By the third century, six million Christians lived in the Roman Empire alone.

In 306 AD 'Constantine the Great' (274 - 337) was proclaimed Roman Emperor. His recognition of the civil liberties of his Christian subjects, and his own conversion to Christianity, established the religious foundations of Western Christendom.

He adopted the first two letters of Christ's name in Greek as a symbol to be used on the shields of his warriors and extended toleration to all Christians. In a time of transition the cross became the symbol of Constantine's success.

By 312 AD Christianity had been adopted by the Roman Empire and the church had changed from regular home meetings to almost exclusively conducting meetings in special buildings. Most pagan temples were converted into church buildings. Consequently the church became an audience. In 326 AD Helena (Constantine's mother) made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to find the relics of Christ's cross at the crucifixion site. Helena was instrumental in helping Constantine 'take over' Christianity. In 337 AD crucifixion was banned and Constantine was baptised just before he died.

Definition(s): Congregation - A group of persons gathered for worship, members of a specific religious group who regularly worship, to collect together, to habitually attend a given church building.
Celebration - To rejoice, to have special festivities, to praise or proclaim publicly, to make widely known. (Webster's Unabridged Dictionary)

By building cathedrals and placing rituals and leadership within those buildings, Constantine changed the very nature and life of the church as it was designed by Christ. These changes grew out of new ways of thinking about God's church as an organisation rather than as an organism. Since the 3rd century many things have differed from church to church, theological interpretation, worship styles, etc. but a cathedral structure and program based design has remained constant over the last seventeen centuries.

Definition(s): Organisation - Something that has been organised or made into an ordered whole, a structure through which individuals cooperate systematically to conduct business. Organism - Parts that work together to carry on the various processes of life; mutually dependent, and essential to life, resembling a living creature. (Webster's Unabridged Dictionary)

Definition(s): Ekklesia - The Greek word ekklesia, which is translated church, is a combination of the Greek word kaleo (which means to call) and ek, a preposition meaning out or out of. Therefore, ekklesia is properly translated as "called out ones".

In the context of the New Testament, "The Church" refers to people; individuals who belong to Jesus and who are called to be in a relationship with Him and each other. The word "Church" can refer to all the followers of Jesus everywhere, or those believers in a certain location.