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Glossary
One of the first hurdles that new believers run into is trying to understand all of the "Churchese" of "Church Speak." Even lifelong Christians often do not understand the history and significance of certain words or symbols. This glossary will be a work in progress. Please check back from time to time or email with questions.
Chapel - In a conventional legal sense, our building is a church. That is the definition that government puts upon it. However, we know that it is the people who gather within the building as followers of Christ who are really the "church." In a traditional sense, our building fits the definition of a chapel:
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"A place of smaller place of worship." - Yes, that is us. We are definitely not a "mega-church." You will not get lost in our building.
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"A place of worship for those not belonging to an established church." - As of September 1, 2008, we are no longer linked to a larger denomination.
Church - This one sounds simple enough. A building where Christians meet, right? Well, yes and no. In the New Testament of the Bible, the Greek word translated into church is "ecclesia." It is used over one hundred times and was never referred to a building. The church is all of us, gathering together as believers. It can be in a home, a rented school gymnasium, or in a garden under a tree. This is part of the reason we have chosen to refer to our building as a chapel. The fish symbol  predates Christians use the image of a cross to identify themselves as followers of Christ. The Greek name for fish is Ichthus, or in Greek characters, ΙΧΘΥC. This formed an acrostic, each letter standing for a word: "Jesus Christ God Son Savior" which was also an early Christian confession of faith. Mega-Church - A Christian church, typically Protestant, with service attendance of 2,000 people or more. Resurrection - This refers to our belief that after being crucified, Jesus rose from the dead, defeat death, and gives us hope that we will live again in eternity. |