Community

No Christian is an island. Jesus built a community of friends (John 15.12-7) rather than isolated individuals, reflected in the early Church’s shared hospitality and worship (Acts 2.43-7) and forever after. As explored in our Traditions section, when enough Christians gather together this forms a tradition or denomination. 

Often Christians will have a “wide” Church community, where they might attend weekly worship and teaching services, and a “deep” Church community, made up of just a few people, sometimes from their “wide” community, where they can explore faith and be accountable to others in a supportive atmosphere. It is worth reading this section alongside spiritual direction (covered in Wider Spiritual Practices).

The emphasis on community faith varies by tradition – roughly speaking, Protestants tend to emphasise individual faith, Catholics and Orthodox Christians tend to emphasise corporate faith. Both enrich the other, as we seek to bring our inner and outer lives into the discipleship of Jesus.

The below resources are UK-focused, to be read alongside the resources in our Traditions section.

Further resources

Festivals
Greenbelt
New Wine
Spring Harvest
The Big Church Festival (formerly Big Church Day Out) 

Media 
There are several radio stations including Cross Rhythms, Premier and UCB
There are several “Christian influencers” including Susannah Friesen
Ship of Fools – ‘the magazine of Christian unrest’
Theos – exploring the place of religion in society

For churches
The Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication has several resources for church growth

For small groups
Bible Society resources

For kids groups
Godly Play
Messy Church

For youth groups
Satellites Festival
Bible Society resources