This word, church, seems to be one of those laden words, conjuring up a spectrum of sentiments. For those that love church it reflects a place of community, love, fellowship, ritual, safety and so much more. For those that do not feel resonant the word represents hypocrisy, control, hierarchy (in the wounded aspect,) opium of the masses (Marx,) and so much more.

So I wondered, is it a valuable word for us? And if so, how?

The word originated as early as 300AD meaning a sacred place where Christians come together. Some evidence exists that church has its roots in the gothic greek word kyriake or oikia; and kyriakon doma means Lord’s house. The root ‘keue’ means strong or powerful and leads to the word kyrios meaning ruler or lord.

Given such a tightly derived meaning it seems understandable that the word church could feel limiting to many who do not identify as Christian. However I have heard some new ways the word is used to represent a place of sacred encounter. 

If a church can be redefined as a place of sacred encounter then it could point to any place where the sacred is encountered.  This led me to think about a concept called portable church as a place of sacred encounter.

The back story would be very helpful here. For it all came from a conversation that just happened last month. 

A friend and I were chatting over coffee and she shared with me how her yoga mat became the place she went in the early stages of major life changes, including a divorce. No matter what she was going through, she found refuge in getting onto her mat. It became her -lace of sacred encounter, so much so that she didn’t miss her yoga sessions. She would even orient her evening plans to keep her faithful to her bedtime routine so it was easy to get up for morning yoga.  

This conversation took me back to the confidence of another friend who, years ago, went through a devastating loss in her family. Her one place of refuge was her yoga mat. She told me that even if she didn’t have the strength to practice any asanas, she would take refuge every day on her mat. And it was this action that gave her the strength she needed to face and move through the grief. 

It seemed to me that the mat for each of these women became their church. And yoga mats can be rolled up and taken anywhere. Is the yoga mat a new form of church that is portable? A place that, according to the Greek origin ‘keue,’ provides strength? 

There are times in life when having an actual physical place of refuge can be a place of power and strength. It could be a city. I have a friend who finds great consolation each time she visits (or even things about) Venice, Italy. It could be a hike on a familiar trail, or a particular coffee cup. All of these seem to me to be portable churches, places where true power are experienced; places that hold us; places that are faithful to uplift even when our world is falling apart. What do you think? Is this a way we can use the word church in a way that is universally meaningful?

I remember in one of my seminary classes we studied the concept of numen locale—-which was the way of speaking about a place where God is experienced. In the Hebrew stories there are moments when God appears and after the encounter the person builds an altar. This altar identifies the place to be: ‘where God’s Light is.’ Even though the encounter is usually a one time occurrence, it is marked as something definitive and set apart. 

Could a portable church be something like that? If so, the difference would be that portable churches would not be one time occurrences of Divine strength. They would be places where we could always go, places that continuously provide new strength. 

Now my mind is filled with all sorts of curious questions. 

Could this soften the dualism that arises in the mind when a church is seen as a holy place and outside the church is considered mundane (or of the earth?) And if we all started a movement claiming and speaking about our own portable churches could we then add to the etymology of the word leading to a new understanding of what is holy? 

There are so many pondering questions here. Perhaps the best answers can come from trying it on for size. What could you claim as a portable church today?