Let's consider:

The word "church" immediately brings to mind a set of thoughts, pictures and feelings. They may be positive or negative, depending on your experiences. But they are definitely related to "RELIGION".

The old testament is entirely silent about the concept of "church" as are the gospels except for the following two verses, spoken by the Messiah in Matthew.

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. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Matthew 16:18-19

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. Matthew 18:17

In both these verses (the only gospel occurrences and the only words spoken by Jesus that have been translated as "church") the word He actually used was "ekklesia"

We have been taught (conditioned, programmed) that "ekklesia" (as used by Jesus and the apostles) means "church" (RELIGION) as we understand it today. It does not. To differentiate, in this study, instead of "church", we have been using "ekklesia" and "woman". The word "ekklesia" is more likely a blank slate than "church" that we can develop together.

Church is a specific concept as we understand it. In this article all references to this concept will be called "church". It is generally thought to mean either the building where people meet to worship or the body of worshipers, local or universal, or the religious service. Metaphorically, it has been extended to the women (true and false) and to the bride.

see wikipedia here
     Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
     Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
     Christian denomination, a Christian organization with distinct doctrine and practice
     Christian Church, body of Christians, taken as a whole
     Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship

How did we get here? King Henry VIII kicked the pope out of England and assumed jurisdiction over the man-made, man-ruled church. King James, wanting to retain that power, made several rules for "his" Bible translation (the King James Version). He made fifteen specific edicts. Edict 3 stated that "The Old Ecclesiastical Words to be kept, viz. the Word Church not to be translated Congregation &c." see Here

"Edict 3. Perhaps most contentiously for the Puritans, the Translators were to keep traditional renditions of certain words – church, not congregation; priest, not elder and so forth;" see Here

see The Mysterious Word "Church" - original link

see The Mysterious Word "Church" - local link

"Church" is neither a translation nor a transliteration of "ekklesia". It is premised on a false base, so it is difficult for us to reach truth. It is confusing. Every time we see "church" in an English Bible translation, we must remind ourselves that any thought invoked is not as it appears. We must remember that the underlying word is ekklesia, meaning "citizens" or "assembly of citizens" (see next chapter).