[Cal]

When a group like "Brookhollow Community Church" calls itself "Brookhollow Community Church," it is not saying that it is dividing itself from other Christians, neither is it saying that all of God's work in the city flows through them and them alone.

What it is saying is that the group, though part of the Church universal, is not the whole Church universal--and though part of the Church in the city, is not the whole Church in the city.

In other words, the group is making no claims of superiority nor inferiority nor preclusion over the rest of the Church. It is simply saying what it is--a part of the Church.

But when a group calls itself the Church in the city, but does not mean that "itself" includes all other Christians in the city, it is actually not calling itself what it is, because no subset of the Church in the city can say it is the Church in the city. It can only say it is part of the Church in the city.

In other words whenever you say "we are the church in <city>" and do not by "we" mean all Christians in the city, you are by definition expressing an exclusive attitude. In fact, you are expressing a falsehood.

But you can say "we are meeting as the Church in the city." That I think is okay. At least it's okay by me. But in no place does the Bible tell us that we must meet as the Church in the city nor that we cannot meet in any other way.