Why church? In our contemporary culture, many people have grown up without church, the un-churched, and many people have been burned out, abused, and otherwise pushed away, repulsed, and/or revulsed by some oppressive and outdated ecclesiastical structures, these are the de-churched. There are many though who have narrowly hung in there, who are slowly dying on the vine, decaying, or, becoming stale, spiritually stagnant, deprived, and depraved by boredom and brain-numbing, innocuous routine prattle. Perhaps some of them have simply outgrown a steady diet of pablum. In a fragmented society, it is not surprising that even the most stable of institutions in our society reflect and refract that cultural fracture. Why church, indeed?

To begin with let’s ask some simple questions. Despite all the failings of the church, historically and currently, how bad is it really? All institutions are subject to flaws and failures whereby they do not live up entirely to their founding intentions, visions, and mission statements. However, weak and frail, flubbing up and misspeaking, and, at times wrongly focused and downright dysfunctional, isn’t the church still a viable, if not the most cogent vehicle to address the needs of an extremely needy humanity? Yes, the church has problems, but as Reinhold Niebuhr once observed, “The church is a lot like Noah’s ark; if it wasn’t for the storm outside, you couldn’t stand the stench within.” Let’s face it, our society is messed up, our culture is so fragmented as to be schizoid, it is so vociferously multi-vocal as to be rendered incapable of providing any clear guidance on the ultimately important issues. The “Church Universal” is univocally and universally clear on at least one thing, that people are lost when left in the dark alone and they need the help of others to find the solutions to their problems, and that ultimately the help they need comes from God. So, the question really is, do you need God, and can the church help you find the way to God? We believe the answer is yes! At least that is the bold venture upon which we are embarked at our little church here in San Fernando. Come join us!

--Randal Cummings

Professor of Religious Studies, CSUN

Director of Christian Education and Minister of Music, First Church of Christ San Fernando

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