Is a church-goer a person with little faith?

I suppose the term might have a different meaning in Arizona, but here in England the term 'church-goer' is commonly used and it means just that - a person who goes to church regularly. It does not imply anything at all about a person's beliefs or lack of them. The attitude of the main churches seems to be that all are welcome and that the precise extent and strength of a person's faith is a matter for them and God. If you introduced yourself as 'a church-goer' I might assume that you had Christian beliefs of some sort, but I would consider it very bad manners and somewhat un-Christian to enquire how 'sincere' you are.

I've never heard anyone suggest that the term "church-goer" means someone of little faith.

However, i find it interesting that in North America, since Pew Research in the United States and Ipsos-Reid in Canada changed the content of their surveys on religions matters, ten percent of respondents who say that they regularly attend church say that they don't believe in god. However, i'd suggest that that would come as a surprise to most people, and that the term "church-goer" has never meant someone of little faith.

I concur.

I never thought of a church goer as someone with little faith.

It just means someone who goes to church.

It wouldn't come as any surprise to me, or many priests either, I tend to think.

What you tend to do is to argue, even if you don't have a good basis. There is no established church in the United States, and there never had been one. Apples to oranges . . .

I have heard the expression 'church-goer' used in that negative sense only when applied to certain Roman Catholics who do not subscribe to the infallibility of the Pope nor to certain teachings of the Church but attend Mass regularly anyway because they think it is expected of them by their family or neighbors or whoever.

Were you having a crack at me there? And bringing the Church Of England into the equation? And as for the apples/oranges thing, what is that all about?

I was talking to a Reform rabbi a couple of weeks ago about this very topic, and he said he thought that people's faith waxes and wanes, evolves, and changes. The God he believed in at age 20 is not the God he believes in now. I work with a Muslim guy who says likewise. As for the Anglican tradition, in which I was brought up, that ten percent seems a little low, and my wife, a Roman Catholic agrees.

Thank you. It was such an easy and helpful explanation. Thank you again for you time.

there was only one christian and he died on the cross