Do you skip church if you have guests?

[TheOrigFV45]

Just that - if your guests are not church goers do you still go?
We are the guests, leaving for home at 11am.
DS2 said he doesn't want to go to church and it got me wondering what people generally do.

[Pinkandpurplehairedlady]

We skip church if we’ve got overnight guests / people have travelled to see us.

[knittedjest]

Depends who the guests are. We're irregular church participants anyway as tbh we go mainly for the social and community connections so wouldn't really matter too much either way.

[CigarsofthePharoahs]

Depends on the guest.
My aunt has been known to overstay her welcome when visiting my parents so they'll still go to church, partly to get away from her!
If I had someone leaving mid Sunday morning I'd probably skip church.

[Hopoindown31]

Depends but usually yes. We rarely have guests and go every week otherwise.

[Hellywelly10]

Depends who the guests are?

[CherryPavlova]

Depends on the guests. We sometimes take them with us, sometimes they potter around town or sometimes we stay in bed (particularly if it’s been a late night).

[Warpdrive]

My church leaders would say, no. They’d say the commitment that you show to the church would Be a witness of your faith so it’s important that you maintain the meeting. I have always invited my guests but not insisted they come. I have left them in bed before and gone on my own, it’s only an hour. If I were a guest of someone from another religion, I wouldn’t attend their place of worship, so I understand where you’re coming from.

[TigerMummy1]

Usually go anyway and they either come or have a lie in and potter at home. But then when you're leading the service you don't really get the option to skip out. And if you're friends with a vicar/chaplain/pastor/minister then you probably realise that's part of staying with them.

[possumgoddess]

I don't go that often (mainly Christmas and Easter) but the times I do go are also the the times I am likely to have guests. They would be family, so I do go and I leave them little jobs to do while I am out, like laying the table or putting the potatoes in the oven.

[applecatchers36]

Yes we would most probably miss church if we had overnight guests unless it was Easter / Christmas in which case we would still go to Church

[anniehm]

Depends on your habits and that of your guests. I've gone with my kids and left my parents at home with dh or I skip it and just drop them off (they are choristers, dh goes once a year at Christmas if they nag him sufficiently plus if one has a big solo and he is bribed with lunch after, he hates church)

[ID81241]

If they were leaving at 11am then probably yes. But if I skipped church everytime we had a guest staying, we'd not go to church very often at all (as in already at least once a month we're away visiting someone else and then add to that visitors once or twice a month, it would leave us only 1 or 2 weeks of the month for church).

[IStillMissBlockbuster]

As a non believing potential guest myself, I wouldn't expect a religious host to skip church on my behalf.

[CountessOfNowhere]

Agree with IStillMiss - I'd be quite happy sitting watching tv for an hour or so while my host went to church.

[LadyCassandra]

We go to 5pm church so not often an issue, but we don’t skip church very often. Guests are invited and either come or stay at home. We have dinner after church there, so most come for that!

[PurpleDaisies]

I’d probably go to the evening service instead. Some friends would love a quiet morning with a lie in so I’d go and leave them at home.

There aren’t any hard and fast rules.

[ASqueakingInTheShrubbery]

Depends on the guests. We are irregular churchgoers so would go if the guests wanted to and not if they didn't. For my parents' guests, often my stepdad would go and mum wouldn't, but if he wasn't involved in the service and they were particularly important guests like friends who live abroad and don't visit often, they'd both stay at home and maybe go to Evensong after the visitors had gone.

[isittheholidaysyet]

I wouldn't skip church. I might go to a more convenient service time if necessary.

The main non church goer guests we have are SIL, (who has a lie and break from our kids) and my Dsis, (who is grateful if we take her son with us, giving her a free morning!)

Most of our other guest would either be at church with DH (CofE) or me (RC)

[Lizzie48]

It would depend on who the guests are tbh and how long they were staying. If they were only staying the night and were leaving that day then I personally wouldn't go to church. If they were staying a few days, then it would be fair enough to let them entertain themselves for a couple of hours. (They'd get some peace and quiet with our 2 girls not there!)

[NonaGrey]

It depends on who the guests are:

Some we skip for
Some come with us
Some stay behind.

[ShadyLady53]

No, it’s an integral part of my faith that I have to attend unless ill. I might go to a different service, even at a different place of worship so it might fit around when my guests are out and about but I would always attend. Ditto when I’m on holiday with other people.

[BarbedBloom]

I wouldn’t go, but I wouldn’t expect my host to skip going. I would be fine to amuse myself for an hour or so

[KillJester]

I think anyone goes to church instead of looking after their guests then the message of Christ has gone over their heads!

[Pachyderm1]

I’m not a churchgoer but if I were staying with one I would either go with them or encourage them to go without me while I amused myself.