Exploring faith

What it means to be a Christian

The Christian life is lived in relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Christians seek to deepen that relationship and to follow the way that Jesus taught, in fellowship with other Christians within the family of the Church.

For Christians God is understood and known as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

• Father... God is love, caring for creation and for every human being as God's beloved child.
• Son... God is as he has revealed himself to be in the historical person of Jesus Christ. Jesus' life, death and resurrection holds the key to knowing and loving God, and to making sense of life, before and after death.
• Holy Spirit... God is alive, loving and active today, inspiring faith, justice and truth, sustaining the life of the world, giving spiritual gifts to the church and bearing his spiritual fruit in the world - changed lives and a transformed society.

Finding out more

If you want to wait before contacting anyone, and you'd rather find out more about Jesus online visit www.rejesus.co.uk or www.christianity.org.uk

But because Christianity is about relationship and community, the best way to find out about faith and prayer, to raise questions and to get help, is to meet some Christians. The Church of England is just one of the Christian churches in this country. We seek to work alongside other Christian churches and denominations as closely as we can.

You can also learn more about God as he is in Jesus by reading the Bible - why not start with the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament?

Churches across the country

The Church of England is made up of communities of Christians in every corner of the land.

Most of these communities can be found via the parish church buildings in every city, town and in almost every village.

Many Anglicans now meet in and through smaller groups, relating to networks of people in our fast-changing society. Or they seek to serve particular groups of people and to find their Christian identity alongside them.  Other Anglicans are committed to traditional religious communities, whether as monks and nuns or as people associated with those communities.

To find a local contact where you live, visit our Find a Church area.

© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2004

Related external links:

• Stories of faith: http://www.churchofengland.org/our-faith/faith-stories-christianity-in-everyday-lives.aspx
  Real life experiences of faith which show how life-changing the Christian message can be.