Kirche and Gemeinde

Thinking about Jonathan's words on the language of "church attendance" I'm reminded that German believers like Bonhoeffer had two words to talk about the church. The word "kirche" meant the building where believers gathered, while "gemeinde" meant the community of God's people. So you could go to the "kirche" but likely found your life in the fellowship of the "gemeinde." It would be helpful for us to have such a distinction. We have pretty much enshrined the idea that church is a building where we go to worship as opposed to something dynamic that happens when we hang out with God's people and Jesus Christ shows up. Can that happen in a building? Sure. But it also happens when Christ who is the river of life in us bubbles up in our non "kirche" times with believers. So, here's to more gemeinde.