Ecclesia Centre

A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION

WHY THE NAME ECCLESIA?
The name Ecclesia was birthed in prayer. One morning during our prayer sessions, my husband mentioned the words “Called out” whilst praying. When he mentioned these words, something jumped in the inside of me and I shared it later on with my husband. I shared with him that I believe that the name of the Centre should be “Ecclesia”, the Greek word for “Called-out”. My husband’s Spirit was in total agreement with mine.

THE GREEK TRANSLATION for called-out is “Ecclesia”. It is correctly defined as: “The called-out (ones)”
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:
In the New Testament, “ecclesia” (signifying convocation) is the only single word used for church. It (ecclesia) was the name given to the governmental assembly of the city of Athens, duly convoked (called out) by proper officers and possessing all political power including even juridical functions.

QUOTING FROM THE OXFORD UNIVERAL ENGLISH DICTIONARY ON THE WORD “ECCLESIA”
Thus, two of the most prestigious word resources in the English language confirm the fact that and “ecclesia” was originally a select civil body, summoned or convoked for a particular purpose. What, then, did the writers of the New Testament mean when they used the word “ecclesia” to describe a Christian body of people? We can assume that they intended to convey the original Greek meaning of the word: a body of Christians called out of the Roman and Judean system to come together into a separate civil community. It meant a politically autonomous body of Christians under no king but Jesus, under no other jurisdiction but that of Jesus. Only Christ ruled them. And that was the reason these same Christians ran into trouble with kings and rulers; were arrested, crucified and martyred. They dropped Caesar as their King and took up Christ.

In Acts 17 vs. 1-6 we see that Paul and Silas had a reputation that preceded them. They were ‘turning the word (system) upside down”. What was their inflaming message? The answer is found in verse 7: “Whom Jason hath received (into his house): and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus”.


Do you see what they were doing? They were announcing ANOTHER KING! Not Caesar! This was a king who was bigger than Caesar. Paul and Silas weren’t “church builders” like preachers today claim. They were Kingdom Builders! They were dethroning rulers in the minds of the people and alienating them form the mental hold Caesar had upon them through heathenistic (central) government. They were teaching the Principles of Christian Government. They were putting forth the call of God to whomever would hear and obey, and those whose hearts responded to the call became citizens of Christ’s Kingdom and joined themselves to the Ecclesia, or community of believers.
In the same way, my husband and I believe that by the help of God, we would be able to change the mindset of our young people and teach them Godly Principles. To let them know that they have been CALLED for a purpose and a plan.