Is it OK to go to church if you're not sure you believe?

[innocuousnamechange]

I'm christened and went to church every week til I was a teenager but tbh went because I had to rather than any real beliefs.
I hope what I'm asking isn't flippant or offensive but is it OK to go to church if you're not sure you;re a believer? My dd has attended holiday club at 2 different churches this week and the welcome we've had is fantastic. It was made known that they would love to have us as part of the community. I worry that I would be going for the wrong reasons if I'm totally honest. I live a long way from home and am having some difficulties with my eating right now and am struggling a bit. The people I met at both churches were just lovely, and again, the word 'community' strikes me as very important. They all seemed to have a very real sense of peace and were accepting of me and my children. Is it wrong to attend a church in these circumstances? I admit my bible knowledge isn;t what it should be considering my background, but I am struggling to see how Jesus is relevant to me, and that makes me feel a bit of a fraud to even consider attending.
Any kind of direction is welcome

I would say no, of course it is not wrong. 'Peace' and 'community' are fundamental to christianity. Perhaps God is calling you to be there for the peace and community. Perhaps that is what you need in your life at the moment. Later you might be able to define what you do or don't believe, but for now I am sure you will be welcome whereever you are on your personnal journey.

Sweetheart, just go. The people at the holiday club were perfectly genuine when they said that they would love to have you. If we had to wait until our Bible knowledge was up to scratch, or we were sure that our faith was good enough none of us, honestly, would ever get there.
If you have a genuine desire to get to know Jesus a bit better and you feel welcomed an loved, for goodness sake, go.
And I hope you will have a wonderful time.
Let us know how you get on, yes?

Just reread my post - that is a 'no' to 'is it wrong to go', a 'yes' to the original quiestion, 'is it ok to go'!

I can't imagine any church not welcoming someone, no matter what strength of belief they have.

The only condition for going to church is wanting to go. Your reasons are your affair.

Thank you all.
Acorntree, considering I am questioning my beliefs, your post really caught me in my tracks. 'Perhaps God is calling you to be there for the peace and community. Perhaps that is what you need in your life at the moment.' I hadn't thought of it that way, but what a lovely way of looking at it

You should definitely be welcome.

You do not need to know anything about the Bible (and you won't be tested on it!).

It is ok to struggle with aspects of Christianity. You say you are struggling to see how Jesus is relevant to you. That's all right. All Most Christians struggle with different aspects of their faith at one time or another.

Yes, it's great to go if you are at the seeking stage! That is how you meet mature Christians and learn about the Christian faith. The faith is revealed to you through scripture, worship and teaching and you can make the decision whether to accept it for yourself. You have opportunities to participate in bible studies in small groups - you aren't expected to know it all before you start.

Nowadays, the majority of people start going to church (and keep going) because of friendships, not belief. Even if the Christian faith is not for you, you will be still be able to receive friendship, support and encouragement.

Jesus said: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

Christians take 'Love thy neighbour' as an expression of what it means to be Christian very seriously. There's a common bond of humanity expressed in that, it's a kind of transcendent value for all times that stands up by itself.

So in terms of why people are doing this, that's the reason, it's an expression of love.

What do they want from you? Well Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'. That's the Christian message ultimately, and is a pretty fundamental statement of belief (though liberal Christians have a very different slant on what it means compared to evangelicals), and that's the statement that new Christians are ultimately encouraged to accept. And why do they want you as a new recruit? It comes down to 'Love thy neighbour' again - expressed in the desire that you should receive the gift of salvation.

Bible knowledge, knowing that Noah begat Shem who begat Arphaxad who begat Cainan, is most definitely not the goal or endpoint - it's (usually) initially the acceptance of Jesus as your saviour, BUT the expression of Christian love for you is unconditional and NOT in anyway predicated on your unconditional belief, IYSWIM.

Basically they'll be very happy to have you along for the ride even if you don't formally 'sign up', you decline communion, etc., because there's an understanding that people might make the decision today, tomorrow, or in 50 years time, but they'd much rather you were there participating in the mean time....

Anyway like I said, Bible stories are all very well, but if, as it seems in your post, you see expressed in the church that universal expression of love, then that is IMO all you need to justify your participation.

As others have said the people at the two churches would be delighted to see you. Many, many people go to church to find out more about the Christian faith. I know I did. If you want to go I think you should just do it.

Of course you can go along. There should be no pre-requisite to going to church. Church is all about community and that is what these people are doing by welcoming you. Don't feel you have to have certain beliefs or knowledge, not needed at all. Just go along and enjoy the welcome and community aspect, ask any questions you feel like asking, and hopefully you'll find it a good experience. :)

Good grief of course go. Church is all about people finding their way, growing in faith.

I know what you mean . . . I am involved with my local church and at meetings I feel I am the least holy person there. Everyone else seems to have such faith and I feel like the old cynic in comparison.

Go, and enjoy the warmth of the folk who clearly like your company!! If a faith emerges or you get clarity great,...if not,..no problem. I hope you feel embraced by the community there

do go.
not many people believe it all, all of the time, anyway.
if church was only for those who did, it would be very empty.
i think the sense of the community does come from those people's beliefs personally, but it's up to you what you chose to believe and feel comfortable with.
i'm sure the people in church would be delighted to know how much you value your time there.

2 of my kids have started to go with me - my 12 yr old dd professes to be aetheist ("but last week in church a lot of things they said kind of made sense mummy") and 8 yr old ds who thinks its cool because one of his best friends goes and they do fun games in the kids' session. I think for my children, I am happy that they witness first hand a strong sense of community, a feeling of love and acceptance, that they see that God, whether they believe in him or not, welcomes people from all backgrounds.

I would just say go for it. Like other posters have said, I think everyone must have doubts at some time

I was always given the impression that the people at church wanted to encourage me to go, whether or not I completely understood or believed. In fact I was encouraged to get confirmed as a Catholic despite many, many misgivings (I was 15) so I did, and it was a ridiculous thing to do, because the misgivings were still there, and I was suspicious of a church that wanted me to gloss over all the problems I had with the catechism in order to bump up their numbers.

I gradually stopped going, and never do these days. I have no clear idea what I believe but am certainly not a catholic.

I think OP if you feel disingenuous then don't do it. It will do nothing for you and you will do nothing for it. It's OK to maintain a sense of spirituality and partial belief in a God, whether or not you go to church but don't fall for the 'you are welcome whatever' because you will just feel like a fraud (as you say) and that's not comfortable. I wouldn't want to feel that way.

HTH

If you don't go, then you won't know how you feel about being there.
I was taken to church as a child and finally put my foot down and stopped going as a young teenager. I started going to a different church when I was 19, by my own choice. I felt the same as flighttattendant about my childhood church, like it was just going through the motions. When I started going to the other church when I was 19, I did wonder if I was meant to be there etc etc, but I enjoyed going, and felt at home there. Ten years on, and several moves around the country, I wouldn't be without my current church. If you want to do something which can help you explore and discuss aspects of Christianity, church etc, I'd recommend the Alpha course, or Christianity Explorers course, I did the former and found I could ask and discuss all the things I felt I should know, but didn't know I could ask. Happy seeking.

Of course!

Most Christians have doubts about whether/what they believe. I attend every Sunday and am very hazy about the parameters of my faith.

If it helps, I find it more useful to think about my faith as expressed through my actions rather than a list of articles of faith in my head which I tick off and say "I believe this that and the other".

So going to church and taking part in worship and the community is an act of faith. As is trying to keep Jesus' teachings in mind in daily living.

I am less worried about whether I think everything in the New Testament is true in a literal way.

The other thing is that "truth" itself is a slippery concept. Take Shakespeare's play "Othello". Is this "true" or "not true"? Well, it is a work of fiction, it didn't really happen. To that extent, it is not "true " in the literal sense. But it contains ideas and messages which I do think have a universal truth i.e. about the destructive power of jealousy and anger. So to that extent it is "true".

I think about the Bible in very much the same way. Whether all the events literally took place as a matter of fact, isnt that important, because I believe the Gospels contain universal truths and that Jesus' teachings are the path to a full life.

As everyone else has said, of course you can go, darling! I love to go to DH's (Catholic) church, though I'm not Catholic. The music is nice and the light from the stained glass windows is good for daydreaming and the people and coffee are lovely. :) It makes me feel peaceful, which is never, IMO, to be taken lightly.

Go, by all means.
I'm not sure if I am religious at all but I regularly attend church and chapel as well as help to run Sunday school.

It is invaluable to have the time and space and peace to think about what you might term 'higher things' whatever they are. I find it so refreshing after a busy week.

A religion supplies a blueprint on how best to behave which is always helpful and what I have realised as I grow older is that in many ways it is a reason for people to come together, which is very important in these times when we spend so much of our waking lives huddled alone in front of computers or televisions.

What did you decide, innocuous?