In a time of a lot of strife and conflict among Christians of goodwill, it can be hard to keep an eye on what unifies us as believers.

Keith A. Price (1929–2001) was the Founder and Director of Direction Chrétienne / Christian Direction, a ministry in Montréal, PQ that is still operating today. Keith developed a set of principles based on the writings of a nineteenth-century missionary named Anthony Norris Groves. These principles, which he called “The Basis for Christian Fellowship,” have been used in multiple contexts as a way to facilitate Christians working together.

In addition to Keith Price being a mentor to an individual within our group at A Jesus Community, “The Basis for Christian Fellowship” has a special connection with our roots. A.N. Groves, whose correspondence Keith drew upon, is sometimes called the father of the Christian Brethren faith tradition within which A Jesus Community situates itself. Groves worked closely with some of the pioneers of this ecclesial movement of laypeople, including George Müeller (who was married to his sister), John Nelson Darby, Theodosia Lady Powerscourt, and others, to develop some of the counter-cultural practices that many Christian groups continue to do today. As a missionary to Baghdad working outside a denominational institution, Groves was passionate about the need for Christians to find alignment in “the common life” represented by the table of the Lord’s Supper, a place where anyone was welcome regardless of denomination or affiliation because of what Jesus had accomplished on the cross.

“The Basis for Christian Fellowship,” using the original words Keith Price developed, can be read in its entirety via Adventive Cross-Cultural Initiatives. Their site also includes these principles in several different translations.