In the Greek New Testament, the word ‘ekklesia’ is translated as ‘church’ (I Cor. 15:9; I Peter 2:9). Ekklesia literally means ‘a gathering of people around an idea’. But over the years, people began to identify the church more as a place that you went to for religious services rather than a group of people ‘called out by God’ for a specific mission. Our English word ‘church’ comes not from the Greek ‘ekklesia’, but from the German word ‘kirche’, which meant, ‘a sacred place where you gather for religious purposes’. This change in thinking changed the fundamental way that people related to the church, prioritizing the gathering place over the mission. It has been an uphill battle ever since.