Is it OK to go to church if you don't believe in God?

[LindorDoubleChoc]

There's so many things I love about Church. I love the buildings, the rituals, the music, the choirs, the organ, the routine, the idea of the discipline of doing something on Sunday aside from blobbing around.

Recently I went to a high Anglican church service for the first time in my life (only been to weddings and funerals before) and found it fascinating. But I still don't believe in God and Jesus and the Bible and never will.

Is it wrong to become a regular Church goer in these circs? Is it hypocritical?

Oh! Your dreams could come true! There is a program to teach people how to bell ring for the King and Queen's coronation. How fun would that be?

The "appeal" (peal 🤣) is called "Ring for the King" and is being run by the Association of English Cathedrals. Give it a Google, but basically hit up ringingteachers.org to find a bell ringing teacher close to you and get cracking!

We were on holiday in Italy and ended up at a mass. Neither me nor DH have any faith but love visiting cathedrals. Our retirement will be spent visiting all the great cathedrals of Europe.

This is the banner outside a church in Cambridge

“St Giles’ Church welcomes ……. those of all faiths and those without… “

More or less why I go to church. I also like the connection with previous generations. Tickles me when people think I’m religious cos I go to church!

I regularly visit churches when travelling. I love the building and photograph them. I also enjoy the peace of them. I sometimes light a candle, thinking of my father. I am too much of a scientist to have faith in God though and wouldn’t attend services.

Yes it’s ok, you don’t have to be social either, I always felt I had to chat to people but realised it’s fine just to smile and leave at the end of a service.

I sometimes go to church services. Not super often but I went to a lovely choral evensong last year and another proper choir done carol concert.

I love the architecture and the peace.

Our priest at school didn't believe in God. But he believed that religion, done right, could channel the goodness of humanity. He believed prayer could act as a time of reflection to enable you to see new and alternative routes through your problems. And he believed community improved many people's lives.

He was really quite influential in my overall philosophical set up, even though he didn't make me a church goer.

My Dsis joined the church choir when she moved to the little village she is in. It’s her whole social life now. She’s into all of the groups, committees, fundraising all of it. She’s not naturally outgoing, so it’s amazing when I walk round with her and she stops to talk to everyone. It’s a bit Midsommer Murders.

She’s an atheist.

I think many many church goers feel the same way. And the more people use these old beautiful buildings for beautiful reasons the better.

I'm in Scotland so I'm SEC rather than CoE, but still Anglican and similar applies. I go to THE Highest Anglican service 3x week in the morning and even with only a handful of us, it's beautiful being in the choir stalls and reciting psalms in counterpoint to each other and declaring our faith in one voice. I love liturgy and communion so much, which is why I go there - and a middle-of-the-road Anglo-Catholic parish on a a Sunday morning. Beautiful organ, solo soprano, 4 part choir in robes - 8/10 minute sermon. So Sunday evenings are an Evangelical Anglican service, with rousing contemporary music, no traditional Anglican liturgy, but 45-50 minutes of preaching delivered in a really accessible way (plus week long community, with small group dinner bible study, and often lectures/teaching sessions - adult Sunday School basically. Engagement and formation are major things for them)

I have no religious belief and really as life has gone on, found less reason to believe rather than more.
However, I live literally a five minute walk from a church that had been there for 950 years. I've taken to going there on my lunch break. Sitting in peace and quiet for 40 minutes, I think about all the births, deaths and marriages, all the heartbreak and yet it is still there. And there I am. I find it quite profoundly moving.

Course it is. How are they going to convert the unbelievers otherwise? 😉 But joking apart, if you find some beauty and happiness in going, who’s to say you haven’t found God there, even though that’s not how you understand these things?

My thinking is that it’s not about whether or not you swallow the teaching whole, but rather whether you get something out of it - music, a moment of quiet, wise words, a chance to remember, whatever, it all counts. To me, God is a lot bigger than one person’s belief, and spirituality is way bigger than anyone’s judgement. So take what you’re able to, it’s OK.

Completely agree @DatasCat

I often think of going to church even though I don’t believe in god. I think because I struggle to fit in and there is a lot of comfort to be found in the hymns and prayers from my primary school days and the coming together of the community. Maybe I will be a bit braver and try it

When people say they don't believe in God I always wonder how they would define the God they don't believe in.

How shallow. I hope you don't deprive a genuinely Catholic family of a school place.

Fwiw, my children attend a C of E school, rated outstanding for the past 15 years. A year later, and it's been downgraded to requires improvement. The local council estate school is now the outstanding one.

It’s strange how many church schools have been suddenly downgraded by OFSTED.

If it’s any comfort most people in the know think this mass downgrading is very political indeed.

I am genuinely Catholic. I’m christened. I attend regularly. I do all the things you’re required to do, I sing the songs and say the prayers and make the confessions, and I volunteer for making coffee and fundraising and all sorts. In what way am I not Catholic?

Also: It’s not shallow to do the things that allow your kids to get the best available education.

It is absolutely fine to go to church for whatever reason, and I have attended when my faith is shaky.

But I would just say that the fact you would be welcomed at church is because the assumption would be that you were at least considering things. I think to turn up every week and insist that you don’t believe and you never will - I’m not suggesting you necessarily would, but I’m not sure that would go down well!

The idea behind attracting non believers is often to turn them into believers! Or at least, ‘maybes.’

Have known many people to attend church so they can use it as a pretty venue for their wedding. They go for months beforehand, get married, then never seen again.

Which is absolutely fine. I am not a regular attender at church but I hope that doesn’t stop the vicar burying me when my time comes!

They were atheists though.

But the marriage wasn’t, if you see what I mean. You don’t have to be Christian to get married. Of course, you don’t have to marry in a church, but it doesn’t mean you can’t either, in the same way that atheists can and are given funerals in churches.

i got married in a country hotel for ease as much as anything as we had guests coming from quite a long way, but I was slightly sad we couldn’t have any hymns. I do love a good hymn!

@whatacarryon

Where are you in Scotland please?
That sounds like heaven ...

Some people (including me) believe in a 'God' as in a spiritual entity, but don't take what it says in the bible as - well - gospel. Some people don't know whether they believe in God or not. Some people don't believe that any higher being exists at all.

As far as I am concerned the bible was written by people, translated by people, interpreted by people. Well, when I say people, I mean almost exclusively men. I disagree with a lot of what is in it, both from a scientific and a femininist point of view. Yes, I do sometimes go to church, and when I'm there I can commune with God, as long as the sermon doesn't get in the way. I'm not really into people telling me what to think.