The City's Gate 
Presbyterian Church In America

Introduction To The City's Gate

             Section 1- Overview II 

When we talk about “membership”, the idea of belonging to a church is not the starting point.  Membership actually refers to being joined with Christ.  So, the first step in membership is to be spiritually united with Christ, which is something God does to us through the action of our faith.  

In our union with Christ, the Spirit of God joins us to the “universal” or “invisible” church; the real church, made up of every believer from every time and every place.  From this perspective, the church is called the “Body” of Christ.  Jesus is the “head,” and each and every believer is called a “member” of His “body.”  Our membership in the Body of Christ is accomplished by the Holy Spirit and is symbolized by baptism.

The universal church does not exist on earth as a separate entity from the local, “visible” church.  Another way to say this is: The local church is the “visible” picture of the “invisible” church.  In a local church, we commit ourselves to other believers, who are also members of Christ’s Body; we love those who, like us, are loved by God in Christ. The local church is where the “invisible” becomes “visible"; where we become members of Christ’s Body not only in “theory”, but especially in practice.  

Just as it was the practice of the first Christians to meet in one another’s homes, so it is our practice, at The City’s Gate, to meet with one another at various times and places in small groups, scattered throughout the city.  It is only in these small groups that we really learn the substantial and joyous ways that the gospel enables us to belong to each other. One could say that the worship of the Body of Christ is made visible on Sunday mornings, when we gather all the groups together, but that the work, the witness, the life, and the actual being of the Body of Christ, is made visible through these groups.