Do you attend traditional church?

Oh...I also missed "why or why not?" Guess I'm not as awake yet as I thought I was.

I believe that the earliest examples that we have of Christian worship were communal in nature, whether we are talking about the gathering of Christians in the synagogues before being thrown out by the non-believers c. AD 50, or how St. Paul's epistles are often addressed to gathered communities in specific places. In the immediate aftermath of the writing of the NT, we also have the ante-Nicene fathers like St. Ignatius of Antioch and other writers like Tertullian who testify to the fact that this was how things were carried forward into their own day, as well. By AD 150 or so we have the establishment of the world's first catechetical school (at Alexandria, Egypt; and that's just according to the earliest list we have...according to the tradition of the Church in Egypt itself, the school was founded by St. Mark himself), which helped to systematize Christian education and the passing down of the faith from one generation to the next.

But since the passing down of the apostolic faith is not merely or even primarily a matter of intellectual learning (which is not to say that this is not involved, only that you don't need to be an 'intellectual' to be a Christian; "out of the mouths of babes", remember?), the way we have done so throughout the centuries is by this very gathering together for the liturgy and the other ancient worship services which have been passed down to us by our fathers. Just for example, it wasn't until the 19th century or so that Coptic hymns/church music was first written down, and when it was this was by Western academics and explorers (who generally had a very low view of it), not by the Copts themselves. The Coptic hymns are still primarily passed down orally. That's how I learned them, for instance, since that's how our priests learned them, etc. This is part of the reason why the Coptic Orthodox Church has preserved several regional melodic variations corresponding to different parts of Egypt and Nubia.

Anyway, the point is that we have preserved a particular way of being Christian as taught to us by our fathers and hence it is not ours to monkey with to begin with. We didn't invent it; we inherited it, so we have only to defend it and pass it down. And the way that we do that is in communities, as Christ told us that wherever two or more are gathered in His name, He is there among them.

~Anastasia~ said:

Primarily because Jesus is there, and access to the grace of God.

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You believe that Jesus is only present in the building and that grace is only accessed, or obtained for later use, from inside the physical buildings?

RaymondG said:

You believe that Jesus is only present in the building and that grace is only accessed, or obtained for later use, from inside the physical buildings?

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Of course not.

God is everywhere present, and we cannot limit how He chooses to bestow grace on persons. (And further, we would say He is MORE present in people who live in continual cooperation and communion with Him than in any building.)

As to "obtained for later use" ... we must be careful not to slide into superstitious thinking. But yes, we sometimes receive objects that have been blessed. They are simply that - blessed.

Yes, because it is the Apostolic model (even when they met in homes, it was the home of a wealthy Christian who donated part of the house to the Church for conducting services).

There is an Orthodox parish in Denton, TX which is a perfect example of a New Testament "home church". The church meets at the home of the priest. The downstairs is a chapel and a fellowship hall, and the priest and his family live upstairs.

Knee V said:

Yes, because it is the Apostolic model (even when they met in homes, it was the home of a wealthy Christian who donated part of the house to the Church for conducting services).

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no. i don't find it beneficial.

although i think my wife wants to go so offered to take her but she seems reluctant, which works for me, but I like everyone to get what they need spiritually, so wouldn't have a problem if we attended more often.

Knee V said:

There is an Orthodox parish in Denton, TX which is a perfect example of a New Testament "home church". The church meets at the home of the priest. The downstairs is a chapel and a fellowship hall, and the priest and his family live upstairs.

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You'll have to tell us which one, please? I'm hoping to visit the area and would love to see this.

~Anastasia~ said:

You'll have to tell us which one, please? I'm hoping to visit the area and would love to see this.

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St Maximus the Confessor

I have a church but I don’t go to it. I prefer to do my own thing at home or outside.

Knee V said:

St Maximus the Confessor

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Thanks!

Yes. I would parse my reasons under two headings.

First, I attend simply because I've become accustomed to the style and prefer it. But that's adiaphora.

Second, I attend because it is the place where I find what I believe to be the purest preaching of the Gospel.

What's interesting is that, even though I'm attending a Lutheran church, I have attended Anglican, Orthodox, and Catholic churches with friends and I find those "traditional" churches have very similar services to mine and also share very similar theological views. So, were I not able to attend an LCMS church, I would be willing to attend those I listed. Were one of those not available, it's likely I wouldn't attend at all.

My church has aspects which are both traditional and modern.

It is a very old building built a good few centuries ago. It has a spoken version of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer Eucharistic service and also a communion service with traditional hymns using Common Worship, a liturgical resource written in more contemporary language. Both contain historic creeds and prayers that have been passed down the Christian Church for centuries.

Our evening service follows a more "fresh expressions" style with more modern songs and a band, less reliance on the liturgy, use of an overhead projector for songs and prayers, prayer ministry and sermons on a range of themes.

The prayer books and liturgy that we use in more traditional settings are very inspirational. It always makes me feel sad when I see other churches neglect using them. I think there is something beautiful in having resources and traditions that have been passed down our church family for generations. However, the church does have to evolve and change to meet the modern needs of the world and it is good to explore new ways of worship.

ace of hearts said:

Why can't you respond to the proposition posed? I'm not interested in arguing about religion or religious beliefs in this thread.

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I think it might be the introduction of this word "traditional" in this proposition where the hesitations or confusions come from. It feels agenda driven, or a setup.

One might ask why didn't you just ask "Do you attend church?" and leave it at that? the moment you add an adjective to "church" it creates opposing groups of x-church and non-x-church and assumes a position that one is better than the other than demands which side are you on.

this tends to feel manipulative and very much like a trap for example:

Do you attend the true church?
Do you attend the right church?
Do you attend Christ's church?
Do you attend the best church?

these questions are implicitly about judgment but they are sneaky because they don't tell you what they really mean or what their focus is and your question is no different. I attend church, because I value the gathering of the body of Christ. I don't know if this fits what you're asking so I'm going to refrain from filling out your poll.

Of course. The one Church founded by Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago, which He said was to remain one, to which He promised the fullness of God's truth until the end of time, is as "traditional" as it gets.

DamianWarS said:

I think it might be the introduction of this word "traditional" in this proposition where the hesitations or confusions come from. It feels agenda driven, or a setup.

One might ask why didn't you just ask "Do you attend church?" and leave it at that? the moment you add an adjective to "church" it creates opposing groups of x-church and non-x-church and assumes a position that one is better than the other than demands which side are you on.

this tends to feel manipulative and very much like a trap for example:

Do you attend the true church?
Do you attend the right church?
Do you attend Christ's church?
Do you attend the best church?

these questions are implicitly about judgment but they are sneaky because they don't tell you what they really mean or what their focus is and your question is no different. I attend church, because I value the gathering of the body of Christ. I don't know if this fits what you're asking so I'm going to refrain from filling out your poll.

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You might be right about that, and it has elicited responses that are very much in that vein, as we see.

However, I saw it only as meaning a conventional church as opposed to a house church or some study group sort of association.

I take traditional to mean mainstream Catholic or Protestant with planned songs and readings which are in pew books, and a sermon and communion, and hierarchical organization.

My church has sort of this, but we are pretty much independent, but sharing with others in our area. But others might not want to share with us because we are basic Bible with the born-again message. Also, we use contemporary songs. We usually don't vote about anything, because we trust our leadership. I have gone here, each Sunday.

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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I found salvation in my church and I can see the Holy Spirit at work in my church family whom I love very much. I don’t see any reason to leave.

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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His wording was "Do you attend tranditional Church?" so it was not initially clear if the emphasis of the question was on traditional or on Church. In other words, is you attend a church that is not traditional, what should you answer?

He should have just asked "Do you regularly attend Church?", which is what he meant.

Jon Osterman said:

His wording was "Do you attend tranditional Church?" so it was not initially clear if the emphasis of the question was on traditional or on Church. In other words, is you attend a church that is not traditional, what should you answer?

He should have just asked "Do you regularly attend Church?", which is what he meant.

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I assumed that the OP'er would eventually get into the necessity of attending houses of worship, as opposed to worshiping alone or smaller impromptu gatherings......therefore it would not matter whether or not one thought their house was the true house.

We will have to wait for more input to understand the exactly point of the thread.

I answered "yes." I grew tired of my former church's successive abandonment of more traditional orders of worship for contemporary, ever-changing casual worship approaching theater. I purposefully made a decision to try out churches that (a) had been formed earlier on the timeline of Christianity and (b) had a more traditional, liturgical, ordered & historical worship service. I landed here as a High-Church Anglo-Catholic Episcopalian.