Why Don't You Go?

Why People Don’t Go To Church

Easter is March 23^rd. It’s one of two times a year that people who usually don’t go to church will.

The majority of the folk surveyed as to why they didn’t attend a church said the main reason was it’s boring! That’s the top-ranked answer (42 per cent) among reasons given by infrequent attenders and non-attenders for not going to church.

However, it isn’t quite as simple as that, says Dr John Bellamy, who was involved in designing the survey and led the preparation of the book, Why People Don’t Go to Church,* which derived from the research.

“The reasons boil down to a number of things,” he says. “One that stood out in the research was the importance of relationships. We noticed in the data that whether or not the spouse was attending church was an important factor and whether you yourself attended.

“Also, we noted the role of friends. And even going back further in a person’s religious upbringing, we noted the role of parents. So those factors together were important in explaining why people do or do not go to church.”

“You’d expect a very strong correlation between whether people hold Christian beliefs and whether they’re involved in church. But we noted a range of other things too, such as the sort of attitudes that people have towards church and churchgoing.”

Other reasons given include lack of motivation—which is not a rejection of churches—but many don’t seriously consider church involvement or are more attracted to other activities. There’s a lack of time for some who show no hostility to church, but have other priorities.

So what about you? If you don’t attend a church on a regular basis, why not? And if you know someone who doesn’t go, have you ever asked them to go?