How Often Do You Go to A House of Worship?

He is great at putting a bee in one's bonnet :-)

The speaking in tongues etc. wasn't from any southern baptist church that I have ever been to, but that did happen at a church of God that I attended for a short time.

I would say I go 3 out of 4 sunday's a month, I like to go out of town w/ my friends alot so if I am out of town I don't go to church.

In my church the purpose of going to church has been lost. I'm sure this has happend in many churches. It has become a social gathering and more so than that it has become a safe haven in order to escape the rumors and jeers. If you show up at church than people won't talk about how much of a sinner you are for not going. It's more of the "See I'm at church so back off. I'm still better than you," thought. It's very sad and disgusting. I find sometimes I get more out of just meditating at home with a Bible, a devotional book and my favorite Christian cd's, than I do going to church. It seems more personal that way and I can really focus on my one on one time with God. I have that time reserved every Sunday anyway, I might as well get the most out of it. I feel that people forget that Church isn't the building. It's letting God into your heart and you can do that at anytime of the day.

Let's see.... rarely, if ever, do I go to church.
But that's because I'm Jewish.
And so, I go to the synagogue twice a day to pray three times a day (that's because I'm Jewish too. You know, two Jews, three opinions...)
We do that seven days a week, forever....
Then I often go back to study in the study hall of the synagogue and then of course, there are the extra-curricular parties....
What the heck. I practically live at the synagogue.

Pardon my ignorance, Moishe3rd, (I'm a goy) but are there set times that you go to the synagogue to pray?

If you are in shul most of the time, how do you support yourself?

There are set prayers, not necessarily set times.
Jews pray (daven) three times a day - Morning prayers (Shacharis); Afternoon prayers (Mincha); and Evening prayers (Maariv).
In our community, there is a 6:30 AM Shacharis (which gets later during the winter months as sunrise gets later); a 7:00 AM Shacharis - the Kollel (which is a sort of "university" where men get paid for learning full time) minyan; and 8:00 AM, at Torah Academy (the Jewish Day School - grades pre-K thru 8th grade).
The other Orthodox synagogue also has a minyan (10 men), maybe, at 7:00 AM.
The girl's high school (Bais Yaakov) also davens Shacharis around 8:00 AM.
The Kollel davens Mincha at 2:45 PM and Torah Academy davens Mincha at 3:00 PM (I think). Then the shul (synagogue) davens Mincha at varying times - now about 4:15 PM and as late as around 8:30 PM during the summer, followed immediately by Maariv.
There is also an 8:00 Maariv during these winter months and a 10:00 Maariv always.
If a person can't make a minyan (get together with 10 men) then he prays alone. But he still prays three times a day.
Hope this helps.

Thank you. That reminds me a bit of the Holy Office back in my seminary days (I'm Catholic).

Good question.
Mostly I don't really....
However, I am a remodeling contractor who is very selective in whom I have as a customer; I attempt to buy real estate, fix it up and sell it for profit; and I attempt to make some money in the stock market.
In other words, I am self - employed and somehow I usually manage to pay the bills and educate my children.
There are other individuals who spend as much or more time in shul as I do and they own successful businesses where they have a somewhat assured income.
I do not have quite the ambition that they do (or did).

Thanks for the insights, Moishe3rd. I suspect that many diasporic Jews feel a need to spend much time with other Jews, creating and maintaining the solidarity needed to survive in this world. I say this knowing that almost all the Jews I know do not spend much time in shul. They are very secular and very cosmopolitan. That would change, I suspect, if there were another crisis.

I'm coming into this thread late, but I generally go to choir practice on Thursday nights and sing in the choir at worship on Sunday mornings, and attend occasional other meetings. I also teach an adult religious education class on the history of the development of Christian thoughts and pratices, both of which have been heavily influenced by Christianity's Jewish roots. Of course the course also includes how Christianity has been influenced and affected by other religions as well. Therefore, this has been an interesting discussion.

History of religions really is a very interesting subject - can turn out some of churches as well as bring them closer, I think :wink:

Well it all certainly hasn't been pretty for sure as virtually all religions have both nobility and shame just as all of us come from national heritages checkered with both nobility and events that have been far from noble. People, nations, and religions evolve however, hopefully for the better over time.

I've been to a "house of worship" I think twice this year, probably won't attend anymore except for weddings and funerals. For lack of another adjective, church services seem old fashioned.

Just remembered the small church located miles out into the country under towering oaks. Tried that a few times last summer, it was a private old stone home. Mostly, I watched about 2 dozen swallows building their mud nests under the enormous backporch overhang.

As someone else said, nature is my church. I've got to get used to the fact these places are not what they used to be, to me. Would like to find a meditation group.

Hmm...
My ' house of worship' is my alter. My alter is in my home.
I always open circle once a month just for religious reasons, other times it is to do personal work.
If that counts as a house of worship, I am there a few times a week.