Communal Gatherings

I went to a church today to hear a student giver her "senior recital" on the cello. Other people use churches for other reasons. Of course, the main reason is to congregate and worship. But other reasons include marriage, concerts, sports (when the church has a gym), and playground (when the church has a play structure for parents with kids). These various uses show how churches (and other houses of faith) are integral to community building because these houses of faith allow the community to come together for various communal goals. Houses of faith allow modern-day people to still find ways to get together when other community institutions (e.g., bowling) are falling by the wayside.