500 years ago the Reformation proposed a different model for understanding the church. The reformers had become suspicious of the “institutional” model which the Roman Church had relied upon in its engagement with the various monarchies that arose over the centuries. The Vatican had become one principality among many. The claims made by the institutional church overreached the institution’s ability to perform in keeping with its claim. As institution the Medieval Church had failed to reflect its mission.
The reformers proposed a biblical model of the church which was based primarily on the mission of the church to proclaim the gospel.
But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9)
Luther insisted that the church understand itself as called out by God through the gospel.
I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy and kept me in the true faith, just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes holy the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one common, true faith. (Luther’s Small Catechism)
The reformers took the church seriously as those being assembled by God. It was not the people themselves who were the church. It was the event by which the people were being called out. The gathering itself constitutes the church. This is why Eric Gritsch and Robert Jensen emphasize that the church is not a thing or substance. The church is an event.(1) The classic Lutheran definition of the church is Article 7 of the Augsburg Confession:
[The church] is the assembly of all believers among whom the gospel is purely preached and the holy sacraments are administered according to the gospel.
The church is not a collection of certain types of people. The church is a happening when people assemble for the purpose, of hearing the gospel and receiving the sacraments. The assembling around font, pulpit, and table is the prime symbol of the church itself. Each object is not in and of itself holy. The font is holy because we use it to proclaim the gospel in the action of the sacrament of Holy Baptism. The pulpit is holy because we read and interpret scripture at it. Likewise the table is holy because it is used to celebrate the holy feast of the Eucharist. All three objects form a center around which we regularly gather in the nave. This gathering is the primary meaning and significance of the church.
This “event” character of the church is most evident in the solemn days of Holy Week and Easter. At Christ the King Church one has only to note how much preparation goes into the liturgies, rites, and related events. Hundreds of persons gave of themselves to the work of proclaiming the gospel on Palm Sunday, Holy Tuesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter.
17 altar guild members
24 bell ringers
54 ushers
17 acolytes
6 crucifers
20 servers
8 assisting ministers
4 name tag volunteers
9 nursery volunteers
5 nursery workers
1 cantor
3 pastors
15 chorus members
41 choir members
2 organists
8 brass choir musicians
4 snacks providers
20 breakfast providers
2 custodians
3 administrative assistants
That comes to 263 “enablers” in just eight days! All of this in order to serve the gospel of Jesus Christ and to minister to the Word which is Christ himself.
The Word called forth light on the first day of creation. It is the Word that instructed Israel at Sinai. It is the Word that came through the prophets calling God’s people to return. It is the Word that ultimately became flesh and dwelled among us full of grace and truth.
1 Lutheranism: the Theological Movement and Its Confessional Writings. Fortress Press: Minneapolis, p.130-131.