no formal lines of responsibility to organizational levels of higher authority. Deacons of each church are elected by the congregation. In some Baptist congregations, for example, deacons function much like a board of directors or executive committee authorized to make important decisions. Although these congregations typically retain the right to vote on major decisions such as purchasing or selling property, large spending, and the hiring or firing of pastors and other paid ministers. In many such local churches, the role of deacons includes pastoral and nurturing responsibilities. Typically, congregational churches have informal worship styles, less structured services, and may tend toward modern music and celebrations.^[7]^[8]

Local churches united with others under the oversight of a bishop are normally called "parishes", by Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran communions. Each parish usually has one active parish church, though seldom and historically more than one. The parish church has always been fundamental to the life of every parish community, especially in rural areas. For example, in the Church of England, parish churches are the oldest churches to be found in England. A number are substantially of Anglo-Saxon date and all subsequent periods of architecture are represented in the country. Most parishes have churches that date back to the Middle Ages. Thus, such local churches tend to favor traditional, formal worship styles, liturgy, and classical music styles, although modern trends are common as well.

Local parishes of the Roman Catholic Church, like episcopal parishes, favor formal worship styles, and still more traditional structure in services. The importance of formal office is also a distinctive trait; thus a solemn mass may include the presence of officers of the Knights of Columbus as an escort for the regional bishop when he is present. Likewise, vestments are valued to inculcate the solemnity of the Holy Eucharist and are typically more elaborate than in other churches.

A local church may also be a mission, that is a smaller church under the sponsorship of a larger congregation, a bishop, or a greater church hierarchy. Often congregational churches prefer to call such local mission churches "church plants."

A local church may also work in association with parachurch organizations. While parachurch organizations/ministries are vital to accomplishing specific missions on behalf of the church they do not normally take the place of the local church.

Church asylum

The Catholic Church has long offered housing to asylum seekers in the form of church asylum. In this tradition, the church provides sanctuary to asylum seekers for a short duration on their congregation's premises.^[9]

Related Research Articles

A church, church building, or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256.

Congregational polity, or congregationalist polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of ecclesiastical polity in which every local church (congregation) is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or "autonomous". Its first articulation in writing is the Cambridge Platform of 1648 in New England.

An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. The word "bishop" here is derived via the British Latin and Vulgar Latin term *ebiscopus/*biscopus, from the Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος epískopos meaning "overseer". It is the structure used by many of the major Christian Churches and denominations, such as the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Anabaptist, Lutheran, and Anglican churches or denominations, and other churches founded independently from these lineages. Many Methodist denominations have a form of episcopal polity known as connexionalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parish</span> Ecclesiastical subdivision of a diocese

A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or more curates, and who operates from a parish church. Historically, a parish often covered the same geographical area as a manor. Its association with the parish church remains paramount.

Presbyterianpolity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply. Groups of local churches are governed by a higher assembly of elders known as the presbytery or classis; presbyteries can be grouped into a synod, and presbyteries and synods nationwide often join together in a general assembly. Responsibility for conduct of church services is reserved to an ordained minister or pastor known as a teaching elder, or a minister of the word and sacrament.

The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it had approximately 37,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers.

A pastor is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Anglicanism, pastors are always ordained. In Methodism, pastors may be either licensed or ordained.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of 2022, it has approximately 2.9 million baptized members in 8,640 congregations.

Congregationalism is a Protestant, Reformed (Calvinist) tradition in which churches practice congregational government; where each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs.

In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus Christ. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a synonym for Christianity, despite the fact that it is composed of multiple churches or denominations, many of which hold a doctrinal claim of being the "one true church" to the exclusion of the others.

A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is sometimes called a house of worship. Temples, churches, mosques, and synagogues are examples of structures created for worship. A monastery may serve both to house those belonging to religious orders and as a place of worship for visitors. Natural or topographical features may also serve as places of worship, and are considered holy or sacrosanct in some religions; the rituals associated with the Ganges river are an example in Hinduism.

In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its polity, its discipline, its eschatology, and its leadership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minister (Christianity)</span> Religious occupation in Christianity

In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community. The term is taken from Latin minister. In some church traditions the term is usually used for people who have been ordained, but in other traditions it can also be used for non-ordained.

In Christianity, worship is the act of attributing reverent honour and homage to God. In the New Testament, various words are used to refer to the term worship. One is proskuneo which means to bow down to God or kings.

The Cambridge Platform is a statement of congregational church government for the churches of colonial New England. It was written in 1648 in response to Presbyterian criticism and served as the religious constitution of Massachusetts until 1780. The platform's preface also endorsed the Westminster Confession. The document was shaped primarily by the Puritan ministers Richard Mather and John Cotton.

Koinonia is a transliterated form of the Greek word κοινωνία, which refers to concepts such as fellowship, joint participation, partnership, the share which one has in anything, a gift jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution. In the Politics of Aristotle it is used to mean a community of any size from a single family to a polis. As a polis, it is the Greek for republic or commonwealth. In later Christianity it identifies the idealized state of fellowship and unity that should exist within the Christian church, the Body of Christ. This usage may have been borrowed from the early Epicureans—as it is used by Epicurus' Principal Doctrines 37–38.

Ecclesiastical polity is the government of a church. There are local (congregational) forms of organization as well as denominational. A church's polity may describe its ministerial offices or an authority structure between churches. Polity relates closely to ecclesiology, the theological study of the church.

The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross, is present and offered in an unbloody manner". The Church describes the Mass as the "source and summit of the Christian life", and teaches that the Mass is a sacrifice, in which the sacramental bread and wine, through consecration by an ordained priest, become the sacrificial body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ as the sacrifice on Calvary made truly present once again on the altar. The Catholic Church permits only baptised members in the state of grace to receive Christ in the Eucharist.

In Christianity, an elder is a person who is valued for wisdom and holds a position of responsibility and authority in a Christian group. In some Christian traditions an elder is an ordained person who serves a local church or churches and who has been ordained to a ministry of word, sacrament and order, filling the preaching and pastoral offices. In other Christian traditions, an elder may be a lay person serving as an administrator in a local congregation, or be ordained and serving in preaching or pastoral roles. There is a distinction between ordained elders and lay elders. The two concepts may be conflated in everyday conversation. In non-Christian world cultures the term elder refers to age and experience, and the Christian sense of elder is partly related to this.

Although most Baptist groups are congregationalist in polity, some have different ecclesiastical organization and adopt an episcopal polity governance. In those churches the local congregation has less autonomy and the bishop oversees them, assigning pastors and distributing funds.

References

↑ Joe T. Odle Church Member's Handbook 1986 – Page 14 0805494014 George W. McDaniel, in his book, The Churches of the New Testament (1921), said that it is used 109 times to refer to the Lord's church. He held that in 93 cases it designates a local church; in 14 cases, the church as an institution; and twice, all of the .
↑ John Locke A Letter Concerning Toleration: Latin and English Texts Revised .Mario Montuori – 2012 9401187940 "Let us now consider what a church is. A church, then, I take to be a voluntary society of men, joining themselves together of their own accord in order to the public worshipping of God in such manner as they judge acceptable to him, and ..."
↑ Ben Lunis Get Out of the Box 2003-1594670900 Page 463 "A church, in the New Testament sense, is a gathering of people who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. At first, their worship often took place in the temple and synagogues."
↑ Harper, Douglas (2001). "church". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2008-01-18. O.E. cirice "church," from W.Gmc. *kirika, from Gk. kyriake (oikia) "Lord's (house)," from kyrios "ruler, lord."
↑ – Smith's Bible Dictionary from 1884, page 452. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
↑ Harper, Douglas (2001). "church". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2008-01-18. Gk. kyriakon (adj.) "of the Lord" was used of houses of Christian worship since c. 300, especially in the East, though it was less common in this sense than ekklesia or basilike.
↑ Welcome to the Congregational Church of North Barnstead, UCC. – "We are an informal congregation that gathers for worship" – Congregational Church of North Barnstead. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
↑ Guilden Morden Congregational Church – "A good meeting for those who prefer a more informal kind of service, and perhaps for those who are less familiar with church events." – www.guildenmordencongregationalchurch.com. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
↑ The church stands up for refugee rights

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Joe T. Odle Church Member's Handbook 1986 – Page 14 0805494014 George W. McDaniel, in his book, The Churches of the New Testament (1921), said that it is used 109 times to refer to the Lord's church. He held that in 93 cases it designates a local church; in 14 cases, the church as an institution; and twice, all of the .

[2] John Locke A Letter Concerning Toleration: Latin and English Texts Revised .Mario Montuori – 2012 9401187940 "Let us now consider what a church is. A church, then, I take to be a voluntary society of men, joining themselves together of their own accord in order to the public worshipping of God in such manner as they judge acceptable to him, and ..."

[3] Ben Lunis Get Out of the Box 2003-1594670900 Page 463 "A church, in the New Testament sense, is a gathering of people who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. At first, their worship often took place in the temple and synagogues."

[etymonline-4] Harper, Douglas (2001). "church". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2008-01-18. O.E. cirice "church," from W.Gmc. *kirika, from Gk. kyriake (oikia) "Lord's (house)," from kyrios "ruler, lord."

[5] – Smith's Bible Dictionary from 1884, page 452. Retrieved October 20, 2019.

[6] Harper, Douglas (2001). "church". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2008-01-18. Gk. kyriakon (adj.) "of the Lord" was used of houses of Christian worship since c. 300, especially in the East, though it was less common in this sense than ekklesia or basilike.

[7] Welcome to the Congregational Church of North Barnstead, UCC. – "We are an informal congregation that gathers for worship" – Congregational Church of North Barnstead. Retrieved 18 April 2012.

[8] Guilden Morden Congregational Church – "A good meeting for those who prefer a more informal kind of service, and perhaps for those who are less familiar with church events." – www.guildenmordencongregationalchurch.com. Retrieved 18 April 2012.

[9] The church stands up for refugee rights

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]