Why do people attend church?

[pedr]

Church attendance has been considered a requirement for faithful membership in most expressions of Christianity for a range of reasons.

 

Nowadays the most often cited reason is that Christianity is about being a part of a community with a shared faith and a shared mission. It is difficult to be a real part of that community without participating in communal events, and for most groups the primary communal event is shared worship on a Sunday.

 

So people gather to pray and worship, perhaps through the Communion rite, and remember and recall that, for instance "The greatest commandment is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbour as yourself." In other words, that the heart of Christianity is to love God and love one-another.

 

As I said, historically there were other reasons given and accepted, but this is the most accepted one today, I would think.

[commuter]

I would be the first to admit I'm a non-believer, however, my wife is and it was originally an opportunity to support her. Since starting to regularly attend I've found that I rather enjoy the 40 minutes on a Sunday morning when the phone isn't ringing, there are no dogs barking, no drone of pressure washers and lawn mowers. It's become a "nice" sociable way to spend some time with members of our local community, we attended a sunrise service on Easter Sunday followed by breakfast with a 10 other church members, we are on first name terms with the two priests and our son has now met other children in a context other than attending the same nursery.

 

I was hoping that we may be able to bring up our son with a sense of belonging to a community (village life rather than religious) but also giving him a moral viewpoint other than ours and hopefully giving him experience of challenging beliefs and views rather than him following the fashion for being a moody or disruptive teenager. My wife goes for a different reason and I respect her right to have that view but I am glad to have the opportunity to spend time with my family in a peaceful and relaxed atmosphere .......

 

.....plus it gives me a chance to belt out some good old hymns last sung at school assemblies

 

Having said all of the above the only thing I firmly believe is that I will always be a non-believer

[Mr Goose]

 

"The greatest commandment is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart

 

This is the problem. Does anybody ask WHY?

[JoeP]

This is the problem. Does anybody ask WHY?

 

Perhaps you could kick off another thread with this question and leave this one to remain on-topic, without you dragging it off-topic?

[commuter]

This is the problem. Does anybody ask WHY?

 

my guess is that everyone has their own reason and it can be dynamic

[Grahame]

To worship God, to break bread, to have the scriptures expounded, to have fellowship with other Christians and to open up your heart to Jesus who said, "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst." As the last poster said it can be dynamic.

[Mathom]

My dad goes, yet he doesn't believe in God. He goes because he enjoys meeting people there and having a chat, and despite him not being a believer, he thinks its part of tradition and he likes to think he's helping it remain. He was even a 'sidesman' - is that what they're called, the blokes who officially help out - not sure? Yet my mum does believe and she does not go to church very often because in contrast, she finds the women there bitchy and unfriendly!

[torin8]

For a lot of rural villages the chuch is the centre of their community and hence why I guess attendance is best in rural parishes.

[cloudybay]

For most children because their parents and/or extended family make them, if they are successfully indoctrinated later one they go because they ‘want’ to.

 

If, later on, they go because they 'want to' , it's because they have been indoctrinated.

[Grahame]

If, later on, they go because they 'want to' , it's because they have been indoctrinated.

 

If you are saying I have been indoctrinated and can't help myself from going to church then you are calling me a zombie and that I am not. No one tells me to do anything cloudy, apart from my boss who pays me for the privilege. I make my own mind up and I decide what I want to do and if you look at the children who rebel against their parents then there is little mileage in that argument.