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Sutherland Shire Churches and convents |
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Church The English word "church" developed from Old English cirice, from West Germanic kirika, from Greek kyriake (oikia) "Lord's (house)", from kyrios "ruler, lord." The Greek word kyriakon (an adjective meaning "of the Lord") was used of houses of Christian worship since c.300, especially in the East, though it was less common in this sense than ekklesia or basilike. The Christian church began as Jesus' following among the Jews. Paul and other missionaries spread Christianity among the Hellenized gentiles of the Roman Empire. Christians were sporadically persecuted, but the religion spread, and in the 4th century Constantine legalized Christianity in the Eastern Roman Empire. Constantine's Council of Nicea united the Christian church around the Nicene Creed. Six more ecumenical councils followed, representing a time of harmony between East and West. When the Roman Empire fell to the barbarians, the church effectively split into East and West. This split became an official schismin 1054. Martin Luther and other reformers broke away from Rome, establishing Protestant churches. Other new churches formed over the next centuries. |

