Christian Doctrine of the Church: Community, Worship, and Mission

The Church: A People Called by God

The church is not first a building, a weekly event, or a religious club. In Christian doctrine, the church is a people called by God, centered on Jesus Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit for worship, growth, and mission in the world.

This means the church is both visible (real gatherings, leaders, practices) and spiritual (a community formed by God’s action). Local congregations are genuine expressions of the church, and Christians also speak of the universal church: all who belong to Christ across places and times.

Key Terms (Simple Definitions)

• Church: The community of people who belong to Jesus Christ, gathered and sent by God.
• Communion: Shared participation in Christ and in one another; expressed in mutual care and also in the Lord’s Supper (often called “Communion”).
• Body of Christ: A biblical picture for the church: Christ is the head; believers are members with different gifts, united for one life and purpose.
• Sacrament/Ordinance: A church practice commanded by Christ and practiced by the church. Many traditions use sacrament to emphasize God’s grace given through the sign; others prefer ordinance to emphasize Christ’s command and the church’s obedient response. Both usually refer especially to baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
• Discipleship: Learning from Jesus to live like Jesus—belief, character, habits, and obedience shaped over time in community.
• Mission: The church’s participation in God’s work in the world—proclaiming Christ, making disciples, and serving neighbors in love.

1) Marks and Purposes of the Church

Different traditions describe the church’s “marks” in different ways, but the everyday purposes of church life can be summarized as: worship, teaching, fellowship, service, and witness. These purposes overlap; together they form a healthy pattern.

Worship: Centered on God

Worship is the church responding to God with reverence, gratitude, confession, praise, prayer, and attentive listening. Worship is not only music; it is the whole gathering oriented toward God.

Practical steps for preparing for corporate worship

Continue in our app.

• Listen to the audio with the screen off.
• Earn a certificate upon completion.
• Over 5000 courses for you to explore!

Or continue reading below...

Download the app

• Before: Read the Scripture passage (if known), pray briefly for focus, and plan to arrive early enough to be present rather than rushed.
• During: Participate actively—sing, pray, listen, confess, and receive. Take notes on one actionable point.
• After: Speak with someone you do not know well; ask how you can pray for them; follow up within 48 hours.

Example: A church may include a confession of sin and assurance of forgiveness, reminding worshipers that they come by grace, not performance.

Teaching: Formed by the Word

The church teaches so that believers grow in understanding and wisdom, and so that new believers learn the faith. Teaching happens through preaching, small groups, catechesis/new-member classes, mentoring, and family discipleship.

Practical steps for benefiting from teaching

• Bring one question to the sermon or class: “What does this show me about God?”
• Write one sentence summary: “Because this is true, I will…”
• Discuss it with someone: ask what they heard and what they will practice.

Example: A small group studies a Gospel passage and ends by practicing prayer for one another, connecting learning to life.

Fellowship (Communion): Sharing Life in Christ

Fellowship is more than friendliness. It is shared life: mutual encouragement, bearing burdens, hospitality, reconciliation, and shared resources when needed. Communion includes both spiritual unity and practical care.

Practical steps for building real fellowship

• Learn names and stories: aim to know two new people each month.
• Practice hospitality: invite someone for a meal or coffee.
• Share needs appropriately: ask for prayer; accept help when offered.
• Repair relationships quickly: seek forgiveness and reconciliation rather than letting distance grow.

Example: When a member loses a job, the church organizes meals, job leads, and prayer support rather than offering only sympathy.

Service: Love in Action

Service is the church’s practical love for one another and for neighbors. It includes mercy ministries, care for the vulnerable, and everyday acts of help. Service is not a substitute for worship and teaching; it is a fruit of them.

Practical steps for serving wisely

• Start local: ask church leaders where needs are consistent and accountable.
• Serve with a team: avoid isolated “hero” service that burns out.
• Match gifts to needs: administration, teaching, hospitality, mercy, craftsmanship, listening.
• Review regularly: ask, “Is this helping people flourish, or creating dependency?”

Example: A church partners with a local shelter, providing meals and also helping guests access training and stable housing resources.

Witness: Speaking and Showing the Gospel

Witness is the church’s public testimony to Christ in word and deed. It includes evangelism, apologetic readiness, and a visible community life that makes the gospel credible.

Practical steps for everyday witness

• Pray for three people by name.
• Learn to tell your story in 2 minutes: “My life before, how I met Christ, what changed.”
• Practice one clear invitation: “Would you like to come with me this Sunday?”
• Be ready to explain hope with gentleness: avoid arguments that win points but lose people.

Example: A believer offers to pray for a coworker in a stressful season and later explains why prayer matters to them.

How These Purposes Fit Together

2) Leadership and Order: Elders, Bishops, Pastors

The church needs leadership and order so that worship is guided, teaching is protected, people are cared for, and mission is coordinated. The New Testament uses several leadership terms, and Christian traditions have developed different governance models. It is possible to describe these without insisting that only one model is faithful.

Common Leadership Roles (Broadly Described)

• Pastor: A shepherd-teacher who cares for the congregation through preaching, prayer, guidance, and personal care. In many churches, “pastor” is the primary title for local leaders.
• Elder: A mature leader responsible for spiritual oversight, teaching, and wise governance. Some churches have multiple elders who share oversight.
• Bishop: A leader with oversight beyond a single congregation (often regional). In some traditions, bishops also play a key role in ordaining clergy and guarding unity.
• Deacon (often included in church order): A servant-leader who helps coordinate practical care and mercy ministries, supporting the church’s life and mission.

What Leadership Is For (Pastoral Aims)

• Guarding teaching: ensuring the church is instructed faithfully and consistently.
• Shepherding people: counseling, prayer, visitation, and care in crisis.
• Equipping members: helping believers use gifts for ministry rather than making ministry leader-only.
• Maintaining order: organizing worship, decision-making, and accountability.
• Fostering unity: addressing conflict and encouraging reconciliation.

Different Church Governance Models (Without Picking One)

Churches often organize leadership in one of these broad patterns:

• Episcopal: oversight led by bishops (often with priests/pastors and deacons). Emphasizes continuity, unity, and regional oversight.
• Presbyterian/elder-led: oversight led by a plurality of elders, often connected to broader councils (sessions/presbyteries). Emphasizes shared leadership and accountability.
• Congregational: final human authority for major decisions rests with the congregation, usually with pastors/elders leading and teaching. Emphasizes local responsibility and member participation.

Practical steps for relating well to church leadership

• Know the structure: ask how decisions are made and who to contact for care.
• Assume goodwill, ask questions: seek clarity before criticism.
• Participate appropriately: vote, serve, attend meetings if your church has them.
• Pray for leaders: include their wisdom, integrity, and endurance.
• Use biblical conflict habits: go directly, speak truthfully, aim for peace.

3) Sacraments/Ordinances: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are central practices given by Christ to shape the church. They are visible signs that teach, strengthen faith, and mark belonging. Churches differ in how they explain what happens in these practices, but most agree they are not empty rituals; they are meant to form disciples.

Baptism

Meaning: Baptism is the church’s act of washing with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It signifies union with Christ, cleansing, new life, and incorporation into the community of faith. It is also a public identification with Jesus and his people.

Participants (two main practices)

• Infant baptism: practiced in many traditions. It emphasizes God’s covenant promise and the child’s inclusion in the church’s care, with an expectation of later personal faith and confirmation/affirmation.
• Believer’s baptism: practiced in many traditions. It emphasizes personal repentance and faith as the appropriate context for baptism, often connected to conscious discipleship commitment.

Mode (common approaches): Some baptize by immersion; others by pouring or sprinkling. Many churches see the mode as secondary to the meaning and the church’s faithful practice; others connect immersion more tightly to the symbolism of death and resurrection.

Pastoral aims of baptism

• Assurance: pointing to God’s promise and the believer’s belonging to Christ.
• Identity: marking a new primary allegiance—Christ above all.
• Community: welcoming the baptized into the church’s care and accountability.
• Discipleship: beginning (or publicly confirming) a life of learning obedience to Jesus.

Step-by-step: preparing for baptism (general pattern)

1. Conversation: meet with a pastor/elder to share your story and ask questions.
2. Instruction: learn the meaning of baptism and the basics of Christian life in your church.
3. Repentance and faith: clarify what it means to trust Christ and turn from sin (expressed differently across traditions, but central to discipleship).
4. Public service: baptism occurs in a gathered setting when possible, showing community belonging.
5. Follow-up: join a small group, begin serving, and establish habits of prayer, Scripture reading, and worship.

The Lord’s Supper (Communion/Eucharist)

Meaning: The Lord’s Supper is the church’s meal of bread and cup given by Jesus to remember his death, proclaim the gospel, and participate in communion with Christ and with one another. It is both remembrance and nourishment for faith.

Participants: Many churches invite baptized believers who trust in Christ and seek to live in repentance and faith. Some practice “open communion” (welcoming all professing Christians); others practice “close communion” (for members of that congregation/denomination) to express shared accountability and common confession.

Pastoral aims of the Lord’s Supper

• Remembrance: keeping Christ’s sacrifice central, not drifting into self-reliance.
• Assurance and comfort: strengthening weak faith through a tangible promise.
• Unity: expressing one body—reconciliation matters because the meal is shared.
• Self-examination: inviting honest repentance, not shame-driven withdrawal.
• Hope: anticipating the future fulfillment of God’s kingdom.

Views of Christ’s Presence in Communion (Key Differences)

Christians agree that Communion is instituted by Jesus and is spiritually significant, but they differ on how to describe Christ’s presence:

• Real presence (various forms): Christ is truly present in a special way in the meal, not merely in the believer’s thoughts. Traditions explain the “how” differently.
• Memorial view: the meal is primarily a remembrance and proclamation; Christ is present by the Spirit as believers remember and trust, but not in a unique presence tied to the elements themselves.
• Spiritual presence: Christ is present and believers truly partake of him spiritually by faith, while the bread and cup remain bread and cup.

Practical step-by-step: receiving Communion thoughtfully

1. Pause: take a moment of quiet before receiving.
2. Examine: ask, “Am I trusting Christ? Am I refusing reconciliation with someone?”
3. Confess: name sin honestly to God; receive forgiveness as grace, not denial.
4. Receive: take bread and cup with gratitude, focusing on Christ’s promise.
5. Respond: pray for strength to obey; consider one concrete act of love or reconciliation to pursue this week.

How Sacraments/Ordinances Support Discipleship and Mission

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are not private spiritual upgrades. They shape a public people. Baptism marks entry into a community that teaches and trains. Communion renews the church’s shared life around Christ’s self-giving love, which becomes the pattern for service and witness.

Example: A church that regularly celebrates the Lord’s Supper may pair it with a practice of reconciliation—encouraging members to seek peace quickly and to care for the needy as an expression of shared communion.