The unity of the Church is not a unity of institutional order, nor is it divided by individuals with different faiths or with various interpretations of the faith. Rather, it is a unity of ontological-pneumatic life in Christ and in His Holy Spirit. This unity with and in Christ is not based only on the affirmation of a common faith that may have a subjective character; instead, it is experienced in the identical power that comes to the believers and the Church from Christ, Who is found in the Church. Believers experience the faith with the same power, which is given to them for a life of purity. As the efforts for such a life increase in intensity, so does the experience of the power of Christ's Spirit. Even those who do not make serious efforts toward purity experience Christ's power in the holiness of the other members of the Church. They also experience it in answers to their many prayers in the Church, and in the Church's prayers themselves. From this point of view, the Orthodox theologians Karmiris and Meyendorff, as well as the Western theologian H. Schultz, are right in saying that the foundation of the Church's unity is not from below, from the accord of believers, but from above, from Christ.
The Experience of God: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology - The Church: Communion in the Holy Spirit by Saint Dumitru Stăniloae
