> All of which to say I think our social needs were met in large part by family, and Church was a convenient vehicle to bring it together. There's no substitute

> All of which to say I think our social needs were met in large part by family, and Church was a convenient vehicle to bring it together. There's no substitute for family. In my experience churches and families are not independent things. Basically every healthy church spends a significant amount of time encouraging healthy families in both direct and indirect ways. And most healthy churches aren't all that convenient. There are too many people involved for church to be convenient.