Editor’s Note: Say the word “catholic” or “catholicity,” and many pastors might give you a quizzical look. 

They affirm the 381 Nicene Creed’s, “I believe in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.” They know the word simply means “universal” and applies to more than the church of Rome. 

The thing is, it’s not a word we often use in everyday evangelical church land. The raised eyebrows follow. 

Still, it’s a word that 9Marks has been trying to breathe a little life into for a number of years. Call it our reclamation project. When asked, I give it a three-word definition: churches partnering together. Conceptually, that’s me taking a few shortcuts. The doctrine needs a fuller definition than that. Yet churches partnering together is where the rubber meets the road for a pastor when it comes to catholicity. It’s what catholicity looks like. 

What 9Marks wants is more catholic pastors, as Mark Dever argues in his piece. First, the catholic impulse is biblically required. You should want to partner with churches around the world. Second, that impulse is the Great Commission impulse. It wants more churches everywhere, because Christ has people everywhere. Third, the impulse works against the turfiness and self-sufficiency that seems to follow the attractional church-growth and missions philosophies which have dominated evangelicalism for seventy years. 

Therefore, we offer this edition of Church Matters to help you and your fellow church leaders study this fairly neglected topic. Start with the basics of what it is, what it requires, and what are its limits. Next, consider its significance in history and our own divided age. Most crucially for your work, study what it means practically for your church and your church’s missionaries. Finally, you’ll be encouraged by the testimonies of a few brothers who explain what they’ve learned from those with whom they disagree on secondary matters. 

If you read this edition of Church Matters straight through, you’ll encounter some overlap between the articles. Yet we hope that will help you better grasp, remember, and apply this glorious doctrine, a property of the gospel, the beauty of the church, for the praise of his name among the nations.