January 18, 2015. Madison, GA. Why so many churches?

Last night a group of us were invited to dinner and we met a couple who had just arrived here at Source of Light to volunteer for a month. Drew's sister, Roxie, had been here volunteering and left to visit her daughter in Hawaii. Karen had been working with Roxie, Drew and Evie the past week and it was fun to meet at dinner and exchange our "journey with Jesus" stories. When Drew and Roxie told us they had pastored in Dansville, New York for ten years it
was another of those "coincidences" since my parents and brother Phil had lived in Dansville in the '40's before I was born. We had traveled through Dansville in August, 2013 on our way from my 50th high school reunion to Niagara Falls, and saw where my family had spent a few years, and were even able to find the house they lived in there. This morning, we went to church with Drew and Evie at the church Roxie had been attending and had a very pleasant morning, a pizza lunch and watched as a new Elder was ordained in this three year old church plant.
Here at Source of Light, one of the visions for the ministry is planting churches in the countries where our missionaries distribute the lessons we develop and print here. Church planting in many foreign countries is essential to the Gospel being preached where it has never been preached before. But in the United States where there are more than 350,000 churches already, I have always wondered why we need more churches. Can't we all find a spot in an existing church? Are we creating division in Christianity with so many denominations, so many minor differences in theology and doctrine, overlapping of programs, outreaches and personal preferences in worship formats and a host of other issues? And then I realize, Karen and I are members of Shiloh Christian Church, a church plant in Colorado. We had a wonderful experience this morning and will probably attend Remembrance Community Church for our remaining stay in Madison. Why so many churches? I really don't have an answer, but pray that as we Christians face more opposition and criticism from a variety of directions: courts, government regulations, taxing authorities, other religious elements and special interest groups.......maybe more will somehow be better, God will use each church for a unique purpose, and we will find a way to "unite" in our Lord and Savior, the truth of The Gospel, the promises of a loving and faithful God and the hope of a brighter and better future.
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