There is no denying it. Churches are going to close. Christendom is no more and there is a shift happening in society. And while closing churches will become a necessity in the coming years as the size of congregations continues to dwindle, or the very cost to keep the building open and in good repair just no longer is reasonable or a good use of the resources that we have been entrusted with, I would like to offer something for us to think on.

The church long before it was associated with a building was simply a gathering of the people. The church always was and still is the people. Our understanding of what it means to be “church” ought to have grown out of our understanding of what the word truly means.

Church, or Ekklesia, is God’s call out to the world, literally. Ekklesia parsed out gives us:

Ekk- out or out of
Kaleo- I/you/we call

Literally Ekklesia is God’s call out to the world. The assembly that Ekklesia came to be known as, the church, represents all those joined in baptism to God, participating in the Missio Dei, the mission of God, by taking up a baptismal life and following the teachings of Jesus Christ.

That life in Jesus Christ does not stop when the church’s doors are closed on Sunday or permanently. Rather that life propels us forth from the font to the world. The people still gather, in person, in homes, virtually and where needed. Prayers are still offered and God is still worshipped and glorified. The poor are served and the kingdom of God is realized a little more each and everyday. Church has not ended because the doors are closed because church is more than bricks and mortar.

We cannot close the church, because we cannot close people. Buildings close, churches don’t.