The Church by Wayne E. Ward

It is extremely important to observe, then, that while Luke primarily uses the term "church" to designate the local congregation of disciples, he can also use it in a general reference to many of these congregations considered together.  He is certainly not referring to some regional organization which administered all these congregations, for there was no such thing.  And he is certainly not referring to some invisible or mystical "church" which is distinct from the local congregations throughout his region.  But he certainly is referring to the common life in Christ, which is shared by all these congregations, wherever they are gathered with Christ in their midst.

In other words, the church never exists apart from an actual fellowship of Christian believers, the so-called "local" church.  Yet this fellowship is not only local.  It knows oneness with Christ who is universal, and brotherhood with all who are truly in Christ.  Without this, it cannot even be the church.  The so-called "universal" church is always embodied in an actual fellowship of Christian believers.  It is always seen in a "local" manifestation.  It cannot exist in some kind of suspended realm of ideas, detached from time and space.  That is Greek philosophy, but it is not the Bible!"

The church in the book of Acts (and throughout the New Testament) is a gathered community.  It is Christian disciples empowered by the Holy Spirit, proclaiming salvation in Jesus' name.

Wayne E. Ward was professor of Christian theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1951 to 1991.  The above is a direct quote from his book "The Drama of Redemption," written in 1966 on pages 116-117.