Spoken like a True Believer in the self-appointment of Rome!
Sorry, dear FRiend. I will continue to treasure the spoken and recorded words of Christ, when He said, "upon this rock I will build my gathering."
No "churches" appear in the New Testament. Just gatherings.
Churches are buildings. Gatherings require no church buildings. Raise your eyes from the earthly.
Oh Lord, somebody else trying to change scripture because it doesn’t say what he wants it to say. Do yourself a favor and give it a break. You sound silly.
From your own KJV.
Matthew 16:13-20King James Version (KJV)
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The word translated as "church" in the English KJV is from the Greek "ecclesia" and means "assembly" or "gathering", just like you said. Funny how the bigoted snobby elitists don't get that. From what some of them say, they presume they are the ONLY ones allowed to call themselves Christians or a Christian church - like God gave them the copyright or something. He didn't.