Bill Faris believes in hell, that frightful netherworld where the thermostat is always set on high, where sinners toil for eternity in unspeakable torment. But you would never know it listening to him preach at his south Orange County evangelical church. He never mentions the topic; his flock shows little interest in it. "It isn't sexy enough anymore," said Faris, pastor of Crown Valley Vineyard Christian Fellowship. In churches across America, hell is being frozen out as clergy find themselves increasingly hesitant to sermonize on Christianity's outpost for lost souls.

The violence and torture that Dante described in the "Inferno" and that Hieronymus Bosch illustrated on canvas five centuries ago have become cultural fossils in most mainstream Christian denominations, a story line that no longer resonates with churchgoers. (This is an excerpt from an article in the San Francisco Chronicle in June 2002. The title of the article was "Hell Losing it's Fire in American Sermons - 'Too Negative' for Todays Worshipers")

Hell seems to be a forgotten truth in most churches but beginning March 21/22 Pastor Ferrrell Hardison will present a 3-part sermon series on the place called Hell. It is real? If it is, why would a loving God send someone there? What is hell like? Who will be in hell? How do I avoid going to hell? All of this and more will be discussed in this series.