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Curious, or no faithStep 5 of 8

Why a Church at all?

Jesus didn’t write a book. He gathered people.

Start here

Watch this first

Can't I Go Straight to Jesus? Do I Need the Catholic Church? [Fr. Mike Weighs In] · Fr. Mike Schmitz

Give it 9 minutes, then come back and we’ll walk through it together.

Video: Can't I Go Straight to Jesus? Do I Need the Catholic Church? [Fr. Mike Weighs In], Ascension Presents, published Jul 17, 2024. Checked 10 October 2026. Loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only when you press play. Watch on YouTube

Jesus didn’t leave a book; He gathered a people, with the Twelve and Peter at their head.1 The Church is His Body, holy because of Him, full of sinners always in need of purification.23

Watch first Or start reading1 min read
Pentecost, by El Greco: tongues of fire rest on Mary and the apostles as the Holy Spirit descends as a dove.

El Greco, 1600. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Journeys / Curious, or no faith / Step 5 of 8

On this page

Quick answers to related questions

Keep reading

All 8 steps in Curious, or no faith You’re on step 5
  1. 1. Is anyone there?
  2. 2. The case for God
  3. 3. Can we trust the Gospels?
  4. 4. Did Jesus really rise?
  5. 5. Why a Church at all?
  6. 6. What Catholics believe, on one page
  7. 7. Common fears
  8. 8. Talk to someone

Caesarea Philippi, a rocky hillside

Jesus never wrote a single book. What He did was pick twelve men, put Peter at their head, and send them.1

And He told Peter: on this rock I will build My Church.4

Jesus didn’t leave a philosophy. He left a family.

01The plan

Jesus gathers a people

Church teaching

The word “church” means an assembly, people called together.5 Jesus started it by preaching the Kingdom and gathering disciples around Himself.67

Paul calls the Church the Body of Christ. You can’t love the head and skip the body.82

But the people in it are a mess.

02The objection

Yes, it’s full of sinners

Church teaching

The Church is holy because Christ is holy, and at the same time it holds sinners and is always in need of purification.3

A hospital is full of sick people. That’s how you know it’s a hospital.

So what does the Church actually give you?

03What you get

What only the Church gives

Through the Church you receive the faith and new life in Christ by Baptism.9 Nobody believes alone.10

And in the Church, Jesus gives Himself: in His word, and in the Eucharist, the source and summit of the Christian life.11

Want the whole faith on one page? Next: the Creed.

Your move

Try this, this week

  1. Read Matthew 16:13-19. Notice who asks the question and who answers.
  2. Read Acts 2:42-47. That’s the first parish.
  3. Name one thing you’d want from a church if it were real.

You’ll need

  • Ten minutes.
  • Your honest objection to “organized religion.”

Remember Jesus didn’t leave a philosophy. He left a family.

If this is hard

If a church hurt you, that’s real, and it matters. Christ’s answer to sin in His Church is never to excuse it. Start with one good priest, not with the whole institution.

How to talk to a priest

Only one thing to do

Your one next step

Look up one parish near you and see when Sunday Mass is. You don’t have to go yet. Just know where the door is.

Find a parish near you

Step 5 of 8 · Curious, or no faith

Want the whole faith on one page? Next: the Creed.

Step 6: What Catholics believe, on one page
Back to all steps

Take it with you

Printable one-page cardDownload card (A4 PDF)Download card (US Letter PDF)

Short link: stoneandincense.com/go/cu5

Your real next step

This page can’t give you the sacraments. A parish can.

We’re just pointing. People walk with you. Find a Catholic parish near you, go to a Mass, or just ask a priest for ten minutes. You don’t need to have it figured out.

Take the next step What to say when you call

Notes

How we know · 11 sources for this page
  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 765. vatican.va
  2. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 787. vatican.va
  3. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 827. vatican.va
  4. Matthew 16:18, World English Bible. read the chapter
  5. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 751. vatican.va
  6. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 763. vatican.va
  7. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 764. vatican.va
  8. 1 Corinthians 12:27, World English Bible. read the chapter
  9. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 168. vatican.va
  10. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 166. vatican.va
  11. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1324. vatican.va

Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America Copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. – Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with Permission. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica copyright © 1997, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops – Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain), modern verse numbers; Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Early Christian writers: Ante-Nicene Fathers (1885, public domain). Video: “Can't I Go Straight to Jesus? Do I Need the Catholic Church? [Fr. Mike Weighs In],” Ascension Presents, supporting material, not a teaching source.

Scenes marked “Imagine” are an invitation to picture the moment, not a historical record. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.