The Need for a Church

By President Dallin H. Oaks

First Counselor in the First Presidency

The scriptures clearly teach the origin and need for a church directed by and with the
authority of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Many years ago, Elder Mark E. Petersen, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles, began a talk with this example:

“Kenneth and his wife, Lucille, are good people, honest and upright. They don’t go
to church, though, and they feel they can be good enough without it. They teach
their children honesty and virtue and they tell themselves that is about all the
Church would do for them.

“And, anyway, they insist that they need their weekends for family recreation …
[and] church-going would really get in their way.” 1

Today, my message concerns such good and religious-minded people who have
stopped attending or participating in their churches. 2 When I say “churches,” I
include synagogues, mosques, or other religious organizations. We are concerned
that attendance in all of these is down significantly, nationwide. 3 If we cease
valuing our churches for any reason, we threaten our personal spiritual life, and
significant numbers separating themselves from God reduce His blessings to our
nations.

Attendance and activity in a church help us become better people and better
influences on the lives of others. In church we are taught how to apply religious
principles. We learn from one another. A persuasive example is more powerful than
a sermon. We are strengthened by associating with others of like minds. In church
attendance and participation, our hearts are, as the Bible says, “knit together in
love.” 4

I.
The scriptures God has given Christians in the Bible and in modern revelation
clearly teach the need for a church. Both show that Jesus Christ organized a church
and contemplated that a church would carry on His work after Him. He called
Twelve Apostles and gave them authority and keys to direct it. The Bible teaches
that Christ is “the head of the church” 5 and that its officers were given “for the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ.” 6 Surely the Bible is clear on the origin of a church and the need for it now.

Some say that attending church meetings is not helping them. Some say, “I didn’t
learn anything today” or “No one was friendly to me” or “I was offended.” Personal
disappointments should never keep us from the doctrine of Christ, who taught us
to serve, not to be served. 7 With this in mind, another member described the focus
of his Church attendance:

“Years ago, I changed my attitude about going to church. No longer do I go to

church for my sake, but to think of others. I make a point of saying hello to people
who sit alone, to welcome visitors, … to volunteer for an assignment. …

“In short, I go to church each week with the intent of being active, not passive, and
making a positive difference in people’s lives.” 8

President Spencer W. Kimball taught that “we do not go to Sabbath meetings to be

entertained or even solely to be instructed. We go to worship the Lord. It is an
individual responsibility. … If the service is a failure to you, you have failed. No
one can worship for you; you must do your own waiting upon the Lord.” 9

Church attendance can open our hearts and sanctify our souls.

In a church we don’t just serve alone or by our own choice or at our convenience.
We usually serve in a team. In service we find heaven-sent opportunities to rise
above the individualism of our age. Church-directed service helps us overcome the
personal selfishness that can retard our spiritual growth.

There are other important advantages to mention, even briefly. In church we

associate with wonderful people striving to serve God. This reminds us that we are
not alone in our religious activities. We all need associations with others, and
church associations are some of the best we can experience, for us and our
companions and children. Without those associations, especially between children
and faithful parents, research shows increasing difficulty for parents to raise
children in their faith. 10

II.
So far, I have spoken about churches generally. Now I address the special reasons
for membership, attendance, and participation in the Savior’s restored Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We, of course, affirm that the scriptures, ancient and modern, clearly teach the
origin and need for a church directed by and with the authority of our Lord, Jesus
Christ. We also testify that the restored Church of Jesus Christ has been established
to teach the fulness of His doctrine and to officiate with His priesthood authority
to perform the ordinances necessary to enter the kingdom of God. 11 Members who
forgo Church attendance and rely only on individual spirituality separate
themselves from these gospel essentials: the power and blessings of the priesthood,
the fulness of restored doctrine, and the motivations and opportunities to apply
that doctrine. They forfeit their opportunity to qualify to perpetuate their family
for eternity.

Another great advantage of the restored Church is that it helps us grow spiritually.
Growth means change. In spiritual terms this means repenting and seeking to draw
nearer to the Lord. In the restored Church we have doctrine, procedures, and
inspired helpers that assist us to repent. Their purpose, even in membership
councils, is not punishment, like the outcome of a criminal court. Church
membership councils lovingly seek to help us qualify for the mercy of forgiveness
made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Individual spirituality can seldom provide the motivation and structure for
unselfish service provided by the restored Church. Great examples of this are the
young men and women and seniors who put aside their schooling or retirement
activities to accept missionary callings. They work as missionaries to strangers in
unfamiliar places they have not chosen. The same is true of faithful members who
participate in the unselfish service we call “temple work.” None of such service
would be possible without the Church that sponsors it, organizes it, and directs it.

Our members’ religious faith and Church service have taught them how to work in
cooperative efforts to benefit the larger community. That kind of experience and
development does not happen in the individualism so prevalent in the practices of
our current society. In the geographic organization of our local wards, we associate
and work with persons we might not otherwise have chosen, persons who teach us
and test us.

In addition to helping us learn spiritual qualities like love, compassion, forgiveness,

and patience, this gives us the opportunities to learn how to work with persons of
very different backgrounds and preferences. This advantage has helped many of
our members, and many organizations are blessed by their participation. Latter-day
Saints are renowned for their ability to lead and unite in cooperative efforts. That
tradition originated with our courageous pioneers who colonized the
Intermountain West and established our valued tradition of unselfish cooperation
for the common good.

Most humanitarian and charitable efforts need to be accomplished by pooling and

managing individual resources on a large scale. The restored Church does this with
its enormous humanitarian efforts worldwide. These include distributing
educational and medical supplies, feeding the hungry, caring for refugees, helping
to reverse the effects of addictions, and a host of others. Our Church members are
renowned for their Helping Hands projects in natural disasters. Church
membership allows us to be part of such large-scale efforts. Members also pay fast
offerings to help the poor in their own midst.

In addition to feeling peace and joy through the companionship of the Spirit, our
Church-attending members enjoy the fruits of gospel living, such as the blessings
of living the Word of Wisdom and the material and spiritual prosperity promised
for living the law of tithing. We also have the blessing of counsel from inspired
leaders.

Crowning all of this are the authoritative priesthood ordinances necessary for
eternity, including the sacrament we receive each Sabbath day. The culminating
ordinance in the restored Church is the everlasting covenant of marriage, which
makes possible the perpetuation of glorious family relationships. President
Russell M. Nelson taught this principle in a memorable way. He said: “We cannot
wish our way into the presence of God. We are to obey the laws upon which [that
blessing is] predicated.” 12

One of those laws is to worship in church each Sabbath day. 13 Our worship and
application of eternal principles draw us closer to God and magnify our capacity to
love. Parley P. Pratt, one of the original Apostles of this dispensation, described
how he felt when the Prophet Joseph Smith explained these principles: “I felt that
God was my heavenly Father indeed; that Jesus was my brother, and that the wife
of my bosom was an immortal, eternal companion: a kind, ministering angel, given
to me as a comfort, and a crown of glory for ever and ever. In short, I could now
love with the spirit and with the understanding also.” 14

In closing, I remind all that we do not believe that good can be accomplished only
through a church. Independent of a church, we see millions of people supporting
and carrying out innumerable good works. Individually, Latter-day Saints
participate in many of them. We see these works as a manifestation of the eternal
truth that “the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world.” 15

Despite the good works that can be accomplished without a church, the fulness of
doctrine and its saving and exalting ordinances are available only in the restored
Church. In addition, Church attendance gives us the strength and enhancement of
faith that come from associating with other believers and worshipping together
with those who are also striving to stay on the covenant path and be better
disciples of Christ. I pray that we will all be steadfast in these Church experiences
as we seek eternal life, the greatest of all the gifts of God, in the name of Jesus
Christ, amen.