Churches are essentially tribes (i.e. shared identity) unified by a sense of purpose external to one's self. Cycling clubs and board games groups can bring peo

Churches are essentially tribes (i.e. shared identity) unified by a sense of purpose external to one's self. Cycling clubs and board games groups can bring people together, but they don't ask for the same kind of commitment or engender the same sense of shared identity. It isn't that they cannot substitute and create many of the benefits, but are unlikely to.