The following is a portion of my Parish Priest's pastoral letter to the parishioners:

What does it mean to be Church? Well, many Catholics learn about the Church simply by growing up in or becoming members of a particular church. The Church often doesn't spend a lot of time explicitly teaching "ecclesiology", or the theology/doctrine of Church. Members learn it through the implicit ways it is experienced in the actual life of the church.

Our understanding of Church is as varied as our experiences of Church. Some view the Church as highly institutional, hierarchical and archaic in comparison to the technologically more advanced wider society. Others view the Church in a sentimental way having grown up with fond memories. Some view the Church as a family, a place of refuge, a home away from home, a sacred space to retreat from the excesses of the world, as they find disillusionment in an increasingly depersonalised and secularised world. On the other hand, some have also grown disillusioned with the Church itself, having been scarred by the hurts and wounds received from other members or even from the leadership.

In spite of our many experiences, the Church is bigger than the total sum of its members or their experiences. Our experiences do not make the Church. It is the Church which should ultimately form our experiences.