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Briefing 378
March 2010

Paul Barnett
Did the Apostle Paul invent Christianity?
Paul Grimmond
Countercultural rebellion
Jean Williams
Woman to woman: Answering the call of Titus 2
Scott Newling
Review: The Reason for God

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Stuff that didn't quite make it into The Briefing

More on the meaning of ‘church’

Tony Payne / November 2003

In my essay in Briefing #302 (‘The gathering: thinking afresh about church’), there were a number of issues that I didn't have the space to address adequately. To stimulate further thought on these issues, here are some further cogitations about the meaning of ‘church’, and other related questions.

(These comments may not make much sense if you have not read the main article. It's available online.)

Does ‘church’ only ever mean ‘gathering’?

As I briefly outlined in a footnote to the essay, the basic meaning of the Greek word ekklesia,

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