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Wednesday, June 10, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Commentary...
The church is not a building — but we need to gather
By Lisa May
Columnist
The coronavirus pan-
demic has disrupted nearly
all of our life routines and
the weekly rhythms of
the church have not been
exempted. Leaders at every
church location have been
forced to make decisions
about how to continue wor-
ship, teaching, and fellow-
ship in light of concerns over
spreading the virus.
Here in Sisters we have
seen YouTube services,
Zoom meetings, Facebook
livestreams, church at the
rodeo grounds, parking
lot services, and backyard
church gatherings. Because
we are being forced to inno-
vate, I would like to invite
others to reflect on defining
church, not just in the midst
of a pandemic, but in the
best sense going forward.
A dictionary definition of
church would indicate it is:
<a building used for public
Christian worship.=
But if this discussion is
about the Christian church,
the source of the definition
should not be cultural 4
but instead the source for
defining all of the Christian
faith, the Bible. The word
church appears 111 times in
the New Testament. All of
those occurrences are trans-
lated from the original Greek
word ekklesia.
The New Testament
never uses the word ekkle-
sia to refer to a building.
Ekklesia is defined as <a
calling out, especially a reli-
gious congregation; assem-
bly.= Church, or ekklesia, is a
group of people. Sometimes
the word is used in Scripture
to refer to all believers in
Jesus, for all time. For exam-
ple, Jesus said to Peter, <you
are Peter, and on this rock I
will build my church.=
In this sense, the church
explodes beyond the con-
fines of the walls of any
building and stretches across
the globe. As I discussed this
topic with other Christians
in Sisters, Katie Keranen
shared that, when her hus-
band was killed in an acci-
dent while they were living
as missionaries in Malawi,
<friends of friends of friends
reached out to do things for
us and help us.= The help
was not limited to those
who worshiped with them
in Malawi or in Oregon, but
the wider church around the
world.
Sometimes the word
church is used to refer to
a specific group gather-
ing in one place at one
time: <Aquila and Prisca,
together with the church in
their house, send you hearty
greetings in the Lord.= In
this sense, the church can be
a small group of people with
a common goal of encourag-
ing one another and growing
in their faith. Karen Williams
of Sisters said that meet-
ing in a Bible study group
for the last 5 or 6 years has
<changed the course of my
life.=
Regardless of where or
when they are meeting, the
Bible uses church to refer to
the people that are meeting
and not the place where they
meet.
This is not a minor dis-
cussion of semantics, but
a crucial point in Christian
doctrine.
In the Old Testament, the
people of Israel worshiped
God at the temple. God9s
presence was encountered
in the holiest chamber of the
temple, but only the high
priest could enter there. In
contrast, the New Testament
teaches that those who place
faith in Jesus Christ are
God9s temple and God9s
Spirit dwells in them. In the
same way, Jesus promised,
<For where two or three are
gathered in my name, there
am I among them.=
Believers in Jesus do not
need a large gathering in a
building to find the presence
of God. He is present among
them wherever they are.
Say Aaahhh...
We’re OPEN
& practicing
again on a
limited
basis!
Please call for an appointment as we will
be prescreening patients prior to treatment.
Along with the defini-
tion of church, we might
consider the goals for the
church gathering together.
Again, we should turn to the
Bible for answers. Hebrews
10:23-25 says, <Let us hold
fast the confession of our
hope without wavering, for
he who promised is faith-
ful. And let us consider how
to stir up one another to love
and good works, not neglect-
ing to meet together, as is the
habit of some, but encourag-
ing one another, and all the
more as you see the Day
drawing near.=
Many turn to this verse to
point out the importance of
meeting together, and this is
true. But notice that the end
goal of the passage is not
meeting together. The gath-
ering is a vehicle to accom-
plish other goals, namely,
stirring up one another to
love and good works, as well
as encouraging one another
to hold fast the confession
of our hope. Another goal of
gathering mentioned often in
Scripture is instruction in the
Word of God, the Bible.
Everyone interviewed
agreed that love, encourage-
ment and instruction can
take place in smaller groups
outside of the church build-
ing. In many cases smaller
groups are more effective
for these goals. There is
value added when small
group members are able
to interact on the teach-
ing. Rebeccah and Andrew
DeKeyser are worship lead-
ers at Vast Church in Sisters.
Rebeccah pointed out that
Jesus provided a model for
small groups in His minis-
try. She said, <Jesus had His
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PHOTO PROVIDED
Sisters Community Church has been conducting parking lot services for
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group of disciples that he did
life with 4 caring for each
other, sharing joys, hopes,
and hurts.=
So why do we need
church buildings at all?
Can9t we accomplish all the
goals of gathering together
through Zoom meetings and
small groups?
Look for more in Part 2
of this column next week.
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