Do you attend traditional church?

ace of hearts said:

Why or why not.

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Traditional church as opposed to...?

Whose tradition?

ace of hearts said:

What does it matter? I didn't ask what church or tradition.

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It matters because some traditions are considered to be very non-traditional by others who have different or older traditions.

I attend a church (where I sometimes preach) but I would not call it a "traditional church". It does meet every Sunday and calls itself a Christian church, so maybe that is what you mean? On this basis, I will vote yes in your poll.

If I am honest, I would never have chosen this church to go to, but was obligated to go for family reasons. Over the years, it has grown on me and I now can't imagine (regularly) going to any other church. It is very much a church where no question is taboo, for an honest and sincere exploration of faith. We encourage audience participation and even heckling during sermons. We even have some staunch atheists who regularly attend.

ace of hearts said:

Why can't you respond to the proposition posed?

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Because I do not know if a Messianic Synagogue qualifies as a "traditional church."

ace of hearts said:

Interesting. Would you please tell us why your "church" isn't traditional?

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Sorry - I had edited my post to add this, but you responded before I had finished.

It is traditional in the sense that it is Christ centred and believes all the central tenants of the faith, such as Jesus dying for the redemption of our sins. But it is not traditional in its approach because it is extremely liberal and accepting of outsiders and alternate views. Everyone is welcome, and to encourage that we have no formal membership. We don't ask for money in the service (and are very against a "prosperity gospel") and are very community driven. We hold events with safe spaces to honestly ask questions about faith and no questions are out of bounds.

Yes I do. Why? Because it is what I have been raised/taught to do.....It has become a tradition inwhich there is little harm and therefore no reason to consider stopping.

ace of hearts said:

Interesting. Would you please tell us why your "church" isn't traditional?

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In this forum, "Traditional Church" usually refers to Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, et., though some people think a traditional church is just a formal one that sings hymns. You do need to clarify.

I assumed, traditional church meant the gathering of believers in a building, made for worship, with the intent to worship God.....

I did not assume this was about a specific doctrine and/or belief system...... but for all of them....in general.

RaymondG said:

I assumed, traditional church meant the gathering of believers in a building, made for worship, with the intent to worship God.....

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Okay. That seems like an adequate clarification. That's how I understood the original post.

ace of hearts said:

Why or why not.

Please no judging or trying to get others to change about their response. This is a free choice. This isn't a counseling thread.

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Denomination or non denomination?
Building vs home?

Yes. Because as the Bible says, we are not to forsake the gathering of ourselves together

I'm Coptic Orthodox. Our Church was founded in the mid-first century in Egypt on the preaching of St. Mark the Evangelist, who was martyred there in 68 AD. The core of the three anaphoras we use in our liturgies date back to the fourth century AD, with the earliest extant manuscripts dating back to the sixth. So, yes, it's very traditional.

I took the question to most likely mean "do you go to a Christian gethering (of any sort) which meets regularly in a building and has some sort of order to the service?"

But it is worth clarifying when asking questions. Very often words mean slightly (or even greatly) different things to different people, depending on our particular background. I usually try to understand statements and questions from the point of view of my best guess of the point of view of the person asking the question, but there's always a risk of guessing wrong. So if it were important, I would always clarify.

Whatever is meant in various possible shades of meaning, my answer would generally be "yes". Though there's probably a very small minority who could understand the question in such a way as to disagree with me.

Oh I missed why or why not ...

Many reasons. Primarily because Jesus is there, and access to the grace of God. Because my spirit is fed. Because a community of believers is vitally important. Because we are part of one another. Because it keeps me accountable and helps prevent laxity.

And from my own point of view, because I enjoy it immensely for many reasons - I love the singing/chanting, it's beautiful, I enjoy fellowship, I appreciate being challenged and not stagnated.

And because I believe God commanded us through Christ to continue to assemble.