Introduction
“We
were all baptised by one Spirit into one body— whether Jews or Greeks,
slave or free— and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Cor
12:13).
We live in an individualistic age, especially those of us who live or
who are deeply influenced by the Western world. Sometimes, therefore,
Christians think that what matters is my personal belief in Christ,
what I believe in my heart. Hence, it is said, “I don’t need to go to
church to be a Christian.”
However, this is to misunderstand the basic nature of Christianity as taught in Scripture. Of course individual, heart belief is crucial. Without it there is no salvation. But Christianity is essentially corporate. When we come to faith in Christ the Holy Spirit incorporates us into the worldwide body of Christ, the church.
So the answer to the statement “I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian” is “You do if you want to be a really good Christian!”* Corporate worship, teaching fellowship and Communion are all essential to the Christian life
No church is perfect but the trouble is that many churches do not properly function as churches in the New Testament sense. They can be happy, friendly places where public worship takes place for an hour on Sunday– and that is good as far as it goes. But the New Testament envisages Christians being involved in a loving, united, but outward-looking fellowship where:
- “each member belongs to all the others” (Rom 12:5)
- all the members “have equal concern for each other” (1 Cor 12:14).
- they frequently meet together to encourage one another (Heb 10:25)
- they “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb 10:24)
- they use their different gifts (e.g. encouragement, healing, sharing a word of wisdom, practical ability) to build up the fellowship in love. “From [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Eph 4:16).
It can easily seem impossible for a church to develop such a fellowship, even on a group level, let alone the congregational level. But it is not. The resources in this section have been tried and tested in many churches. They may need some adaptation to local circumstances, but we experienced an ordinary Anglican parish church become such a fellowship. We distilled these resources from the experienced gained in the process.
There is however quite a bit of material which individuals can use, short articles or the longer “Called to Serve” course which has been used by well over 100,000 Christians.
If you have questions or comments, feel free to write to my blog site.
*Obviously I am not referring to those who through illness or circumstances genuinely cannot attend church. God makes special grace available to such people.
Church Development Resources

Articles are arranged according to subject and to whether they are:
1.
Short popular articles for the general reader
2. Longer popular articles for the general reader
3. More academic articles
where relevant
Teaching about the Church
Short popular articles for the general reader.
- What is the Church for?
- The importance of the church
- We need one another in Christian fellowship
- Are we radical enough in our experience of Renewal?
- The role of the parish church
- The nature of the church – housegroup diagram
Longer popular series for the general reader.
- A short history of a parish church in radical renewal
- “Called to Serve” – a 20-session discipleship course (large file: 35 MB - PDF - slow download)
- "That the World May Believe" - the story of the remarkable work of the Holy Spirit in Tony Higton’s Essex parish which led to the church becoming radically biblical in the power of the Spirit.” (PDF)
Longer series for church leaders.
- “Called to Serve” Leader’s Guide
- “Minister’s Guide to Church Development Strategy” (a suggested total strategy for church development); (NB large file: 35MB - PDF - slow download)
Teaching about Unity
Short popular articles for the general reader.
- The importance of unity
- Evangelicals together in unity
- Unity in diversity in the local church
- Finding unity in the Spirit
- How to handle disagreement
- Primary and Secondary issues
Teaching about Vision
Short popular articles for the general reader.
Teaching on Leadership
Short popular articles for the general reader.
Longer popular series for the general reader.
Teaching on Spiritual Warfare
Short popular articles for the general reader.
Longer popular series for the general reader.
Teaching on Prayer
Short popular articles for the general reader.
Teaching on Worship
Short popular articles for the general reader.