Ekklesia Form

Publisher: Global.Church · Created: 2026-04-16 · 5 concepts

https://ontology.global.church/core#EkklesiaFormScheme

Classifies gathered expressions of Christ's body by structural form — what kind of body is this? Five forms cover the major ecclesial shapes recognized in global church-planting literature. UniversalChurch deferred (no query requires it today). Used via gc:hasEkklesiaForm on gc:Ekklesia.

Code	Label	Definition
`FRM-APO`	Apostolic Band	A sent team functioning as ekklesia-in-motion — apostolic, mobile, and pioneering. The band exercises ecclesial life together (prayer, mutual accountability, leadership recognition, shared mission) while on the move. Commissioned from a sending ekklesia or organization. Distinguished from a mission team by its ecclesial self-understanding: the band is itself a gathered expression of Christ's body, not merely a working group. Opt-in form per Ekklesia design Decision 5: mint ApostolicBand instances only when an attestation, commissioning event, or engagement claim explicitly references the band as an ekklesia. Keeps the graph sparse. Most mission agencies will not classify their field teams as ApostolicBand instances. Example: A sent team of six in a Central Asian city that prays together, recognizes its own leaders, breaks bread, and keeps mutual accountability while pioneering — gc:FormApostolicBand rather than a generic mission team, because it exercises ecclesial life on the move.
`FRM-HSE`	House Church	A contextualized small-scale gathered body meeting in homes, cafes, or informal spaces. Distinct from a small group within a Local Church — the House Church is itself the primary ekklesia, not a sub-structure. Characteristic of DMM (Disciple-Making Movement), organic church, and Simple Church traditions. Typically 5–30 members; reproduces by multiplication rather than growth. Modeled as a distinct Form rather than a narrower concept under LocalChurch because its identity, governance, and movement dynamics differ significantly from the congregational pattern. A House Church network may contain hundreds of House Church instances, each its own ekklesia.
`FRM-LOC`	Local Church	A single-congregation assembled body in one place — the default ekklesia form. Gathers regularly for worship, teaching, the Lord's Supper, and covenant community. The Local Church is the primary unit of counting in church-planting and engagement metrics. Encompasses both traditional congregations and contextualized gatherings that function as a local church without formally adopting the label.
`FRM-ORD`	Missional Order	A rule-of-life community organized around a shared missional vocation — a sodality institutionalized across time. Members covenant together around mission-specific practices, rhythms, and accountability. Analogous to historical monastic orders but oriented outward toward the unreached. Distinguished from ApostolicBand by persistence (outlives a single project) and from a Mission Agency by its ecclesial character (shared worship, covenant bonds, community of life, not just a 501(c)(3) office). Example: A 24-7 Prayer Boiler Room community, or a Navigators-style rule-of-life community — a covenanted order around a missional vocation that persists beyond any single project, distinguished from a mission-agency office by its shared worship and community of life.
`FRM-REG`	Regional Church	An extra-local body that functions as one church across multiple localities — a diocese, a multi-site church operating as a single covenant community, or a city-wide church expression (city church). Distinguished from a denomination or network by its claim to shared covenantal life, shared eldership, and shared rhythm across locations. Corresponds to the 'middle level of church' framing common in DMM training (Zúme, T4T, 24:14) — between the local expression and the movement. Movement is not modeled as an Ekklesia Form. The movement level — multi-generational reproduction across regions — is expressed via gc:LifecycleMultiplying on the parent body plus gc:generatedByMovement linking to a movement-typed Organization, not as a separate Form concept.