Our walk with God involves every aspect of our lives. Our personal lives, our life as a church community, and our public lives out in the world. This is why we have developed a ‘rule of life’ as a church, to help us focus on who we are and how we live as followers of Jesus.
Living in London today is busy, loud and distracting. Never before have we all been so interconnected and bombarded by information. The digital age can leave us restless and lacking peace. But in the midst of it all, our church community can help us as we seek to think, pray and live well in our walk with Jesus.
The idea of a rule of life, or a way of living, goes back to the Book of Acts, where the first Christians were known as ‘followers of the way’. Written rules of life for Christians developed in the third century, in the time of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. They wrote down the best-loved stories and sayings of their teachers, which grew into handbooks for how to follow the Christian way.
Our rule of life is written in the same spirit. It is based around five areas:
- silence – we seek to be still, listening to God, knowing he is always with us and that he loves us
- song – we lift our hearts to God in praise, worshipping him in Spirit and in truth
- scripture – we ask God to shape and direct our lives according to the teaching of the scriptures
- sacrament – we gather to be nourished by God in communion, and in baptism
- service – we follow the self-giving way of Jesus, who came into the world to serve others
It describes the essentials which keep us and our church healthy and growing in the Spirit.
Read our rule of life booklet here.
