What Faldage said. Whilst 'local congregation' may (perhaps) be tautologous, 'local congregations' isn't necessarily. And even applied to one congregation, it may be a matter of emphasis, not redundancy - highlighting the local gathering as opposed to the wider 'church' (i.e. Parish with more than one congregation or denomination).

In some ways it's just a matter of usage over time and in context. The main question to ask is whether the meaning is clear in a particular usage.

There are overlapping grammatical and theological/cultural/definitional factors operating here. Different denominations define the word 'congregation' slightly differently. The word 'church' itself means lots of different things depending on beliefs and context. It comes from German/Scots/OE for a place of worship, a building, even though it now usually also doubles as a translation of the word ecclesia, meaning the congregation or gathering - that is, the people, not the place they meet. Some denominations mean the denomination when they say 'Church' and the local ecclesia when they say 'congregation.' Nearly everybody uses 'church' also to refer to the building the ecclesia or local congregation meets in. It can be confusing, but to say 'local congregations' in the context mentioned here doesn't seem to me to be incorrect in terms of either the grammatical meaning it conveys, or of the theological belief of your father that the 'congregation' is always a local gathering.

..and with this post I am now officially 'addicted' to the Wordsmith forums! \:\)

Last edited by The Pook; 05/03/08 01:18 AM.