How long has it been since you last went to church?

[EllaInGrace]

Hi everyone,
This has been on my mind lately, and I’m genuinely curious to hear how others feel.
I’ve noticed that many Christians I know — including myself sometimes — have gradually stopped going to church regularly. For some, it’s the busyness of life, for others, maybe it’s disappointment, change of priorities, or simply drifting away without realising.
Life can get so full — work, parenting, everything — and sometimes, faith quietly slips into the background. It’s not always intentional, but suddenly we realise: it’s been weeks, months, maybe years since we last stepped into a church.
I wanted to ask:
How long has it been since you last went to church?
What made you stop, if you did? Or what’s helped you stay connected?
I’m not here to judge at all — I’d just love to open an honest conversation and hear different experiences.
Thank you for reading. 😊

In person, a month or so ago. On Zoom, last week.

45 minutes.

I went last weekend. It was a really busy day yesterday and I tripped and hurt my back so not ready to go this morning but will try and attend the 5pm service.

Awaits flaming 😳. Started going to church when my oldest was a toddler, initially to get them into a decent primary and secondary school. Local schools were horrendous, extremely low achieving and lots of tales about bullying, police presence at school closing time etc. Also to feel part of a community and get involved with different things. Desperately hoped I’d somehow ‘find’ belief but sadly didn’t.
Made a few friends but largely was a very ‘naice’ middle class congregation, quite cliquey, people keeping themselves to themselves. Joined a house group which started off nicely and then ended up revolving around one member’s MH issues. Helped at play group/ serving refreshments, again, one clique of established families versus the rest of us plebs. I planned to keep on going after my youngest started secondary school but in the end couldn’t justify to myself why. I do miss the inspirational and uplifting hymns that we sang but that’s about it really.

Last Sunday was my last time in church, I will be watching this mornings service live on youtube as my stomach isn't 100%.
I love my church. I've been going for 2 years now (with my DH and DS. Teenage DD doesn't want to go and we dont force it). Me & my DS were baptised last year. He enjoys Sunday school and the congregation is a heavy mix of ages. We have bring and share lunch at the end of every month. We have life groups through out the week. There is monthly events on, weekly bible studies, prayer drop ins, a food pantry, free meal days for the community etc. It's an all round lovely place. (Life vineyard church).

went to Mass yesterday evening. I stopped going for years in my 20s-30s but as my kids reached Communion age I had to start taking them, we don’t go every week but every 2nd or 3rd week. They are teenagers now and still go, if they made a fuss or said they didn’t want to go I wouldn’t force them but they’re happy enough so we keep going!

Maybe 2/3 times a year, try to go at Christmas. Culturally Christian, don’t really believe but haven’t given it the time for a definitive call on whether or not there is a god. I go more often to help my mum set up as she’s very involved.

If your church where the DCs didn't settle was a very happy clappy (for want of a better description) church, I recommend trying different ones. We're at a very small quite high church CofE and we could not be more welcome. The traditional service means the DCs know what to expect and also if we go somewhere else they feel a sense of home.
We did have to try 3 churches before finding one that wasn't up itself fixed on children "behaving".

I’ve been to a couple of cathedrals more recently to look around as they’re interesting historically but I’ve not been to a church service since my kids left primary school in 2019.