If the church really sees itself as the people of God, it is obvious that it can never be a static and supra-historical phenomenon, which exists undisturbed by earthly space and historical time. The Church is always and everywhere a living people, gathered together from the peoples of this world and journeying through the midst of time. The Church is essentially on route, on a journey, a pilgrimage. A Church which pitches its tents without looking out constantly for new horizons, which does not continually strike camp, is being untrue to its calling. The historical nature of the Church is revealed by the fact that it remains the pilgrim people of God. It renews and continues the history of the ancient people of the covenant and fulfills it in the new covenant. At the same time it journeys through history, through a time of complex imperfection, towards the final perfection, the eschatological kingdom of God, led by God himself. It is essentiallhy an interim Church, a Church in transition, and therefore not a Church of fear but of expectation and hope, a Church which is directed towards the consummation of the world by God.

- From The Church by Hans Kung