We are not immersed into the life of God on our own but always in community. Spirituality is not simply another thing we add to what we do as individuals but an invitation into patterns of living with others. This is both in the sense of joining a pilgrimage of faith that has a rich heritage going back centuries, and in joining a current community of people who are seeking to live and share the love of Jesus. This is what we mean by church, although many peoples experience of church is mixed. We are invited to be part of a very diverse mix of people, a community who often fail but support each other in bringing good into the world.

When we think of “church” there are many negative images and experiences that can get in the way. It might be easier to think of communities of people who seek to be immersed in God and are drawn to gather round and learn from Jesus, reaching out to others and connecting together in different ways across towns, nations and continents. To be honest, I often struggle with the church! Churches have been the most inspiring and loving places I have known and yet in themselves and in their structures can be very painful places. As I have pondered this paradox so I have found it helpful to contemplate the church as challenged by God yet as living in the divine Trinity and outwards in and for the world.

It is important to consider the ways in which the church is structured and how these structures might be transformed in a world of many networks. My attempts to articulate a different way of being church led to my PhD published as “Network Church.”