The Church finds its identity in this unified, complementary rhythm of being a people and a community, both within a city or culture and within the larger worldwide context. People and community together constitute what the New Testament means by ekklesia, the called-out and called-together Church of God.
Snyder focuses on the Church’s unique identity as new persons who form a community as the people of God. The Church is not just a community and not just new persons. The Church finds its calling through its identity as God’s people, and the work of the calling consistently reminds the church of her identity.
It is critically important–especially in a worldwide, multi-cultural situation such as the Church faces today–to be clear that the essence of the Church is people, not organization; that it is a community, not an institution… at its most basic and essential level the Church is something other than the institutional structures attached to it. One must not confuse the wineskins with the wine.
Snyder rightly notes the necessary evil of institutional structures. Without structure and organization, the Church will not perform its duties in any consistent manner. However, those structures are not to become the identity of the Church, and they should be fluid enough to adapt to changing times and a changing Church (the Church is in constant change as it is made up of people who change: new persons become part of the Church, persons die, persons grow, they move, etc.
Unless periodically reversed by institutional renewal, institutionalization will spell spiritual death for any church or movement. And since the gospel is life, it will at times lead to new movements seeking to restore the life of the primitive church when institutional structures become too rigid.
What many fear in the emerging church is that we will be just like all of the other movements who became a denomination and hardened, losing touch with the vision God once birthed in their hearts. The key, I believe, is to have a structure of change for any organizations of the Church. I avoid the word institution (remember Snyder was writing in the late 70s, so his understanding may be a little different than ours when we use words like “institution”) because it is used predominantly to describe a type of organizational structure, and one which takes on an identity of its own. Institutionalization is why we say today that people “go to church” instead of recognizing their identity as the Church.
A charismatic or organic model is one marked by community, interpersonal relationships, mutuality and interdependence. It is flexible and leaves room for a high degree of spontaneity. The Bible gives us such a model for the Church: the human body.
In contrast an institutional or organizational model is based on hierarchy, delegation of authority, impersonal relationships and formality. This is a legitimate form of human organization admirably suited to some kinds of endeavors, but it is not a proper model for Church structure. All biblical figures for the Church suggest a charismatic and organic, rather than an institutional, model: tree, vine, flock, family, nation, household, and even the living and growing “holy temple.” Legitimate institutional elements must be subordinate to the charismatic nature of the Church.
This chapter was much more than the institution versus people debate, but in my highlighting these passages stood out to me. Obviously, I have a bias against institutions 
It should be noted that the reason this issue figures predominantly in the chapter and even more so in my writings on the chapter is that God’s plan is for a people and not an institution. The working out of God’s plan in reconciling all things through the Church. As far as institutional structures further the Church’s activities, all the better, but an institution cannot contain the entire people of God with all of her diversity in geography, culture, and unique callings (the Church in Africa will have a very different interpretation to the call of restoring all things than the Church in Australia). Structures are necessary but should never become the identity of the Church.
If you’re interested in going through this book with me, check out used book stores. They often have this and Snyder’s classic, The Problem of Wineskins: Church Structure in a Technological Age available at a very good price.
Or you could order it from Amazon: The Community of the King
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