Note 1 at Acts 12:1: The word "church" comes from a compound Greek word "ekklesia" meaning "called out" ("ek"-out, "kaleo"-to call). The word "church," technically, could identify any assembly, as this word was employed in Acts 19:39 to refer to the town assembly and, in Acts 7:38, to refer to the assembly of Israelites who came out of Egypt. However, the word is used, with these two exceptions, to distinguish those who, through faith in Christ, have been called out of the world into the kingdom of God.

The word "church" identifies the body of Christ as a whole (Mt. 16:18; Col. 1:18, 24) and can also refer to a local part of the body of Christ (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 1:2; Rev. 2:1, 8, 12, 18). No where in scripture does it refer to a building that the saints meet in. The church is not brick and mortar, but born-again people. The only scriptural reason for different assemblies, or churches, is location. Doctrinal differences were meant to be resolved (1 Cor. 1:10) and are not a justification for division in the universal church.