What is the Point of Church?
Church is a gathering of people with some faith in God, the Trinity. It is a gathering of people with some sense that learning from the Bible, and more specifically from the Gospels, is worthwhile. In a Congregational church it is a gathering of people with no body or person between them and God, both as individuals and as a group. It is a place for friendship, community, and camaraderie. It is a place for Christian education, especially of the young people.
The central gathering of a church, my church, is the Sunday morning worship service. First there is a gathering, a “Call to Worship.” Then there is a prayer, said in unison, in which we acknowledge what we have “done and left undone,” essentially our mistakes. The middle of the service is about going back to the foundations of faith – Bible passages, Jesus’ life and teaching, the essence of how one might live in the larger world. The minster’s sermon is instructive of all this, but perhaps more importantly it usually presents a direction for the week. Something to consider, look for, or do that could serve to deepen one’s faith, one’s belief, one’s living out a life that follows Jesus. We pray to do better. And the service ends with announcements, specific opportunities where one might move forward, and a blessing from the minister for our returning to that larger world. In all we seek to follow Jesus.
Does all this have an impact on us and our behavior? Do we as individuals and as a group become more Christian, more Christ like? I don’t know. Once a month we celebrate communion. The minister often says something about this communion table is Jesus’ table. Not the minister’s table. Not the congregation’s table. But rather, as the minister says, “Whoever you are, and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.”
When my church First Congregational Church, Poughkeepsie, was preparing for its 175th anniversary celebration, the Church Council, a board elected by the congregation tasked with the day to day operation of the church, asked for ideas for a slogan to be written on a big banner and hung across the front of the church. They accepted mine: “175 years of Faith, Service, and Justice”
I titled this piece, “What is the point of church?” I ask now whether that is the right question. Asking about the point of something sounds like there is a goal, a project perhaps, stuff to do to achieve the goal. Churches are a group of people who organize themselves one way or another to get things done. Keep the lights on and all that goes with that. Serve the poor and marginalized. Educate themselves and their children. Have a good minister to guide them. And more of course.
Faith, however, is not about doing. Faith is more a sense of trust, belief. In my church’s case belief that God is love. That God’s love is given freely. That there is nothing one can do to receive God’s love. But how do you come to that realization, that “Aha?” I myself got there through years and years of the 12 step program Al Anon. I know through active engagement with Al Anon that God loves me. I know I therefore do not need to be afraid. It is likely my years in congregational churches laid some ground work for my now having a spiritual connection with God and God with me.
Well, actually, all this is my experience of God. I know nothing about God specifically. As my friend, Rev Thom Fiet says, “God is beyond our ability to conceive of or comprehend.” So the minute I say I know God does this, that, or the other, or God is this, that, or the other, that’s not God. That’s me putting some limit on something I cannot comprehend.
In my experience churches struggle with faith. This is probably appropriate because building faith is an individual’s project within a supportive group. I believe there is no one faith all must adhere too. While there may be some things we happen to agree on, some things we find in common to agree to. But there is no one faith all people must adhere to. Having such a thing would place something between each of us and God.
In my experience churches do service. And some do service to the port and marginalized very well. Many, though, hard to serve others in need when one is insecure in one’s self.
In my experience, Justice, “Love in the public square” as Cornel West has said, is difficult for churches to do. The essence of Jesus’ teaching is “Love God,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Addressing some way your neighbor is not being loved makes most people uncomfortable. I believe this is because we are all contributing parts to society’s systems – including racism and poverty to name two. Seeking Justice in the world requires us to not only look at inequality in the world, but to look at ourselves as well. This is hard.
The point of church? At least my congregational church? Accept and love, and learn how to do that better. Like any other human endeavor, there are good days and bad days.