church

church a building used for public Christian worship. Also (with upper case initial) a particular Christian organization, typically one with its own clergy, buildings, and distinctive doctrines; the Church, the hierarchy of clergy of such an organization, especially the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church.

The word is recorded from Old English (in form cir(i)ce, cyr(i)ce), ultimately based on medieval Greek kurikon, from Greek kuriakon (dōma) ‘Lord's (house)’, from kurios ‘master or lord’.
the Church is an anvil that has worn out many hammers the passive strength of Christianity can outlast agression.The saying is recorded from the mid 19th century, but derives originally from the Calvinist theologian Theodore Beza (1519–1605). Beza was replying to the King of Navarre, who had attempted to excuse the massacre of Huguenots at Vassy by Guisard forces on the grounds that the Protestants had thrown stones at the Duke of Guise and his followers to provoke them.
Church Militant the whole body of living Christian believers, regarded as striving to combat evil here on earth.
church mouse a mouse living in a church, proverbially taken as a type of poverty, as in poor as a church mouse.
Church of England the English branch of the Western Christian Church, which combines Catholic and Protestant traditions, rejects the Pope's authority, and has the monarch as its titular head. The English Church was part of the Catholic Church until the Reformation of the 16th century; after Henry VIII failed to obtain a divorce from Catherine of Aragon he repudiated papal supremacy, bringing the Church under the control of the Crown.
Church of Scotland the national (Presbyterian) Christian Church in Scotland. In 1560 John Knox reformed the established Church along Presbyterian lines, but there were repeated attempts by the Stuart monarchs to impose episcopalianism, and the Church of Scotland was not finally established as Presbyterian until 1690.
Church Slavonic the liturgical language used in the Orthodox Church in Russia, Serbia, and some other countries. It is a modified form of Old Church Slavonic.