[lit. religion + assembly]
Biblical: religious gathering: 1) local bodies of Christian believers (the church): chos tshogs bsdus te/ they gathered the church together (Acts 15:30), de dag gi khim la mdzom pa'i chos tshogs/ the church that meets at their house (Rom. 16:5), ye ru sha lem na yod pa'i chos tshogs la 'tshe ba drag po byung bas/ a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem (Acts 8:1); 2) all who believe in Christ (the Church): chos tshogs ni ma shi ka'i 'bangs yin pa ltar/ as the church submits to Christ (Eph. 5:24). Various workers in the church are described as follows: lung ston pa dang /,,mkhas pa dang /,,mkhan po/ prophets and wise men and teachers (Mt. 23:34), lung ston pa dang slob dpon rnams/ prophets and teachers (Acts 13:1), dang por sku tshab/,,gnyis par lung ston pa/,,gsum par slob dpon/,,de nas ltas ston pa/,,nad gso ba'i gnang sbyin/,,rogs ram/,,mgo skyong /,,skad rigs so so 'byung ngo / first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues (1 Cor. 12:28), la lar sku tshab/,,la lar lung ston pa/,,la lar phrin bzang 'chad pa/,,la lar rdzi bo'am slob dpon/ some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers (Eph. 4:11), dam pa dang lung ston pa rnams/ saints and prophets (Rev. 16:6).
Buddhist: 1) chos tshogs/ refers to an assembly of monks chanting the Bst. scriptures (AMD); 2) dge 'dun dkon mchog the monk body is one element of the Bst. triple refuge: the sangha (KBT 47), dge 'dun pa rnams/ the monks, the sangha (TRC 50). Geshe Lhundup Sopa describes the Sangha as: dge 'dun dkon mchog mchog la'ang /,,don dam pa dang kun rdzob pa'i dge 'dun dkon mchog gnyis su dbye ba yod/,,don dam pa'i dge 'dun dkon mchog zer ba ni/,,lam gyi bden pa dang /,,'gog pa'i bden pa ci rigs dang ldan pa'i theg pa gsum gyi 'phags pa'i gang zag ngo ma de tsho red/,,kun rdzob pa'i dge 'dun ni/,,bsnyen rdzogs kyi sdom pa dang ldan pa'i so so skye bo'i dge slong bzhi yan chad tshogs pa'i tshogs pa rnams la kun rdzob ba'i dge 'dun zhu gi yod pa red/,,dkon mchog gsum so so'i ngo bo rags rim tsam ngos bzung ba de tsam red/ the Sangha is also divided into ultimate and conventional. The ultimate Sangha Jewel are individuals of the three vehicles endowed with the Truth of the Path and the Truth of Cessation. The conventional Sangha is an assembly of from four monks on up, ordinary individuals who possess the vow of a bhiksu; this is called the Sangha which is conventional. To identify only roughly the nature of each of the Three Jewels is just the above (TRC 75).
Secular: chos tshogs/ the Christian Church smyo ham che ba'i log spyod chos tshogs/ the ferociously reactionary church (SBC-1 62).