Ekklesia

Ekklesia

It’s a Greek word! Translated into English it means a gathering of people, an assembly. If I were a first century high school student in Greece, along with my classmates I would periodically attend an “ekklesia,” a school assembly. This word, translated from the Greek New Testament is “church.”

I have spent all my life in church; from an infant baptized in one church to ordination in several. My life has been defined as a member of an “ekklesia,” a church family. And family it is. Church is often perceived as a weekly Sunday morning ritual. In reality, it is much more. God’s idea of church is quite different.

Where we have made it an obligation to be endured, God planned it for a family gathering to be enjoyed.

I confess that for many of us, if we go to church at all, Sunday service feels like a far cry from family time. Tradition, time and the ways of man have pretty much sucked all the fun and family out of Sunday morning. A fresh reading of the Book of Acts, where church is first mentioned, will refresh our appreciation of ekklesia.

While writing this blog, I made a list of the churches I have served. I thank all those who helped shape my life as a pastor. I am very grateful for all my church family experiences.

Here they are: St. Williams in Fridley, MN as a deacon; St. Peter’s in North St. Paul, MN as a priest; the Cathedral of St. Paul, MN as a priest; Christ the King in Minneapolis, MN as a priest; St. James in Bozeman, MT as a deacon; St. Peter’s Cathedral, Helena, MT as a priest; St. Andrew’s in Minneapolis, MN as a priest; the Ark Church, Havre, MT as a pastor; Way of The Cross, Blaine, MN as a pastor; and Foothills Fellowship in Bozeman, Mt as a pastor.

I love these words from the Bible: “The church you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.”