Does anyone have the experience of their partner suddenly not wanting to go to church any more? My DH has stopped going. He has a variety of reasons; one of them is that he doesn't like the recently-appointed vicar, but also that I think he's bored with the whole thing, although he used to love it. I think also that churchgoing for him has generally been out of habit rather than anything else, and being in choirs as a child. He doesn't want to talk about it much.
I wouldn't dream of trying to change his mind; I'm a firm believer in adults knowing their own minds, especially with faith, and we have our own hobbies and activities. I remember resenting having to go to church as a literal-minded child, at the time I thought it was a load of rubbish, so I think that people should not feel forced to go. However, I do feel rather sad about this; the church used to be a central part of our life, we were very involved in activities such as the choir. We married there a few years ago, and we had no doubt that it would be there and nowhere else. It was also he who introduced me to that particular church when we met.
I'm continuing to go because it's still very much part of my life, but it's hard. DH is conspicuous by his absence, and without fail every week somebody asks me about him, often with a concerned "is he all right?" It's nice that people care, and I've merely replied that he's been busy with work most Sundays, which is half-true, but I keep on wanting to give more reasons for him not coming. I know if I did that, he'd find it even harder to return if he thought everybody had been talking about him. (He doesn't agree with Oscar Wilde that the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about!)
I'm not looking for advice with this, but am curious to know if this is familiar to anybody else.