The Church Is More Than a Building
The church is the people of God gathered together under the lordship of Jesus Christ. We may worship in different buildings, belong to different traditions, and express our faith in different ways. Yet when we share the one Gospel, we belong to one Body.
Every local church is part of a larger story. God has placed His people throughout our communities so that the good news of Jesus Christ can be lived and shared among our neighbors.
The question is not simply, “Which church should I attend?” It is, “How is Christ calling me to belong, grow, serve, and love others as part of His Body?”
The Body of Christ
The church is not one denomination, tradition, or style of worship. It is the Body of Christ, made up of people who have been brought together through faith in Him. We naturally favor what is familiar and may begin to see our own tradition as better than others. But Christ calls us beyond those divisions.
Our differences do not have to separate us from one another. The same Lord has called us, the same Gospel gives us life, and the same Spirit is at work among His people. As we learn to love one another across the boundaries we have created, we begin to see the beauty of the Body Christ is building.
One Lord. One Gospel. One Body.
Churches in Our Community
Our community is blessed with many churches, each with its own history, traditions, people, and ways of serving. We do not need to make them all alike. Instead, we can appreciate the ways God is at work through His people in different congregations while remembering that no local church stands alone.
The church is part of the community in which God has placed it. We are called not only to gather for worship, but to love our neighbors, care for those in need, welcome those who are searching, and seek the good of the place we call home. When churches recognize that we are fellow members of Christ’s Body, our differences can become opportunities to learn from one another and work together for the good of our community.
Different congregations. One community. One Lord.
Finding a Church Home
Finding a church home is more than finding a place to attend on Sunday. It is finding a people with whom you can follow Jesus, grow in faith, worship God, and learn to serve others. Every congregation has its own character and traditions, but the most important question is whether Christ is honored as Lord and His Gospel is faithfully proclaimed.
As you visit different churches, take time to listen, ask questions, and pray. Look for a people who welcome you, encourage you to grow, and help you become more like Christ. You do not have to find a perfect church. There is no perfect congregation because the church is made up of people who are still being changed by God’s grace.
Come as you are. Follow Christ. Find your place among His people.
Five Spiritual Things to Look for in a Church
- Christ is honored as Lord
Is Jesus more than a subject of teaching? Is He confessed and followed as Lord?
2. The Gospel is faithfully proclaimed
Does the church clearly teach the good news of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ?
3. The Bible is taken seriously
Is Scripture treated as God’s Word and allowed to shape what the church believes and how its people live?
4. People are welcomed and fed
Will you find people who genuinely care about you and help you grow in following Christ—not simply attend a service?
5. There is a place to serve and belong
Does the congregation give you opportunities to love others, use your gifts, and participate in the life of the community?
Jesus Is Our Way Home
Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
Most of us use directions and traffic information to help us arrive safely at our destination. But following Jesus is more than finding the right directions. He is the way home.
The Gospel tells us what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. As we trust Him, listen to His Word, and follow Him, He leads us into the life God intended for us.
The church is not the destination. It is a community of people learning to follow Jesus together.
Hearing Scripture
This Bible listening resource can help you hear and follow God’s Word wherever you are.
His Truth Is Found in the Gospel
Gather where the gospel is preached and Christ is honored as Lord.
Life Takes Form Through His Church
I am thankful to see churches working together as one in Christ—not simply to fill pulpits, but to build lives. It was a joy recently to speak with a founding pastor of Christ the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Portland, Maine, a city that holds deep personal meaning for me as my birthplace and the location of my first home church after coming to faith, First Baptist Church. What stands out is the way my home church played a role in supporting the establishment of this Presbyterian church plant. These are quiet but powerful reminders that God is still at work in our day, drawing His people together and building His Church across traditions for His glory.
First Baptist Church, 360 Canco Rd,, Portland, Maine. My first home church after coming to faith.
This example involved church planting, but there are many other areas where churches can partner together. The first and most obvious is in prayer. Monthly prayer times at hosting churches can help bring members together and help them learn about current needs, concerns, and hopes. As relationships develop, prayer can become more than an occasional gathering. Churches begin to carry one another’s burdens and celebrate one another’s answers to prayer.
From prayer can come partnership. Churches may discover that they share concerns for their community even though they have different traditions, sizes, or approaches to ministry. One congregation may have a building that can be used for a community ministry. Another may have people with the gifts and experience to lead it. Another may have relationships with people in the community who are not connected to any church. Working together allows each congregation to contribute what it has without giving up its own identity.
There are many possibilities: supporting a food pantry or community meal, helping families in need, providing transportation, visiting nursing homes and shut-ins, assisting refugees and immigrants, organizing neighborhood outreach, supporting youth and children’s ministries, or joining together in church planting. Churches can also share training, resources, volunteers, and ideas rather than each congregation trying to develop everything independently.
The goal is not to make every church look alike or to create another organization that churches must support. The goal is to help the Body of Christ function as a body. Each congregation brings something different, just as each member of a human body has a different function. When churches recognize what they can contribute to one another and to their community, cooperation becomes a natural expression of their life in Christ.
Perhaps the most important beginning is simply getting together. Churches that pray together begin to know one another. Churches that know one another begin to trust one another. Churches that trust one another become more willing to serve together. And churches that serve together begin to discover what Christ can accomplish through His Body that they could never accomplish alone.
Our Beginnings
A brief look at how this vision for churches working together began.
Church Planting
Explore how churches can work together to help establish and strengthen new congregations.
Our New Church Home
A resource for those seeking a church home where they can follow Jesus and grow with others.
Moving Forward Together
These four movements gather momentum as we follow Jesus together. We see Christ above our denominational differences, pray in agreement with Scripture, the Holy Spirit, and one another, share the Gospel in our locations, and prepare for Jesus’ return. What begins with our eyes fixed on Christ moves into prayer, becomes Gospel witness, and carries us forward with hope as we await His return.
Christ is Lord. Scripture is our foundation. The Spirit leads us. And we need one another.
Connected and Laboring Together
Connected and laboring together for each state, especially where churches are few.
We are not called merely to recognize one another, but to strengthen one another. As churches connect across denominational and geographic boundaries, we can encourage one another, share what God is doing, identify places where the Gospel witness is thin, and labor together to help establish and strengthen churches where they are needed most.
Our Posture Toward One Another
May we honorably move forward together as the Body of Christ in New England, with the same mind and spirit that Jesus showed when He came for us—humbly putting the interests of others before our own.
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 2:5