{"id":42480,"date":"2014-04-05T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-05T22:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=42480"},"modified":"2022-01-29T17:35:59","modified_gmt":"2022-01-29T23:35:59","slug":"what-is-the-correct-way-of-saying-a-particular-congregation-the-la-vista-church-of-christ-or-the-church-of-christ-at-la-vista","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-correct-way-of-saying-a-particular-congregation-the-la-vista-church-of-christ-or-the-church-of-christ-at-la-vista\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the correct way of saying a particular congregation: the La Vista Church of Christ or the church of Christ at La Vista?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

What is the correct way of saying a particular congregation: the La Vista Church of Christ or the church of Christ at La Vista? Some contend the latter should be used. They argue that the former emphasizes place rather than the church. They use as an illustration as to what Paul has referred to in the New Testament: “Paul, the apostle” rather than “the apostle Paul”, saying that being an apostle was a work not a title and so with the church. And never in the Bible can we find that Paul was referred to as Apostle Paul.<\/p>\n

I need your comments on this. Thanks<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

It appears to me that some people have too much time on their hands and are merely looking for ways to divide. Grammatically the two forms are equivalent. Though it is true that one form does place more emphasis on the modifier than the other.<\/p>\n

“When the information contained in an adjective is not the main focus of a statement, then the adjective is usually placed before the noun in the attributive position.<\/p>\n

However, when the main focus of a statement is to give the information contained in an adjective, the adjective is usually placed after the verb in the predicative position, compare:<\/p>\n

He handed me a bucket of hot water. (attributive position)<\/p>\n

I put my hand in the bucket, the water was very hot. (predicative position, emphasizing hot.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[Kerry Maxwell and Lindsay Clandfield,\u00a0Adjectives and noun modifiers in English<\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Notice that this is the opposite of what is claimed. Saying “church of Christ” places emphasis on Christ. If we said, “Christ’s church” it would put the emphasis on the church. Therefore, “La Vista church of Christ” first puts emphasis on “Christ”, second on “church”, and last on the location “La Vista.” “The church of Christ at La Vista” places primary emphasis on the location, then the ownership, and finally on what we are discussing.<\/p>\n

“Paul, an apostle” places emphasis that Paul was one of the apostles. Paul uses this form to emphasize his duty and not himself as a person. “The apostle Paul” focuses on the fact that we are discussing one particular apostle, Paul. We use that form today because there are many people named Paul and we want to make sure everyone knows which Paul to whom we are referring.<\/p>\n

Thus, we are dealing with an unimportant argument that is based on a misunderstanding of English.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: What is the correct way of saying a particular congregation: the La Vista Church of Christ or the church of Christ at La Vista? Some contend the latter should be used. They argue that the former emphasizes place rather than the church. They use as an illustration as to what Paul has referred to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[448,998],"class_list":["post-42480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-church","tag-names"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46188,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-a-beautiful-simple-explanation-of-who-the-churches-of-christ-are\/","url_meta":{"origin":42480,"position":0},"title":"What a beautiful, simple explanation of who the churches of Christ are!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a member of the church of Christ in Tennessee. I happened to run across your page when I Googled \"Was Paul a member of the Sanhedrin?\" I went to\u00a0your home page, and, wow, what a beautiful, simple explanation of who we are! Just thought I would send\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40241,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-history-of-the-la-vista-church-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":42480,"position":1},"title":"The History of the La Vista Church of Christ","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The La Vista Church of Christ\u00a0was established in September of 1971. There were two families living in the area and they met for a time in the home of Ken and Rita Hirshey and their children. The other family was Wally and Nellie Bates and their children. Ken worked in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41582,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/your-site-is-a-blessing-in-more-ways-than-you-know\/","url_meta":{"origin":42480,"position":2},"title":"Your site is a blessing in more ways than you know","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: God bless you. La Vista Church of Christ is an answer to my prayers since I have not been able to find a local church where I can worship our Lord. I find the messages extremely anointed and they explain the Lord's thoughts so well. I am a mature\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88547,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-the-apostle-paul-baptize\/","url_meta":{"origin":42480,"position":3},"title":"Did the Apostle Paul Baptize?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Louis Rushmore Plainly, the apostle Paul acknowledged that he personally baptized some individuals. \"Now I say this, that each of you says, 'I am of Paul,'\u00a0or 'I am of Apollos,'\u00a0or 'I am of Cephas,' or 'I am of Christ.\"\u00a0Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10986,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-did-the-church-in-corinth-receive-the-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit\/","url_meta":{"origin":42480,"position":4},"title":"How did the church in Corinth receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How did the Corinthian church receive the Holy Spirit in a miraculous way? Was it by the laying on hands by the apostles or what? Or does the Bible not say? Answer: The church in Corinth was started by the Apostle Paul (Acts 18). He initially taught there for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1317,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/apostleship\/","url_meta":{"origin":42480,"position":5},"title":"Apostleship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \"Your church is not organized as the early church was. Where are your apostles?\" Such was the contention of two Mormon \"elders\" who came to my door one day. 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