Pastor's Corner
What is Church?
I’ve been in several conversations lately that have brought up this interesting question. We’ve “done church” in lots of different ways over the last 2,000 years, and sometimes the reasons for making the changes haven’t been voluntary. The differences are stark.
Some have “done church” secretly, fearing for their lives. Some have met in large buildings with tens of thousands of others. Some include children’s ministry, youth ministry, single's ministry, retiree ministry, single mom’s ministry, sports ministry, addiction recovery ministry, freedom ministry, homeless ministry, motorcycle ministry, beach ministry, bus ministry, international student ministry and more. Others are just a group of five or six people from different age brackets and income levels. Some churches meet for one hour - on the dot. Others meet for three or four hours at a time. Some have enormous paid staff, others have only lay leadership. Many have buildings that they call “the church,” but many more do not and have been meeting in rented spaces or homes, or even outdoors.
With this kind of stunning variety, how can all these be grouped together as “church”? Is one model better than the other? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches? Lots of points people have discussed and debated for centuries.
The word church is actually a made-up English word that is translated from the New Testament word - ecclesia. That word means “the assembly” or “the congregation.” And that’s what church is: a gathering of Jesus followers who join together to worship, encourage, grow, minister and evangelize. It’s so much more than a scheduled event one day a week.
I’m looking forward to seeing how God opens our eyes more and more to His intent for “doing church” in Discovery Bay, Hong Kong!
And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.
Acts 5:42
We Win!!
Danny Cullins
I’ve been in several conversations lately that have brought up this interesting question. We’ve “done church” in lots of different ways over the last 2,000 years, and sometimes the reasons for making the changes haven’t been voluntary. The differences are stark.
Some have “done church” secretly, fearing for their lives. Some have met in large buildings with tens of thousands of others. Some include children’s ministry, youth ministry, single's ministry, retiree ministry, single mom’s ministry, sports ministry, addiction recovery ministry, freedom ministry, homeless ministry, motorcycle ministry, beach ministry, bus ministry, international student ministry and more. Others are just a group of five or six people from different age brackets and income levels. Some churches meet for one hour - on the dot. Others meet for three or four hours at a time. Some have enormous paid staff, others have only lay leadership. Many have buildings that they call “the church,” but many more do not and have been meeting in rented spaces or homes, or even outdoors.
With this kind of stunning variety, how can all these be grouped together as “church”? Is one model better than the other? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches? Lots of points people have discussed and debated for centuries.
The word church is actually a made-up English word that is translated from the New Testament word - ecclesia. That word means “the assembly” or “the congregation.” And that’s what church is: a gathering of Jesus followers who join together to worship, encourage, grow, minister and evangelize. It’s so much more than a scheduled event one day a week.
I’m looking forward to seeing how God opens our eyes more and more to His intent for “doing church” in Discovery Bay, Hong Kong!
And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.
Acts 5:42
We Win!!
Danny Cullins