We are living in a time in which we are seeing a rapid unravelling of institutional structures in Western society and a re-alignment of values. The church is not faring well in this process. This book takes the form of an earthed and practical theology and asks the question ‘what is the church?’ Rather than a purely theoretical, or a purely pragmatic approach, it looks to the radical Reformers of the sixteenth century and finds there an emphasis on the church’s invisible realities and on community both of which have a relevance to the twenty-first century.

For anyone who is concerned about Church decline, the contents of this book offer an essential blueprint for building God’s whole community in the coming years. This unique set of resources offers practical help and insight for all who want to grow, enrich and develop their congregational life. The Church of Scotland has drawn on the findings of extensive new research that it has commissioned in order to put together this set of carefully crafted and informed resources aimed at helping every congregation to understand why people leave the Church, how to avoid unnecessary departures and, above all, to develop an enriching, vital Christian fellowship with the large numbers of Churchless Christians in every community across the country. This ground-breaking book, illustrated by Dave Walker, offers information, hope, insight, prayerful reflection and practical ideas for bringing together in fellowship all Christians, whether they are members of an institutional Church or not.

One of the most widespread theories of today is the universal, invisible church theory. This theory teaches that all believers belong to this invisible church and they were made a part of it through Holy Spirit baptism. The author of this book shows the fallacy of such a theory. He discusses all passages used to support a universal church theory, refutes them, and uses those same passages of Scripture to show how the Bible teaches a local church.