Why do you go to church?

Church Offerings that May Entice the Religiously-ambiguous (June 1, 2023)



I think many people go to church because they want to, without much deep thought as to why they want to.  The church supplies a good deal of positive experiences and interactions that church-goers like.  Let’s try to identify some.



You likely have noticed that I left out the biggest reasons (see below).  That is because I first want to highlight benefits of church-going that are available outside of the church.  If a church wants to win converts with experiences such as above, then they should be mindful that they are not the only shop in town.  Consider non-Christian religions, personal/new-age spirituality, secular charities and social groups, community development groups, self-help and intervention organizations, the Internet, television, sports and sports coaching, public school events, as well as grand but secular holiday festivities. 


So if this is what your church is ‘promoting’ then be clear that the church has strong competition.  Polls show that people who are religiously ambiguous believe they have happy and moral lives.  88% say they are pretty or very happy.1 (Compared to 91% for those who embrace religion.)  91% of the religiously ambiguous say that it is not necessary to go to church to be moral and have good values.2  91% claim very or pretty happy marriages.1  The 30% of religiously ambiguous claiming loneliness is not much different from the religious at 28%.3  As for opportunity to serve the needy and downtrodden, keep in mind that of the 86,000 charities in Canada, only 36% are religious in nature.4   This seems to indicate that the ‘soft’ attractions of church are not exactly its most-in-demand offering.


It sometimes seems that churches wish to entice people with the fun stuff and then indoctrinate them with the serious stuff.  By the serious stuff I mean: worshipping God, obeying God’s commandments, praying, doing ministry work, being definitive on what is good and bad behaviour, and sacrificing to support the church and its ministries.  And, let’s not forget the big one: the terrible consequences of life-long disobedience.


I sometimes wonder if churches might have this backwards.  If you lead with the fun stuff, you might lose out to the competition very quickly.  However, most of the competition is not vying for people with offerings of the heavy, spiritual, serious stuff.  If a church wishes to communicate why people need God and organized Christian worship, do they need to lead with the stuff that counts most?  Yes, this will be too scary or disconcerting for some newbies, but at least they will have had the opportunity to hear what church is all about before they get enticed away from the church.


____________________



1. Bibby, Reginald W, Resilient Gods: being pro-religious, low religious or no religious in Canada,

    UBC Press, 2017, page 93

3. Bibby, page 68

3. Bibby, page 96

4. Imagine Canada, Canada’s Charities & Nonprofits,

     https://www.imaginecanada.ca/sites/default/files/Infographic-sector-stat-2021.pdf