Our Way of Life
The Bible gives effective direction to our lives. We try to rely fully upon God and develop a faith which is active in prayer and good works. At the same time, however, we recognize that salvation is by grace.
With God’s help, we seek to please and obey him every day, striving to imitate Christ who faithfully obeyed his Father. We therefore endeavour to be enthusiastic in work, loyal in marriage, generous in giving, dedicated in preaching and positive in our approach to living in the modern world under God’s guidance.
A widespread custom amongst Christadelphians is to read the Bible every day using a reading plan which enables us to systematically read the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice each year. Of course, many read much more widely than this.
We may also attend one or more evening Bible classes each week. Every Sunday, we attend a service we call the “Memorial Meeting” or “Breaking of Bread”. This is similar to the “Communion” of some churches. All members partake of bread and wine and an ‘exhortation’ or encouragement is given based on the Bible. Attendance at this service is the focus of our religious life.
We also have Sunday Schools, Children’s groups and Youth Groups; a weekend away at a Bible Study camp is always popular with Christadelphian young people.
We hold church retreats for weekends or for a week, as well as much larger gatherings such as regional, state or national conferences.
Some members travel overseas on mission work; others care for the elderly in our nursing homes and hostels. Members support community groups which assist those less fortunate in places such as Africa, Eastern Europe and the Pacific Islands. Many of our members also volunteer in the wider local community. There are a small number of private schools run by our community.
Members donate to the activities of the church as they see fit and can afford, without set requirements such as tithes. No members are paid for their church work since all are lay preachers and volunteers.
The Christadelphians are a close-knit community working in God’s service in whatever ways we can until Jesus Christ returns to set up his Father’s kingdom.