The church is not really the church unless our meetings fulfil these legal requirements of the denomination. But the church of Christ is not built on law. Fourth, the church is not built upon the clergy. In pre-Reformation Europe, and in much Roman Catholic and even Anglican thinking even today, the church IS the clergy. We have this caste system with two layers - clergy and laity.
People talk about entering the church, meaning going into holy orders.
There is this vast gulf between laity and clergy. This error began to creep in very early in church history. It was a godly attempt to correct disorder and rebellion in churches. But it was an overreaction that had disastrous consequences. People began to think that the church was built upon the clergy.