It is self-evident that the church of today has a problem. I state church rather than churches because it is a situation in which no church can be satisfied that it is fulfilling its prime purpose, that of introducing spirituality to the world and empowering people to grow on that spirituality. Organisations of any nature tend to eventually crystallize and end their effectiveness in the world at large. Life burgeons anew out of the debris of the collapse of an organisation as new forms are created with new ideas, new thoughtforms to capture the imagination of a new generation of seekers, after whatever that might be.

This paper is an attempt to indicate the past, the present, and a possible future for religion, which should now have the emphasis on spirituality, because that is a neutral and all-embracing terminology.

We cannot know what early humanity thought of life, what made events happen; was there something in the animals, birds, fish, the vegetation etc., that animated them. It can only be conjecture that they imagined that spirits were the source of that animation and growth.

The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer deals exhaustively with the magic and superstitions of primitive people and it is evident from his findings that religion, as such, was not a factor in those early days. There were animal gods worshipped by the erection of totem poles, enemies were vanquished by casting spells, trees were worshipped, the variety was virtually endless because there was little communication between the early groups of humanity and each developed along their own lines. Many of these aspects remain to this day in various parts of the world.

Early civilisations had their gods, the Greeks having a whole pantheon of Gods who lived on Mt. Olympus with Zeus as its head. The Lemurian peoples, who were the first race to emerge in physical bodies, many millions of years ago, had a most beautiful religion as they worshipped the bright gods of the Elements around them, according to H.P. Blavatsky in The Secret Doctrine.

The Ancient Egyptians worshipped the Cow-Goddess Sothis who symbolizes Sirius and there were many giant temples erected for the worship of Sirius, which was also identified with the Goddess Isis. That Sirius may well play an important part in the spiritual growth of humanity is referred to in The Consciousness of the Atom by Alice A. Bailey which gives Sirius as having a very close connection with our solar system.

It should therefore come as no surprise that the Dogon tribe of West Africa worshipped Sirius and were aware that it was a binary star many years before it was discovered in 1844.

Between the 15th and 5th centuries BC the Vedas, which deal with the worship of male divinities were first part of an oral tradition and were eventually written, later formed the basis for the Hindu religion.

The Gnostics, whose name arose from gnosis, which is the Greek meaning for reasoned knowledge, built up a form of religion which relied on super-spiritual knowledge, arising out of visions, clairvoyance and special revelations. It was a mystical religion which accepted that humanity owes its origins to a spiritual out-pouring over vast millennia of time.

Australian Aborigines, who share their belief structures with many other indigenous groups, recount the emanation of Man from the Dreamtime. Various mythical figures, represented by animals, reptiles, outstanding physical formations etc., are said to have created mankind. Those mythical figures arose out of the all-pervading presence of the Creative being which is responsible for everything that exists.

It is apparent from the foregoing examples that mankind seems to have been given an in-built need to find a Creator. The form of the creation has varied over the vast span of time because each isolated community came forth with its own version. Over time, as man began to move further afield, there is evidence that more uniformity began to evolve and the mainstream religions today are a result of that trend to centralisation.

Religion is defined by the Random House Dictionary as 2.'a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices, generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.' This definition, being one of many, probably encapsulates most of the world's religions in its reference to a set of fundamental beliefs. Unfortunately, the majority of these beliefs are so fundamental that they have become enshrined in doctrines, dogma, and rituals and have lost a lot of their relevance during the period of Man's consciousness in the past few thousand years. In recent history, of course, that evolution of consciousness has increased exponentially.

The churches are at different stages of growth in awareness of what the spiritual world consists of. When a need is not being met humanity seeks for new avenues in order to satisfy it and perhaps this is one reason why fundamentalism has taken such a hold, especially in the United States of America. Much of mankind is still immersed in the emotional nature and reacts quite strongly to the emotional pitch of the many preachers/ministers, who look after the services that are held. Joyful, vibrant music is often a part of the attraction to these churches and faiths and the ability to let go when singing hymns set to modern music. These churches fill a yearning for some meaning in life, a search for the spirit, even if that is not consciously recognised.

The older, established churches, often rely on dispensing fear of the consequences if one does not attend church and/or believe in a God Who dispenses justice and relegates one either to heaven or hell on death of the body.

The main church groups are the Catholic, Anglican, and non-conforming churches. There are also major religions which are not generally included under the umbrella of 'church' because they are outside of Christianity. They embrace Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jewish forms of worship amongst the many others.

Reference to attendance statistics indicates that the mainstream Christian churches, at least, are encountering a decline in attendance at church services. One reason for this may be a crystallisation of beliefs and it is possible that other religious groupings may be experiencing the same situation. This reduction in attendance at services raises the question of why this is occurring. Is there something lacking that modern man is in search of.

Like all organizations the churches are not immune form the political factor i.e., an individual, or group of individuals, seek control for its own sake. They run the organization and generally avoid opening up new thoughts because that has the potential to weaken their hold over their congregation.

Humanity's consciousness has expanded over the millennia and what was acceptable during the evolution of the Christian churches is now being challenged as churches have not kept up with the changing mores of society. Holding to beliefs that include versions of heaven and hell, an aversion to homosexuality, disregard of the Law of Cause and Effect (Karma), a general belief in only the male right to officiate at services, a closed mind to the many changes that churchgoers and potential churchgoers want to see in religious practices and such doctrines as creation and not evolution are probably characteristic of the reasons for a lack of enthusiasm in church attendance.

In the early days of humanity, the early civilisations, the destiny of the peoples was held to be dependent on their rulers. As the fortunes relied upon the health of the ruler, the decisions he made, etc., a priest/astrologer was often the source of prophecies about the future course of events. These were arrived at by charting the course of the stars and the planets because it was known that they had an effect on earthly events. The priest/astrologer can also be regarded as the scientist of those early civilisations.

In today's setting we are perhaps seeing a renewal of that relationship between science and religion. Comparatively recent developments in religious thought have embraced the idea that behind life's events there is a spiritual cause. The doctrine of a personal God is now becoming a theory that all life originated with the so-called 'big bang'.

There are two major philosophies that are, in one sense, opposed to each other but which at the same time indicate that their synthesis may lead us into a new way of dealing with an inherent search for spiritual meaning. Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism have always stated that there is a guiding force behind the activities in the phenomenal world, and they saw it peopled by entities which formed part of the unseen energy that is expressed in what we see as a material reality. In adopting this attitude there was a tendency to emphasis karma, as events were guided from an inner world there was little one could do to avoid the effects of causes.

In the West, on the other hand, there were no outstanding spiritual guidelines and therefore materialism was accepted as the modus operandi. What you wanted in life had to be fought for and competition dominated the daily life of westerners. This basis of life was buttressed by Darwin's theory of evolution which stated, in effect, that the spoils went to the stronger, the more ambitious, the aggressor.

The advent of Jesus the Christ had some impact on the belief systems but it was unable to overcome the lure of material possessions which supposedly made one happy and able to cope with the crises that life imposes on one. During the twentieth century there was a gradual incursion of eastern spiritual philosophy which mainly emphasised Buddhism and the practice of yoga. The synthesis of these two mainstream spiritual philosophies has tended to result in a community that accepts karma, or the Law of Cause and Effect, and at the same time believes that an effort is required to achieve a mastery over the underlying energies that motivate our being. One is encouraged to take karma head on and take personal responsibility for developing the spiritual part of existence, to enable a more rapid approach to the goal of a perfect existence.

The advances in physics, which now portray life-forms as expressions of underlying matrices of energies rather than substantial bodies, has enabled a much broader appreciation of the information provided by those advanced entities which experience the fact of those underlying energies. They are able to see the energies with their advanced vision and also observe the beings which live at much higher rates of vibration and which are therefore invisible to those without that ability.

Life, or consciousness, is in a constant ferment of expansion. Whether or not we ourselves consciously accept that, humanity is inexorably fated to grow, drawn on by the evolutionary force which is gradually drawing on all that has been evolved to its originating source, the fragment of the Creative Being which put itself out in a burst of creative energy.

As stated above the churches are mired in outdated dogma and find it difficult to now open up to a more open-ended program of spiritual development. Whenever a progressive movement is started the tendency of the church establishment is to squelch it lest they be left behind because of the crystallised thought patterns which have become embedded in their psyches.

The route for the church should now countenance the encouragement of sacrifice and service to our fellow men rather than loyalty to the church doctrines. There is an overwhelming despair in the majority of mankind which is being ignored because of the emphasis on economic wellbeing. The new physics should be taken up and the fact of the unseen guiding energies explained to the congregation. There must be an emphasis on group work because it is the diverse abilities of members of a group which bring to the fore the innate divinity of mankind.

In the past, it was the individual with ability who tended to drive new thoughts and practices into existence. Now it is the combination of such individuals which is the requirement.

Church leaders need to forego the belief that God is on their side whenever a crisis occurs. God is on no ones side as we have to work out our own course of action. This would begin to have the effect of reducing the righteousness of war in a battle for the minds of a population. There would be a tendency for more prudent minds to then infiltrate the consensus of thought within a population.