# Why do people attend church? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 7, 2018, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-attend-church/824113 "2018-11-07T01:46:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-attend-church/824113/81 "2018-11-10T17:34:46Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Growing up in Wisconsin, my father and I used to joke: > > - Even the smallest towns in Wisconsin have a bar > - If the town is a little bit bigger, it’ll also have a church > - If the town is a little bit bigger still, it’ll have a second bar My father-in-law said a town in Wisconsin is defined as a gas pump and a bar. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-attend-church/824113/82 "2018-11-11T23:54:41Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > That put down, ‘mouth breather’ has always been strange to me. I’ve always had sinus problems, nose stuffed up a large % of the time, so rather than suffocate I breathe through my mouth a lot. What of it?!? 🙂 My guess it is a passed-down reference to people with Down’s Syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-attend-church/824113/83 "2018-11-12T03:17:41Z")
I was raised Catholic, but I don’t think I was ever a believer. And mass was just so boooooring. I found myself getting actively angry being forced to sit through it even as a kid. I didn’t let it show, but it’s left me with a bad attitude towards church services generally. Interestingly, two of my most serious relationships were with sons of Lutheran ministers. I went to a few Lutheran service. They were even more boring. Ha. I could see going to a UU “church,” if it were completely non-religious, but I wouldn’t want to go every week. I’m not as social as a lot of people, apparently. I get those goose-bumpy feelings from things other than religion – great art, architecture, music, movies, plays or books. Tying those feelings up with theology taints them for me. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-attend-church/824113/84 "2018-11-13T14:05:22Z")
specifically for Christians as to why they attend church. I think I got something like 10 replies. I was surprised that only 2 of those 10 mentioned god, and only 1 mentioned Jesus. It was both confusing and enlightening to me. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-attend-church/824113/85 "2018-11-13T14:19:26Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > You _can_ worship God anywhere, but I generally find that without a community to ground oneself in worship that personal worship tends to be… well, a bit self-centered. That’s not something I think Jesus is a big fan of, but YMMV. The Spanish word for church, _iglesia_, comes from a Greek word meaning “assembly”, ἐκκλησία. You go to the _iglesia_ to assemble with the other people in your _Iglesia_, because without assembly there is no _Iglesia_. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-attend-church/824113/86 "2018-11-13T14:28:42Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > specifically for Christians as to why they attend church. I think I got something like 10 replies. > > I was surprised that only 2 of those 10 mentioned god, and only 1 mentioned Jesus. > > It was both confusing and enlightening to me. For Christians, referring to God means referring to Jesus, and vice versa. That having been said, I didn’t go thru the thread and count, but it does not seem to me that only 2 of the responders to the thread who are Christian mentioned God. And, no offense I hope, but “worship” means worshipping God. FWIW. Regards, Shodan PS - in the Lutheran understanding, Jesus is present “in, with, and under” the forms of bread and wine in the Eucharist. So receiving the Eucharist means receiving Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-attend-church/824113/87 "2018-11-13T14:50:39Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I didn’t go thru the thread and count, but it does not seem to me that only 2 of the responders to the thread who are Christian mentioned God. I’m pretty sure **Sigene** was referring to responders to the earlier thread, not this one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-attend-church/824113.md?page=4)