Ekklesia: The Gathered Community

I am writing this letter just a few days after our Eucharist at the lake.  This annual event is always such a joy.  Admittedly, it is a lot of work for all those who make it happen, with challenging logistics, but it is always worth it!  It is a powerful experiential reminder that the Church (from the Greek “ekklesia” meaning gathering or assembly) is first and foremost a community of people that gathers.

We gather to worship, to give thanks to God, to pray with and for one another, to sing, to be nourished by Word and sacraments, to learn and grow in the faith, and to support one another on the journey.  We generally associate the word “church” with a building, but as we demonstrate during our lake service, a building is not required.  We are a church whenever and wherever we gather in the name of Christ for worship, prayer, etc.  Church is not a building; it is the gathered community. 

Please don’t get me wrong!  I love church buildings.  One of my favorite things to do when traveling abroad is to seek out and discover the amazing edifices that have been built over the centuries for congregational worship, that have stood the test of time in their enduring stability.  The folks from Saint Alban’s who are about to go on pilgrimage in the U.K. will be visiting a few of my favorites.  Each one of these architectural wonders has its own remarkable history, having provided a place of awe-inspiring beauty in which Christians have worshipped for centuries.  That history is palpable when you enter these places.

I also love the building in which we worship and gather at Saint Alban’s.  It has its own unique, unpretentious beauty.  I so enjoy worshiping in a space that is bathed in natural light and is so open to the outside world.  I appreciate the flexibility of our space; it is not static but allows us to gather in a variety of ways, lending itself to an organic dynamism that I think reflects who we are called to be as a community of faith. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who had the vision and courage to build this place at the turn of this millennium.

With all this said, it is important that we not lose sight of what makes us a church.  It is not our building.  Our building absolutely helps us be who we are, but we are a church, first and foremost, because we are a community that gathers for worship, prayer, and to support one another in the life of faith. This is how it has always been for Christianity.

The word ekklesia occurs in the original Greek of the New Testament over a hundred times.  In every case it refers to a group of people, never a building.  Jesus invited his followers on a purposeful journey of faith that was never limited by geography or the walls of the Temple. These earliest followers of Jesus met in a variety of places, often in each other’s homes.  It was not until the late third century that a building was constructed for the sole purpose of providing a permanent structure for Christian gatherings.

It is also instructive to think about our mission statement: Gather to Worship, Scatter to Serve, Love like Jesus.  If our building burned to the ground next week, God forbid, we would still be a church; we would still be able to live out every aspect of our mission, perhaps gathering in a different way, in a different place, but still gathering.

So even as we express our gratitude for our wonderful building, we must always remember our core reality and purpose: a community that gathers, serves, and loves, anywhere and everywhere. 

Yours in Christ,

Kevin+