Christ did not establish a society for the observance of worship, a "cultic society", but rather the Church as the way of salvation, as the new life of re-created mankind. This does not mean that worship is secondary to the Church. On the contrary, it is inseparable from the Church and without it there is no Church. But this is because its purpose is to express form, or realize the Church - to be the source of that grace which always make the Church the Church, the people of God, the Body of Christ, "a chosen race and a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9).
+Fr. Alexander Schmemann, from Introduction to Liturgical Theology, Introduction
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