So there have been three church-free Sundays since the end
of my year of churchgoing. On the first one I worked (deadlines and bad
planning having scrubbed out any possibility of “fun” over Christmas and the
New Year), and on the second and third I met up with a friend to visit the
Botanic Gardens and then the National Museum.
And no, I’m not missing going to church.
Trying to sum up what I’ve learned in the past year is taking
longer than I’d thought. No definite conclusions …
not yet, anyway. Except perhaps this one … that there will be no more churches.
I’ve been there and done that, and seen more varieties of this crazy thing
called Christianity than I bet a lot of people could claim to have experienced.
And there’s nothing there for me. If I want music, I’ll go to a concert or
listen to a CD. If I want a lesson, I’ll read it from a book. If I want the intemperate
opinions of social conservatives, I’ll read the Daily Mail. Actually, no, I don’t
think I could stomach that. And if I want to pray or read the bible, I don’t
need to sit in a strangely decorated building in order to do that.
All the Jesus stuff needs more mulling over. There are big
questions about exactly how much I can bring myself to believe, and as you
might have worked out by now the term arch-sceptic might just about begin to
describe my approach to most faith claims.
More to come when I’ve worked more of it out, if that ever happens.
Thank you for being so honest. Thank you for sharing your views on the worship you've experienced this year. And thank you for completing your self-imposed challenge. It's been interesting reading and I'll miss your regular postings. Any chance that you'll add to this from time to time?
ReplyDeleteYou've decided that formal church isn't for you at this time, but keep an open mind. You have a great gift of questioning and challenging what you've encountered, as well as a wonderful writing style. God isn't constrained by church walls and appears at unexpected times and places. You might have given up on God for now, but he hasn't given up on you!
Thank you for your kind comment. I will be writing a few more things. I need to sum up properly for a start. And I dare say there will be more things that spur me to comment as 2014 wears on.
DeleteI'd like to echo the sentiments above. I've really enjoyed reading your blog over the last year. It's been refreshing and informative and very well written. I've also found it useful in terms of questioning my own reasons for not going to church. I admire your determination in going to many different places of worship and having the perseverance in your project - not to mention the penance of hard church pews and uncomfortable plastic chairs.
ReplyDeleteGoing forward, how would you describe yourself now when it comes to religion? Agnostic or atheist?
Again, thank you, to another Anonymous.
DeleteHow would I describe myself now? It's difficult to say. I don't think I'd go so far as to claim to be an atheist ... although isn't everyone an atheist in respect of gods other than their own? ... because I couldn't set about proving that there is no god. But agnosticism has a kind of yes/but sitting-on-the-fence connotation that I'm not quite comfortable with either. The jury is still out.
Dear Soul Searcher,
ReplyDeleteDon't beat yourself up. Equality of belief, equality in anything, seems to be such a radical concept among us mortals that going around showing kindness and respect to most human beans is quite enough (me thinks). I do, however, reserve the right to call a fool (a raspberry fool).
Thanks & Best Wishes
Just to clarify. What I was trying to say is that equality of belief (or disbelief) in the context of deities seems to be a radical proposal here on earth. It is surely enough for non-believers to start with the premise that strangers are equal and deserves kindness and respect (unless they turn out to possess some challenging personality traits).
ReplyDeleteThis articulation malarkey is quite tricky, I don’t envy your summing up…
And of course, I haven't done anything more about the summing up yet. I've spent a month thinking about it, and trying not to think about it, and enjoying the fact that I have my Sundays back again ... not that anyone was forcing me to go to all those churches, of course.
DeleteI am sure that u have ACTUALLY NOT ATTENDED EVERY SINGLE CHURCH IN THE UNITED KINGDOM OR EVEN ANYWHERE NEAR EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!!
ReplyDeleteNor do I claim to have done so. That was never the plan.
Deletestrange site this is no one knows who this blogger is. Perhaps she would be better identifing herself!!
ReplyDeleteAh! But anonymity is all part of the fun. And since all those who have commented on this post are themselves "Anonymous", it's getting a bit tricky to work out who's who.
DeleteI agree with what Rev Hutton said (10 August 2013) in his sermon about how he was shocked that a fellow FP Minister's daughter supported the same-sex marriage billwhen it went through the House of Commons! I actually know the female MP concerned and I doubt if her father was alive she would have voted the way she did!!!
ReplyDeleteWell, of course, I don't know what Rev Hutton said in his sermon on 10 August 2013, which was a Saturday, but perhaps they had a Saturday service that weekend. But I suspect you are referring to my post about his sermon on 10 February 2013.
DeleteWe can only speculate as to how the MP would have voted if her father was still alive. I would like to think that MPs represent their constituents and vote as their conscience dictates.
NO NEED TO SHOUT! Soul Searcher's sample size was quite large...
ReplyDeleteYes I was referring to ur 10 February 2013 post. I realse I had got the date of ur blog wrong If u watch the Parliament live on tv u r likely to see the female MP concerned in a trouser suit. NOW when her father was alive and she attended FP services NOT ONCE did she EVER DARE TO wear TROUSERS WHATSOEVER, only skirts!!!!! SADLY TIMES HAVE changed
ReplyDeleteA woman wearing trousers! Shock, horror! We'll be driving cars next, and going to university, and possibly even voting.
DeleteIf u ACTUALLY did some research into the FP tradition or read ur bible U would find that WOMEN R NOT SUPPOSED TO WEAR TROUSERS AT ALL
ReplyDeleteI am not entirely ignorant of the FP tradition, and I understand that you take Deuteronomy 22:5 seriously. But if the MP in question wants to wear trousers, that's not something that my little blog can help you change.
DeleteFab blog. Please keep going. Would it not be interesting to visit the non-Christian places of worship as well -the synagogue, the mosque, the Sikh temple?
ReplyDeleteThanks. Glad you enjoy the blog, but the year of church visiting is over, so there will be no more regular Sunday reports. I did think about including non-Christian places of worship, but it pretty soon became clear that I would have my work cut out just to get round a representative sample of Christian ones.
DeleteMaybe the mosques, synagogues and temples could be the focus of a new project, but I'd keep it separate from this one.