But that universal church growth doesn't necessarily translate into the numerical growth of individual congregations - even healthy ones.

She viewed the divisions in the universal church as the result of unfortunate historical events with little bearing on the present.

Membership in a universal church replaced citizenship in a universal empire.

They do not recognize any single bishop as universal church leader, but rather each bishop governs only his own diocese.

It views itself as the unbroken continuation of the early apostolic and later medieval universal church, rather than as a new formation.