Why bother with Church History?

By Lauren McCabe, 27 Oct 2026

You might be thinking why bother with Church history?! History sounds boring, and Church history sounds especially boring! 

Gerry (our Pastor) writes:

C S Lewis preached a sermon called 'Learning in wartime' in October 1939 - just over a month after the war had started.  He said this:

Most of all, perhaps we need intimate knowledge of the past. Not that the past has any magic about it, but because we cannot study the future, and yet need something to set against the present, to remind us that periods and that much which seems certain to the uneducated is merely temporary fashion. A man who has lived in many places is not likely to be deceived by the local errors of his native village: the scholar has lived in many times and is therefore in some degree immune form the great cataract of nonsense that pours from the press and the microphone of his own age.

Church history helps us resist the waterfall of noise of the present and to hear the wisdom of the ages. This is not for academics, but for all Christians.

You can find a video here which explains more of why at Church by the Bay we think we should make the most of Church history.

We're also holding next week our annual 'Reformation Addresses' focusing in on a couple of figures from church history and what we can learn from them. Do come along - either 10am or 8pm at 91 Balmoral Road (our church building) on Wednesday 4th Nov.