Our experience of church can vary dramatically depending on the denomination, congregation, country and a variety of factors. But what unites the church is that it is the gathering of a body of believers in God's presence.
In Europe, church attendance has been declining. A study of church
attendance revealed that Church of England weekly attendance has dropped to below 1 million for the first time. But what stops us from going to church? And does it matter if we don't go?
There are a number of reasons why as Christians we can stop attending church. Prioritising our work or social activities can mean that it appears that there is no time in our schedules for it. We shouldn't choose our church to fit around our lives, but there are opportunities to attend church weekly on other occasions than Sunday morning. Sometimes the business of our lives is not what is stopping us. If we are passionate about something we usually don't want to miss it, and so the case should be with church. There [...]
What is the Church? A church is a building used for Christian worship services and Christian activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 AD and 256 AD. The word church also describes a body or assembly of Christian believers, while "the Church" refers to the worldwide Christian religious community.