Additional Quotes about the Local Church by Witness Lee and Watchman Nee

“The church in Ephesus” is different from “the church of Ephesus” because the church in Ephesus merely resides in Ephesus; it does not belong to Ephesus. Therefore, the so-called Roman Church, Greek Church, and Chinese Christian Church are all unscriptural.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 1, Vol. 16, 16)

At this point I need to say strongly that the term local church is not a name. We do not have a name. When people ask you what kind of church we are, you should simply say, “We are just the church. To ask me what kind of church we are is like asking what kind of moon we are. The moon is uniquely one. When the moon is in London, it is called the moon in London. When the moon appears over Cleveland, it is called the moon in Cleveland. In the same way, we say that we are the church in Cleveland or the church in Los Angeles.” But such terms are not a name. Rather, they are a description of a fact. Thus, we should never use the term the local church in a way that others might regard it as a name. The local church denotes the nature of the church. We do not have a sectarian church or a so-called universal church. The churches in the Lord’s recovery are churches in localities. For this reason they are referred to as local churches. But the words “the local church” are not a name, and we are not a denomination. Do not use these terms as if they were a name. At most we should say, “We are the church in Cleveland. The church in Cleveland, of course, includes all the believers in Cleveland. However, because most Christians in Cleveland will not be recovered back to the proper ground of the church, we are the only ones still remaining as the church in Cleveland. But we do not have a special name.”

(Witness Lee, Spirit and the Body, 211)

The third factor of a denomination is a special name, either according to a special teaching or according to a particular practice, that designates a certain group of believers who are of the same teaching or the same practice. The taking of such a name denominates a particular sect, making it a denomination.

(Witness Lee, Brief Presentation, 54)