“Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God, but what resulted was the Church.” This quote from the French theologian Alfred Loisy (1857-1940), draws the entire set of problems of the Church, as well as the theology of the church (Ecclesiology) to a sharp point. The sentence could be read, on the one hand, as an expression of disappointment. Following the great and hopeful proclamation of the in breaking of God’s rule, nothing more has resulted that an institution created by humans that is as weak and fallible as that institution’s designers and purveyors. On the other hand, the quote by Loisy could be understood in a much more positive light. The kingdom of God is expressed here on earth through the form and the labors of the Church. Seen thusly, the Church has a huge significance in the unfolding of God’s redemption plan. Somewhere between these two interpretations is where the Church is to be found in its complex reality.
Ever since its beginnings, The Church has always been much more than a random or nonessential part of Christian existence. Already in the earliest confessions and creeds of Christendom, one finds That the Church is affirmed as an essential content of the Christian faith. The Christian faith is expressed in terms of fellowship with other believers. From earliest days, a solely private and individually Christian faith is by definition unthinkable. From this reality results therefore responsibility of the Christian Church to create and demonstrate clarity regarding the Church’s mission, place and function, and its purpose and goal in its existence. The fulfillment of this responsibility is the task of the discipline of Ecclesiology.