$200, 000 to start a "church"?  

King James, King James Charles Stuart, King James VI and I, ascended the throne of England in 1603. Coincidentally, what he inherited from Mary, Queen of Scots, she was a Catholic who was beheaded, was in fact a crumbling kingdom that was very much like what Constantine stepped into in 306 AD. Both sovereigns stepped up to a throne that was surrounded by chaos and military enemies who wanted them gone, and many of the kings and queens before had been assassinated or executed. For the survival of their respective kingdoms, they felt the need to completely control their people and consolidate their power. In their respective worlds 4-year term elections hadn't been invented yet, and thus you left that throne because you died, were stabbed in the back, or beheaded. The consolidation of power for both Constantine and King James VI courts was the name of the game. 

Chronologically speaking, King James' court was not all that far removed from the court of Henry the IIX. So no, the Pope had not let go of England, and the Pope to a relative degree still hasn't.

Accordingly, King James wanted "community centers" in every village in English and a vicar on his payroll in that building. Now, flip the hourglass back to John Wycliff. Wycliff lived between around 1328 and died in 1384. Now, read the fine print. Wycliff was proclaimed a heretic by the Catholic church in 1415. 

Why does any of this matter and what does it have to do with $200, 000? 

One of the reasons why Wycliff's bones were thrown into a river by Catholic authorities was because he translated the Latin Bible into English. It is today called the "Wycliff," and it was published by him, which was something that would get you burnt at the stake back then, in 1380.

Here is Philemon in John Wycliff's 1380 English Bible. Philemon 1:2:

1:2most dere sister, and to Archip, oure euene kniyt, and to the chirche that is in thin hous,

See that "chirche"? Almost sounds familiar, doesn't it.

Wycliff was born in Yorkshire, which is right across the street from Scotland, and King James was from Scotland. The Catholic church had been in Scotland and Ireland for literally hundreds of years, so while growing up both Wycliff and James VI grew up around the "chirche."

Wycliff let "chirche" stand because it was what he knew and what the people around him knew. However, Wycliff did not translate direction from Greek. He based his translation on the Latin of the Catholic church, which is what he grew up with. People in 1600 were facility with a "Catholic structure," and King James, just like Constantine, needed to control the "city center." So, King James' translators stuck with Wycliff, and in their eyes Wycliff was somewhat of a Protestant martyr.

Accordingly, there are several words in the Koine Greek New Testament where the historical translation is a semantic train wreck. One of those words in "ekklaisia," or "gathering." The idea of "ekklaisia" being associated with a "place" or a building entered the English world when the Catholic church marched into Ireland and Scotland, and that concept was exactly what King James IV and I needed in every single town and city. Notice that King James' other book was about hunting witches. There wasn't a representative of Eastern Christianity on his translation panel, and every one of them was a paid man of the king. Question: would you argue a point of translation with a king who was known to have once killed a man in a knife fight and who had authorized the burning of witches?

It has only been in the last century that Bible translators have been looking more closely at the Koine Greek. Consequently, in 1st century Koine an "Ekklaisia" is a "gathering of people." In 1st century Koine there is absolutely no nuance at all that associates that with a building. 

Now, how much does it cost to meet at Denny's? If we split the tip, about $15.00. You can make your own Grand Slam, 4 items, and you can pick which ones. Yes, that could be expensive if you went once a week for a month. So, you could meet in .... someone's home? That is what they did in the 1st century, and the idea of a "community Christian center" didn't pick up to around 321 AD when Constantine made it illegal to not celebrate "Apollo Day," which in Rome was the "Sun + day." Ever notice that when you walk out of a "church" on that day the sun is directly overhead? That is 12PM, when Apollo can see you best when you are leaving "his house" on "his day." Why? Because Apollo needed to see it. You mean Apollo could not see inside your heart? Nope. That was why Jesus said that God can see you in your closet (Matt 6:6). Before Jesus' day people generally believed that you had to go to a special place, to see a special guy, do some kind of special ceremony, for God to be see it and accept it. 

Apollo Day was Roman custom, but kit was made law after 321 AD. Constantine wanted his soldiers to have one day where they didn't have to build, but he also wanted them in one place so he could collect taxes.

This is the end of Philemon 1:2:

.... κατ’ οἶκόν σου ἐκκλησίᾳ·

 There, the home, the building, is the place where the "people gather," the ἐκκλησίᾳ. "Meeting" is a much more accurate translation of ἐκκλησίᾳ , but unfortunately, that understanding puts a lot of people out of work.

In His name, with Love

Timothy