The GCM Collective has identified some of our key distinctives and are working an explanatory paragraph for each one. Here's the fourth ...

4. Sharing our lives as extended family

The church is the community created by the gospel. So Christians are not individuals who gather for meetings, but members of God’s family. Our identity is communal. So we make decisions with regard to the implications for the church and we make significant decisions in consultation with the church. We share our lives together as a family. We spend time with one another, care for one another, exhort one another with the gospel, pray with one another, take the initiative to resolve conflict, all the time inviting unbelievers to participate in this common life. In a broken world we offer a place of belonging. Church life is family life.