How many times is church mentioned in the Bible?
The word church appears 77 times in the King James Version, in 76 verses. Counting every form (church, churches), it appears 114 times in 111 verses across 18 of the 66 books. The World English Bible never uses the word church.
The World English Bible translates the Greek word ekklesia as assembly, so the word church never appears in it.
Church in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of church counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| church | 77 | 0 |
| churches | 37 | 0 |
| Total | 114 | 0 |
Which books mention church most
Church appears in 18 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Acts and 1 Corinthians share the most, 22 each.
Also in: Philemon (1), James (1), 1 Peter (1).
First and last mention of church
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.
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
The verse that uses it most is Matthew 18:17, 2 times (tied with 1 Corinthians 16:19, Revelation 1:20):
And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
Where the two translations differ
111 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 0 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
Matthew 16:18: counted in the KJV only
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.
I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
Matthew 18:17: counted in the KJV only
And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.
Common questions
How many times is church in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 0 of the 114 uses are in the Old Testament and 114 in the New Testament. Church appears in 18 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Acts and 1 Corinthians share the most, 22 each.
Where is church first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Matthew 16:18: "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 last is Revelation 22:16.
Read the full collection: Bible Verses About Church (20 Verses).
More word counts: fasting, remember, dream, music, dance, dog, lion, children, or all 107 words.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-02.