What is a church? Evans Definition

From Wendell Evans, Church Planting in the Arab-Muslim World (Upper Darby, Pa.: Arab World Ministries, 1986), p. 2:

A local church is a grouping of members of the universal church, with sufficient structure to demonstrate its corporate identity, within its given social and cultural context, and to carry out its corporate functions of worship, edification, and outreach.

We have defined what we believe to be the essential elements of an autonomous functioning local church as:

• Baptized believers.
• Christian families.
• Scripturally qualified and locally recognized leaders.
• Meeting place(s) independent of the expatriate church planter.
• Assumption of responsibility for finances and ministry by the local group.

Source: EWI pg. 382