Do you attend a local church?

[Tek7]

I'm curious how many of our forums members regularly attend local church services.

EDIT: The list of choices isn't perfect, but the list is about as short as I can get it without being overly detailed.

EDIT#2: This poll is anonymous, so please vote honestly.

 

[ursen]

Interesting poll, but I can't help wonder the correlation of denomination/school/work parameters. Yes, yes I know it is outside the scope of the poll, but makes for a bit of thought, just my curiosity bump working overtime sorry. Once a college student always a college student.

 

[Durruck]

how so? as in... would a Methodist in Graduate school be more involved than a Baptist in the work force (just an example, please don't dig any deeper into the specific combination I've chosen)

 

[Kendrik]

how so? as in... would a Methodist in Graduate school be more involved than a Baptist in the work force (just an example, please don't dig any deeper into the specific combination I've chosen)

What are you trying to say about...

I jest.

I'd also be curious to see what correlations exist. Oh well.

 

[Durruck]

If someone wants to start a thread regarding denomination, involvement level, education, work, etc... I'd be happy to participate. Although, I wonder how many responses you would get since it couldn't be anonymous... unless it was hosted externally.

 

[Tek7]

If someone wants to start a thread regarding denomination, involvement level, education, work, etc... I'd be happy to participate. Although, I wonder how many responses you would get since it couldn't be anonymous... unless it was hosted externally.

It could be anonymous. This poll is anonymous.

But vBulletin polls only allow 10 options, so polls are limited. We could hold a "top 9 denominations plus Other" poll and keep it anonymous, though.

 

[Keero]

I read "I am not a Christian." as "I do not attend Christians" and thought Tek dun goofed when he posted it, but I was just tired.

 

[ursen]

Part of the answer Pebcak is certain jobs require work on Sundays when the majority of services are, certainly not all, but a majority. Students may find the week so busy and exhausting that they choose to take Sunday as a rest day. And yes it would be interesting to see if any denomination, or non-denomination, seemed to encourage attendance, on the average that is, more. Certainly there are denominations that have a very sharp dividing line between "evangelicals" and "liberals" to borrow old Methodist terminology. Also I would like to see it not just Protestant, but Catholic also, considering that we have brothers and sisters in the Catholic Church who live a very Christ centered life.

 

[Durruck]

Oh, I understand about schedules. My work schedule keeps me from a minimum of 1/3 all services (unless I take vacation, which I do when I can). And certainly there are always periodic reasons that we miss a service - traveling, illness, weather, kid's sporting event, overslept, travel problems, and sometimes just flat don't feel like getting out of bed.

I made no assertions about any particular group - neither Protestant nor Catholic. It makes no difference to me if your family stays home and leads your own worship services. If you profess your faith in Jesus as your savior, and do works in His name...who am I to judge? Certainly I feel that the Bible creations a foundation of Rules of Conduct, but I know it is completely possible for someone without a church to be far more on the right path than someone that attends church every week.

 

[silverleaf]

I'm just an ordinary guy who goes to weekly church services with parents.

 

[Odale]

I read "I am not a Christian." as "I do not attend Christians" and thought Tek dun goofed when he posted it, but I was just tired.

?hcum aixelsyD



I kid I kid!

 

[Bowser]

?hcum aixelsyD



I kid I kid!

almost didn't get that

 

[Lazarus]

I am an egg roll.

 

[IndyOfComo]

It makes no difference to me if your family stays home and leads your own worship services. If you profess your faith in Jesus as your savior, and do works in His name...who am I to judge?

I for one would argue that the Bible makes a pretty good case--though doesn't come right out and command it--that the Christian life is to be lived in community. I'm pretty sure I could make a long list of both verses and commentaries which supports that God wants us in community; I've never heard a counter-arguement which wasn't flat-out arrogant('I know better than the people who knew Christ personally{Acts churches} or the hundreds of Bible scholars throughout the centuries.')
...might make a good "What God says about" topic...

 

[Lloren]

Self-delusion is real and alive, but rarely does anyone talk about it.

might make a good "What God says about" topic

I agree.

 

[Durruck]

There are certain cases where I see it as acceptable. Especially when physical disabilities make it extremely difficult to travel, or in extremely rural areas, or areas with limited churches that are willing to teach from the Bible. Those are just the first three that came to mind.

Add in unusual work for family obligations, and I completely see there being times that it would be acceptable. But I do understand that those cases are the exception, not the rule. I did not intend to make it sound like it should be commonplace or ordinary.

 

[Kendrik]

I agree.

+1

That said, I will make a quick comment in response to Mr. Indy. I agree 110% that the Bible strongly recommends that faith be lived out in community. After all, if you cannot love men who you see, how can you love God whom you cannot see?

I will say, however, that community doesn't always look the same. Though I will come right out and admit that I don't have church membership at the moment* (bad experiences in the last two I was deeply involved in, burned by one, massive change in direction that I couldn't support in the other), I wouldn't go so far as to say that I'm cut off from Christian community and life-influencing relationships of the same kind. I may not have a building to call home at the moment, but I still have meaningful community with peers, spiritual mentors, and those I spiritually mentor.

I don't consider this optimal or ideal, and I don't go about recommending it, but I do consider it a valid form of Christian community from a functional standpoint.

Would definitely like to see this come up as a discussion in another thread, though.

Edit: *I haven't had much luck in finding a new church to get behind. Not a lot of churches that have a reformed stance out here, and, if possible, I'd prefer to be part of a church that has the same theological slant I do. Doesn't help that I can't drive, further limiting my options.

 

[Abba San]

I started a thread under What Does God Say About...

 

[silverleaf]

I dont understand the whole family leads your own services thing. Unless of course your parent/s are pastors... else how do you know they are saying the right thing? My parents have said a few inaccurate/controversal/debatable stuff before, which is fine I guess but its good to have a wider scope of things.

 

[Durruck]

Usually, it's directed study from commonly-available materials online from reputable sources. I spend a decent amount of time browsing the web for content for my Sunday School classes, and spend as much time verifying sources and opinions as I do finding my discussion topic. I've found a few sites that are generally okay to share without doing much cross-reference anymore.