Why do you go to Church?

One day recently, after a particularly challenging argument with my 12-year-old son about attending church, I reached out to several friends to ask them about their experiences with their own children (of varying ages) around church attendance. I wanted to know if they had faced similar struggles, and more importantly, what kinds of conversations they’d had around when their kids could make their own decisions about whether or not to attend church.

One friend responded by asking me, “Why do you go to church?” - and that question has been on my mind ever since.

For me, church encapsulates everything. It is where we go to re-learn how to become fully human. In the church (in Christ), we find meaning and purpose. Without it, at best we find the mediocrity of the broken promises of the modern age:

• Capitalism
• Secularism
• Individualism
• Consumerism
• Techno-optimism
• … this list goes on…

At worst, we find loneliness, despair, an utter lack of meaning, the endless pursuit of worldly things and, ultimately, death.

In his recent book “Journey to Reality”, Dr. Zachary Porcu talks about God as “the arché (ar-KAY)” and goes on to say “the arché is itself the source of all reality and being. It is, you might say, ‘being itself’ or ‘reality itself’."(1) We (as Orthodox Christians), go to church to attend the Divine Liturgy, to participate in family, and to re-discover the nature of ultimate reality. It’s where we plug back in to the source of life. It’s where we experience the Eucharist and continue our journey toward becoming fully human. We cannot become fully human apart from God or apart from each other. To be human means to be in relationship—with Christ, and with our brothers and sisters.

While describing Sacramental Christianity, Porcu says:

“This is the sense in which the early Christians used the word “mystery”. They did not mean something that could not be known but something that could be known only by participation (emphasis mine). (2)

Read here long enough and you’ll discover that I have a tendency to wax philosophical (and derive joy) around what some might see as utterly mundane moments. On a recent Sunday, while serving with my priest behind the altar, I thought he was signaling for the censer. But after he quietly said, “the table,” I realized I’d forgotten to set out the table for the antidoron and wine. As I began preparing it, he snapped at me a bit sharply, thinking I was fussing with the censer. I gently replied, “I know, Father.” Without hesitation he said, “Forgive me, brother — I thought you were preparing the censer.”

In that tiny moment shared with my priest, we both became more human. He, out of love for Christ and for me, immediately set aside any pride and asked for forgiveness - demonstrating a quiet act of humility. And I, once again surprised, challenged and stretched by his humility and love, found myself drawn closer to him and to Christ. Leaving church that day my hope was that, inspired by his example, I would be able to put aside my pride and grow to show that same love to others.

That is why I go to church. That is why church is everything. It’s the foundation, the starting point, from which all the other important things in life (family, friendship, relationship) flow. Without the Church, without Christ, without relationship, we can never become fully human.

1. Porcu, Z. (2024). Journey to Reality (Chap. 2, p. 21). Ancient Faith Publishing.

2. Porcu, Z. (2024). Journey to Reality (Chap. 1, p. 11). Ancient Faith Publishing.