[Cal]

Meeting "on the ground of locality" certainly isn't unbiblical. But then again neither is meeting on the ground of the home. What is unbiblical is insisting that the ground of locality is the only way to meet as a church. The Bible simply does not support this notion.

Insistence on the ground of locality as the only place to meet springs not from a biblical imperative, but from the belief that there ought to be an imperative--from the belief that it makes sense that there should be only one way to meet as the church, so that what are and what are not churches can be defined and standardized.

Unfortunately (from a human standpoint) the Bible seems to disagree. It does not provide an airtight case for the ground of locality. It provides several "leaks," particularly the mention of house churches, including the church in the house of Aquilla and Priscilla in Romans 16. Although LRC doctrine tries to fit this and other mentions of house churches into the mold of the city church, such exegesis is forced and unnatural.

For example, I work for an organization which has many chapters, most of which are associated with cities. But there is no requirement that chapters be so organized. Some, for example, are organized around college campuses.

Imagine that I wrote a letter to the organization members in a particular city. Suppose I spent several pages conveying all sorts of information and at the end greeted several members by name and along with all those salutations said hello to the "chapter that meets in Andy and Pamela's house," much like Paul's greeting in Romans 16.

Would anyone think that the chapter in Andy and Pamela's house was a chapter actually made up of everyone I had previously addressed and greeted and indeed every member in the city? No one would think such a thing. Yet this is how the LRC explains away house churches.