The term church’s is the singular possessive form of church. E.g., “My local church’s gates were made in the 18th century.” The word churches’ is the plural possessive form. E.g., “Churches’ methods of fundraising have diversified.” Finally, churches, with no apostrophe, is the plural form.
This table provides a visual representation of each form:
| Singular | Church |
| Plural | Churches |
| Singular possessive | Church’s |
| Plural possessive | Churches’ |
To make the plural form, you need to add the suffix “-es” rather than just an “-s.” Likewise, for the possessive forms.
The following examples show how you can use each form correctly:
- Singular: St Mary’s Church is holding a special service on November 11th for Armistice Day.
- Plural: Around the country, churches are increasing their efforts to attract more young people.
- Singular possessive: The church’s stained-glass windows were designed by the artist F. Cardenas.
- Plural possessive: Most churches’ employees are usually volunteers.
Furthermore, you need to capitalize the word church on two occasions.
Firstly, when you talk about a specific church by name.
And secondly, when you refer to the entity of The Church. In these cases, The Church is usually a short form of The Catholic Church or The Christian Church, etc., which all have capital letters because they are names.
Please continue reading the rest of the article to discover more about using the different possessive and plural forms of church.
Church’s
The term church’s is the singular possessive form of church.
Therefore, you should use church’s to indicate that a single church possesses something. A possession can be a physical item, such as a piece of the building.
- The church’s door is made of pure oak.
Or it can be something like an opinion or an event.
- The church’s sports day was a success, and everyone enjoyed themselves.
Furthermore, if you are referring to the entity of The Church, you will need to use a capital letter. In this example, we are referring to The Catholic Church:
- The Church’s stance on abortion has softened somewhat since the new pope was coronated.
Churches’
The term churches’ is the plural possessive of church.
Therefore, you can use it to refer to things that are part of or owned by multiple churches.
Take a look at these examples:
- The local churches’ efforts to help people following the storm were admirable.
- Both churches’ priests are well-known in the local community.
Furthermore, the form churches’ is not that common because multiple churches rarely possess things in unison.
Additionally, the thing that determines when you use the possessive form or the plural form is the word order. Accordingly, you use the possessive form when the noun comes directly after the church.
As shown in these examples:
- Churches’ Christmas celebrations are enjoyed around the world.
- Most churches’ windows are usually stained glass
Churches
The term churches is the plural version of the word church. Therefore, you use it in any sentence about multiple churches.
Here are a few examples:
- Churches around the world are celebrating Christmas today.
- The windows in churches are usually stained glass.