The literal meaning ( not the corrupted meaning by the institutional “church”) is , in fact, “The called out”. The Greeks had a perfectly good word for “ assembly” i.e. “Sanhedrin”. The word “ Church” was not the mistranslated until 1400 years after Christ. When Paul wrote his letters to various communities, he was not writing the “ church” , he was writing the “believers” in Christ Jesus as the Son of God. The very word “church” is a false teaching.There was no mortgaged building with a steeple , there was no patriarchal “minister” , no choir, and definitely no Sunday at 11 AM. These are all constructs for sole proprietorships or franchise operations collecting Old Testament tithes in the name of God , In my opinion, based on the Greek.
The word "church" is not univocal. It can mean the building, the institution, or its members. Theologians often speak of the visible or invisible church, and when they do, they are speaking of believers.
But I would agree that there are certain sects that confuse the meaning, and only see church as just the institution instead of believers.