I have been musing about this. I suppose I think I know what Church is and presuppose that everyone else does believes the same as me. I was really struck by something Paul Bagshaw posted about the way the Anglican Church is moving:
The resultant Church may be Vatican-lite. But it will be much more ordered than it is now. Instead of a bunch of untidy and ill-dressed strangers who just happened to be on the same pilgrimage at the same time it will be a bit more of a guided tour wearing company branded jackets.
My presupposition is that Christians are a motley bunch, with a wide variety of world-views, but what they have in common is that they are on a pilgrimage - a spiritual discovery about themselves and about God, and they are also intent on changing the world for the better - bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. This is because they are inspired by Jesus Christ, and enlivened by the Holy Spirit. Hence, my idea of church is definitely the ill-dressed strangers model.
The other thing that is interesting is that when some people get fed up of church, they slip away - off to continue their pilgrimage elsewhere. However, other people get very militant if they are fed up with church. I have been aware, both now over the Covenant, and before over Women Priests, that the liberals seem less vocal, and simply slip away. Someone wrote to me saying:
Notice the difference. When the reactionaries don’t like what’s going on, they organise. Like a trade union going on strike they all threaten to leave at once, and if they do they set up a rival organisation, making full use of the mass media to trumpet that they are the ‘true’, ‘continuing’ church.
I think this is true for both the more avid Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics, in different ways. Perhaps because, for them, the church has more of a role in and of itself. There is a sense of saving the church from the world and keeping it pure. Whereas, I think the liberals see church only a place where you meet other people who are on the pilgrimage, and other people who may band together to help society.