Is attending church a necessity of Christianity?

Christians accept JC as their authorized forgiver of sin allowing them to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Nothing about church attendance is required for that salvation.

The church would be an integral part of organized religion, thought not the only part.

Fact from fiction, truth from diction. I do not attend a church every week. I do believe it is important to fellowship, just to keep edifies, and supported. Also to have people keep you accountable. However, God is Everywhere, in an outhouse, the bus stop, barn, even in a brothel. God is where you find Him, not anchored to a man-made structure. Churches are often attached to a religion or a denomination neither is God.

I was talking to another jelly the other day about this, my parents were both Christians but rarely attended church.

All that is necessary to be a Christian is to accept Jesus as your savior. That’s it, really.

Church is definitely a part of organized religion.

No, but th worship of God is. You can do that in your own home.

Most folks go to church to see and be seen..a kind of Social Club I expect.

I used to do church music. God is in my heart. I dont go anymore. I have fibro for one thing.
Spirituality is all around us, not just in a pew

Going to church makes you no more a christian as standing in your garage makes you a car.

I completely agree that God can be worshipped at any time in any place. The purpose of the church organization, however, is to provide a place where the saints can gather together and partake of the ordinances of the gospel (i.e., baptism) from authorized priesthood holders. Not just anybody can baptize you. Christ himself established a church and organized it with apostles, seventies, etc. Obviously there is much more to being a Christian than just attending a church. Heck, some of the most Christ-like people I’ve met haven’t even been Christians.

Salvation is contingent upon your faith in Jesus Christ.
That said, Christianity is something of a group activity. Iron sharpening iron, and all that. We are the Body of Christ, not the Myriad Little Bits.
I find that time spent with other Christians, even if it’s not in an ecclesiastic setting, can be very refreshing. We live in the world, which can be very hostile towards Christians. It’s good to have a place where you’re able to let your guard down.
In addition to fellowship, church is good for education and encouragement. A church pools resources and coordinates its members, making community outreach more efficient.

Catholicism is a form of Christianity and missing mass is considered a mortal sin and pretty serious stuff. That is one of the many reasons I fell away from the Catholic faith. I hear everyone saying that all one has to do is accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior to be Christian, but I really believe that for most Christian sects, going to church is part of the bargain.

Most religions build on the concept of “community” as one of the building blocks of the religion. As @Nullo said, the catholics make it a sin. Orthodox Jews are commanded to pray with others (hence the idea of a minyan), and so on and so forth. Just about all religions urge, if not require, community prayer.

But there’s more to it than that. The cynical view is that community prayer (going to church or synagogue) is really more about lifetime employment for clergymen, and more opportunities for fundraising, than it is about religion, faith, or belief.

Consider this – if no one went to church, would the priest still have a job? So it is in the priest’s best interest to keep his pews full in order to justify his continued employment. Is it necessary for a prayer to be heard with a group? No. But it is necessary if they clergy man wants to keep his job.

Along the same lines: if you are in church, you are a ripe audience for fund raising appeals. If you’re not in church, then the chances of you contributing go WAY down. So again, there is an economic incentive for encouraging church attendance.

Religion: It’s all about the money,

It depends on how fundamental that each Christian’s beliefs are. Most conservative Christians believe that it is one having faith in Jesus dying for our sins which is important, not attending church. However there are so many different beliefs respective to the religion of Christianity on so many different issues that there is no one single answer on any of these. Attending church is more of a matter of individual preferences than anything else.

This is related to the issue of faith vs. good works. Your faith in Jesus is what leads you to salvation, but if you really have faith in Jesus, you’re going to follow his way, and you’re not going to stand around and do nothing to help people who are suffering and victims of injustice if it is in your power to make a difference. Likewise, if you really have faith, you will want to be part of a faith community that reinforces and deepens your Christian beliefs and practices.

If you find going to church to be just a chore, and you don’t disagree with the interpretation of Christianity that your church offers, then I would suggest you first try getting more involved. Active participation requires more than just showing up on Sunday. If you just don’t click with the folks at that church, or if you do in fact have a problem with their take on Christianity, it may be time to try another church.

Of course, external factors like illness or work can get in the way of church attendance, and you have to manage those as best you can. But unless you are called to be some kind of hermit or something, going off on your own is a bad idea. It is too easy for us to rationalize our errors and give in to temptation when we separate ourselves from Christian fellowship.

We gather in a church for three reasons:
To learn about Him.
To worship Him.
To worship Him together with others, giving each other support.

I don’t attend services, but I do feel the need. I hope I can do better.

Lets acknowledge that JC was NOT a Christian. He and the Diciples were Jews who followed a new teaching called The Way. They were followers of The Way. They were referred to by others as Christians.

In practicing The Way, they often met in small groups for fellowship and to discuss the needs of the community… Not just their community, but the secular community which included the poor, the imprisoned, the outcasts of society. Their primary goal was to offer comfort and shelter to those society had judged unworthy. Those that society had deemed unfit to enter the Temple and commune in the presence of God.

There was no organization of elders or priests or bishops or anything like that. There was no religion until the Romans proclaimed it one 300 years after Christ’s death.

There was never an official offering collected from the followers of The Way. They considered themselves without possessions, and in those days, everything that a new follower possessed became equal property of the entire movement.

Organized sermons were not to be found. Crowds simply gathered upon the announcement that JC was coming to town. When enough people assembled, old JC would simply begin teaching about love and kindness. He wasn’t a Preacher… He was a Teacher. A Teacher of The Way.

No. It is not about legalistic “fire insurance.”

However, a really healthy church environment is one that will enrich the believer and the whole body of believers present. In the act of corporal prayer and worship, spiritual unity produces a synergy that is greater than the sum of its parts (people present). There is a Presence in this unity that disspels darkness, brings clarity to any who are seeking such and power is released to produce results for those seeking help.

If it doesn’t seem necessary for the individual then it is not, I would think.

I consider myself a “laid-back Christian”, and a “Recovering Southern Baptist”. I don’t attend church. Why? Because I see nothing but people bragging about what they have, and what they’ve done, and I hear nothing except “we need your offerings”, which translates to, “give us your money”. I’m living paycheck to paycheck. I need MY money, thanks very much. And I don’t care that you bought a brand new Mercedes, or that your children are just so friggin talented that of course they’re sure to be picked first for the Christmas pageant. Blah, blah, blah. Pardon me while I vomit on your $400 shoes.

/end rant. Sorry. I just can’t stand “the church” and most of the people there.

I am a church-goer. In fact, an elder of my church. However, I don’t see church as essential for one to be a Christian. I love going, and would miss it terribly, but I can understand why others may not see it that way. Christianity is about a lifestyle, not a couple of hours every week. I have been to churches like @WillWorkForChocolate mentions above, and would not go back there either. I am glad I found one that was different. They ARE out there, even if in the minority.

@WillWorkForChocolate The average Christian is a work in progress. Some more than others. :D

@Nullo This is true, and I readily admit the fact that I’m a complete hypocrite in many ways. The difference is that I’ll admit to being a hypocrite and I don’t choose to go to church and put on the little facade of perfectness that everyone else adopts for two hours.

I just can’t worship in that environment. Because I know those people, and I’ve seen how they act away from church, and it damn sure isn’t anywhere close to the front they put on for their fellow church-goers. Even many of the deacons disgust me with their pretenses.

I find it much easier to worship and “talk” to God by humming my favorite hymns as I snuggle in bed and crochet, or even by going to my favorite fishing spot and enjoying the scenery and the sound of the river, and just being comfortable and content with nature.

There’s also that saying, “Sitting in church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than sitting in a garage makes you a car.” You are what you are, and hanging out in a building with a lot of people who are there for all the wrong reasons anyway, isn’t going to make you a better Christian.

“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” —Matthew 18:20

“A church is not a museum of saints, it is a hospital for sinners.”
—Ann Landers (?)

@submariner Ahh, but the two or three do not have to be gathered in a building whose employees constantly ask for your money. =0)

@WillWorkForChocolate It sounds like you need to find another church.

@Nullo I’ve visited and visited and visited. I read people very easily, and all I see are selfish hypocrites who wear their “church mask” on Sundays. I’m tired of visiting around.

Not saying this is the truth for all churches but this was my experience. I used to go to church as a kid. My parents made me go. Even as a child it felt like a ‘hat contest’. That’s honestly what I got from it. A lot of older people showing off their latest hat purchase.

This idea was cemented when I kept fainting during the services. I think it was all the getting up and down. This went on for a few weeks and then one of the ‘hats’, in a demonstration of Christian spirit, told me not to come any more until I was better. Hmmmm… I was about 12 and was suffering from anaemia. They didn’t contact my parents to tell them there was obviously something wrong with me (my parents never went with me) they just told me not to come again because I was disrupting their services.

So that was my personal experience of Christianity at work in the house of God.

I was wondering if church attendance is always required as a part of having employment.
I think a person can be a good person or even a christian even if one doesn’t attend church.
It’s okay to believe in something but religious beliefs can also be rather personal and
sometimes uncomfortable to discuss.; Same sometimes with politics. If there is a god he
(or she) can be anywhere-at the movies, the beach, the lake, or one’s favorite store or
other hangout. An’ by the way I don’t think god cares who wins what sports matchup or
what party anyone votes for or whether anyone votes at all.

@soloflyer48 ”I was wondering if church attendance is always required as a part of having employment.” Employment where?