"The church exists as the communion of saints in which those who have heard the Word of God share their spiritual gifts and strengthen one another in fulfilling God's purposes for them. The church is a community that shares a common faith, a common hope, and a common way of life. Moreover, the church is a community where people who have suffered pain are comforted, where people who have suffered loss of loved ones in death are supported by the community's hope of eternal life, and where people who have more of this world's goods share to support people who have very little. The church, as a community that hears the Word of God in life and in death and that lives together as a communion of saints, has an enormous impact upon the community that surrounds it." (II:2) Leith, John H., The Best of Times and the Worst of Times for Religion, Especially Christian Faith. Louisville: Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, 2001.
