Well, great. If you’re being stupid and I’m being contrary this conversation is going to go far, I can see. 
I’m not exactly even sure what Buddhists do when they go to their services, to be honest. I’ve never been to a Buddhist service. I know there’s incense lighting involved, but their “prayer” is of a different stripe.
What’s sad is that I thought mandir was Hindu, checked to be sure, typed the response, got distracted, and somehow edited it. Like I said, frequently stupid. I blame Zeus.
Because when they’re playing, people stay home to watch the game. I look at their schedule and plan trips to Costco and similar places during games, so it’s not crowded.
ETA: There is a Hindu mandir here. We saw it from the parkway, or at least signs pointing to it, last week on our way to Monroeville Mall. We also have a Zen center and a Theravada Buddhist center.
The Punkyova nailed it in post #26 – I might substitute “cultural grounding” or “historical grounding” for grace. The Reform Jewish liturgy also helps me stop and reflect about mundane things, and get excited about them, which I think is important. And as a single person who lives alone, the community and support network that everyone else has mentioned is so important. When my uncle was murdered two months ago, my rabbi was the one who handed me tissues for two hours while I tried to come to grips with that. The synagogue helps people through times that are too difficult to get through on our own.
Mine also has a really excellent adult learning programme, and organises lots of art and culture evenings (both attending professional performances and putting on productions/singalongs/cabarets with shul members). We have great rabbis, so the sermons are almost always interesting, and we do a lot of charitable work for everybody-not-just-community-members, which I think is important. This is turning into an advert for my shul, but for me it does two things: (1) things that are important/helpful, like charitable work and supporting each other when life punches us in the teeth, and (2) things that are fun/interesting, like music nights, history classes and weekends away. And the liturgy is mostly gorgeous.
Yes.
And what you said about music and grace.
I wish we did more Bach at church; Bach is about the clearest argument I can see for the existence of God.
To further derail… Interesting. When I say it I mean something similar but not identical. I certainly have no problems with Jesus of Nazareth being a historical being, in the same sense that I think King Arthur probably was a historical being (that is, I like to think, at least, there was probably someone, somewhere, sometime, who was the original nucleus… who may even have been called Artos, or Jeshua). Was he the Son of God? Almost certainly not in the way I’ve been taught, or in the traditional way of understanding it 2000 years later (which are two different things). Is there anything to this Savior thing? Well, some days I am positive there’s not, some days I’m willing to be convinced there is, and most days I’m going to just ignore the question, and take the grace The Punkyova talks about without worrying too much about what exactly I think about it.
So maybe “spiritually wishy-washy” is a better term for me
As a Catholic, the Mass, which is the renewal and perpetuation of the sacrifice of the Cross, is the summit of my faith. I get to receive God in holy communion. And being able to take part musically through the choir is just icing on the cake.
The service itself -
to learn
to take part in a shared experience
to continue tradition
to teach my children
to teach other children (I teach Kindergarten Sunday School)
to refocus on things bigger than me
to worship
to center my life away from myself and material things
to receive God’s word and his blessings
to give offerings
to take part in sacraments and witness sacred rituals
to pray
to give thanks
not all of these happen at each and every service - some Sundays are inspiring, some comforting, some boring, but I am always glad I went at the end.
My membership as a whole also provides opportunities to volunteer, get together with friends, support one another, be supported when going through trials, take part in small study groups of all kinds, and have fun together. The people at my church inspire me to become a better person.
We have made many friends through our church and get together often just to have fun, and we also know those people are all there for us with just one phone call. Our church is the center of our community.
I grew up in the Reformed church but did not always feel this way about it. We go to a different church now that I love, but I don’t love everything about my church history or doctrines. We chose to join this particular church because of it’s openness and attitude of walking the walk instead of talking the talk. The focus is very much on service, reaching out to the community, and outreach to the poor.
Buddhists don’t really have a structured service, as far as I know. There are chants they do that involve a lot of kneeling and standing up ad infinitum, and I’ve seen groups of people do it together as well as people doing them on their own.
Like the other practicing Catholics above- the Eucharist. Also, to a lesser extent, the readings and homily.
Raised Anglican, now Catholic.
Recently ex-Catholic and new atheist chiming in here, so I haven’t been to services in a few months or so (mostly because every time I do I emotionally convert again), but most of the time I enjoyed the services. I liked the structure, the sense of community and belonging, and the old-fashioned church hymns. Ode to Joy playing on a full organ+choir after an Easter processional is a very powerful experience. For that matter, even as an atheist, I love the Christian myth. The whole idea of God becoming man and sacrificing Himself out of love to save humanity will always have a special place in my heart . So, that’s my jumbly answer.