Community and the Church

There is no such creature as a solitary Christian in the full sense of the word. While one may believe alone, pray alone, and even suffer alone, one cannot grow alone. God has ordained that the Christian life is to be lived in community. The Church is not merely a meeting or a building, but a living fellowship of the redeemed, knit together in the Spirit, devoted to one another and to Christ their Head. From the earliest days, the Church was marked not by its individualism, but by its shared life - in prayer, teaching, breaking bread, and caring for one another's needs.

To forsake the fellowship of believers is to neglect the garden in which one is meant to flourish. The Church is where we practice love, patience, humility, and grace - not in abstraction, but in proximity. It is the spiritual family in which we learn to carry one another's burdens, speak truth in love, and stir each other toward good works. Though imperfect and often clumsy, the Church is still God's chosen vessel to shape saints, shelter sinners, and shine light in the world.