The importance of The Church of the Fire Baptized cannot be overstated. This church acts as an anchor for its members and promises them the riches of heaven when their poverty-filled lives end. It provides a community in which people can find support and guidance and share their trouble and their happiness with like-minded people. Moral guidelines are established and members are expected to live by them. In this way, it teaches its members the group morality and discourages destructive behavior.
The church is also an outlet for repressed emotions and energy. Violence is not a socially acceptable manner by which to cope with anger and frustration. Releasing those passions in church through singing, shouting, and clapping gives an acceptable release of pent-up emotion. Energy that could have turned into violence is expressed through prayer. However, there are drawbacks in The Church of the Fire Baptized. Its members tend to be rigid in their way of thinking and can be judgmental in their views of others. Proof of this can be found in what they call themselves. Members of the church are called "saints." If there are saints, then there must also be sinners, and the sinners appear to be everyone but themselves. Attending church fills them with a feeling of moral supremacy. At times it seems as though there is a contest to see who is the most holy and the most faithful in the church. Sister McCandles says of John, "This boy going to make it to the Kingdom before any of them," as if salvation is some kind of footrace where the winner gets a little trophy at the end.
