"Church" as a Noun without an Article

Figures of speech employing the noun "church" without a definite or indefinite article, e.g. "being church" or "doing church," seem to be used with increasing frequency by clergy and laypeople. Why not use the definite article "the" or the indefinite article "a" when using the noun "church"? Instead of saying "being church," why not say "being the church" or "being a church"? Instead of asking "What is Church?", why not ask "What is the Church?" or "What is a Church?" Is there really something noteworthy signified by the dropping of the article before the noun or is this merely a popular form of speech that's increasingly being used out of habit?

      The noun "church," like the nouns "hospital" and "university," may often be used without an article, e.g. "We're in church" or "George is in hospital" or "Margaret is in university," without referring to any specific church or hospital or university.

      The question "What is Church?" might have a slightly different meaning than the question "What is church?", however. The capitalization of "Church" might imply the institutional nature of the Church, while the non-capitalization of "church" might imply its everyday reality.

      The question "What is Church?" and the question "What is church?" also bring to mind the experience of going to church or being in church (or a church) or being in the midst of a congregation. To be "in church" is also to be in community (or a community) with others. ("Community" is another noun that seems to be used increasingly frequently without a definite or indefinite article). To be "in church" or "in community" is also for members to be in communion with one another.

       Thus, the question "What is Church?" brings to mind that Church (or a Church or the Church) may not be a physical location. It may be a form of koinonia (fellowship, unity, and joint participation) that Church members share with one another. Church members may be present with and for one another, in community or as a community, in virtual or actual reality, in the online as well as the physical world. Church members may also be with and for one another, even when they are "socially distanced" or physically separated,¹ because they are part of, and belong to, the same spiritual body.

FOOTNOTES

¹Susan Ella George, Religion and Technology in the 21st Century: Faith in the E-World (Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing, 2006), p. 120.