Why People Don’t Go To Church

I've been pondering a question lately: why don’t people go to church? I’ve thought of long-term answers (a bad experience with religion) and short-term answers (the family is in town for the weekend) but no one thing will ever satisfy that question. There is no one sweeping answer like a key that unlocks a door.

I can let that question go. I'm not the first to ask it. In fact, I'm sure priests and pastors ask it all the time.

In the end, it probably just doesn't matter that much. Rather than ask why other people don't go to church, I might ask why I do? The answer to that question is not nearly so complicated-I go to be a part of something bigger than myself.

At church, St. Dunstan's, I am not required to manage people or answer questions or pay bills or put the dog out. It's not even remotely about me and what I do. It's about being with my fellow parishioners, about being inspired by a thought-provoking sermon or Sunday School class.

It's about prayer and communion, ingesting the body of Christ and making a fresh pact with God to go out and make the world a better place. It is about resolving petty differences I've conjured up during the week and letting them go, forgiving.

It's about listening to our amazing choir, and the baroque trio that greets me for no special occasion on Sunday morning. It's about watching the children lined up in their little chairs in front of the door with the giant construction paper fish-covered door (Jonah and the whale).

It's about passing peace and not passing judgment.

It's about community. It's about the fact that I'm not sure there's a better place or way I'd choose to spend my Sunday mornings. And if some people, even most people, don't go to church anymore, I know they've got their reasons. But I'm guessing also they're just

unaware of all the reasons to go.