Chapter 15: The Church
15
The Church
The area of Christian theology which deals with the doctrine of the church is usually referred to as “ecclesiology” (Greek: ekklesia, “church”) and is of major importance to anyone proposing to engage in pastoral ministry of any kind. Ecclesiological questions break into ministry at point after point. What sort of body is the church? How does this understanding of what the church is affect what the church is meant to do? Ecclesiology is that area of theology which seeks to give theoretical justification to an institution which has undergone development and change down the centuries, set against an altering social and political context.
Yet it is important to appreciate that the church existed as an institution, as an historical reality, before Christians began to reflect seriously and systematically on what kind of institution the church was meant to be. Theoretical reflection on the identity and calling of the church follow on from the existence of the church as a community of faith. To study Christian understandings of the church is to gain insights into the way in which institutions adapt in order to develop and to survive. The present chapter aims to explore some of the issues which arise from this remarkable history of development down the ages.