ecclesia (or ekklesia) in christian theology means both: a particular body of faithful people, and the whole body of the faithful. latin "ecclesia", from greek "ekklesia," where the word is a compound of two segments: "ek", a preposition meaning "out of", and a verb, "kaleo", signifying "to call" - together, literally, "to call out". that usage soon disappeared and was replaced with "assembly, congregation, council", or "convocation".