Ecclesial Community

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='StThomasMore' post='1615403' date='Aug 1 2008, 06:33 PM']If you really think about it, though, it's similar to calling the consecrated/blessed building where we celebrate Mass a "church." After all, "church" didn't originally mean a building, and even today, that isn't its primary meaning.[/quote]
According to dictionary.com, "church" is from the German "kirche" which is from the Greek "kyriakon doma" (the house of the Lord). That at least can refer to either a house (the actual building) or to a household (the people in the building). "Community" cannot mean "building," even if it houses a community.

Anyway, I digress. My point was that it doesn't make much sense in our language to call a building a community.

[MissyP89]

Like SMM, it depends on the company I'm in.

When speaking directly to a Protestant, I use the word tradition, i.e. "non-Catholic tradition".

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='Raphael' post='1616384' date='Aug 3 2008, 08:28 AM']According to dictionary.com, "church" is from the German "kirche" which is from the Greek "kyriakon doma" (the house of the Lord). That at least can refer to either a house (the actual building) or to a household (the people in the building). "Community" cannot mean "building," even if it houses a community.[/quote]

Yes, etymologically in our language, "church" did mean a house before it meant a community, [i]but[/i] the Latin word "ecclesia" meant a community before it did a building (in the Pontificale Romanum the the word "ecclesia" is used when talking about the "Dedication of a Church). Therefore, it would be an organic development to take the word "ecclesial community" and apply it to a building. Though I do agree it would sound strange... for a few decades lol