Is it a necessary Christian thing to go to Church?

You don't have to go to church and you can still have God in your heart. God is love and God will still love you. God will always be a part of you no matter where you are.

Hmmm..When Liz and I were living in Hapeville(south of Atlanta) one day as I was waiting at the corner bus stop a newbie christian came along the sidewalk..and I knew he was a newbie christian..Don't ask. I dunno. I just knew..And I knew there was conversation coming, which was kool. Well, he asked the question I was expecting. He looks me in the eye and asks 'Do you go to church?' and I answered 'No.' and he was johnny on the spot with pamplets and asked 'Why not?'. I thought how to word it out a moment then told him 'I'm already there!' and did a sweeping motion with my hand. He looked around a bit, absorbing the notion. 'It's ALL church?'..'Yeh!'. Then he looked about some more, smiled and headed on down the sidewalk.. Now, as far as I'm concerned, we did church that day and I introduced him to a temple built by God, not man..'course, the problem with thinking that way is that I know I'm not always on my best behavior in church..We're working on that.. I'd suspect that the best answer to the question lies with the needs of the individual more so than an across the board ruling. If someone needs the anchor of a structure then that's where they need be. Afterall, Jesus went to temple AND preached in the streets and I'll bet that as they were out on the road, I'll bet they didn't stop fellowship because there was no convenient building to have in in.. And as it is that God is everywhere, with His essence in everything and has a habit of coming to rather than sitting back and waiting for us to show up on the stoop..When He created Adam He didn't say 'OK kid, when you need me I'll be up in the big house! Just come on up!'. Rather, He walked with Adam in the garden and taught Adam in the temple of creation..And we know that when Moses threw his pissy fit, to placate the boy, God came to him..And, of course, with Jesus..So, for me anyway the where is not so important. Time alone with God? Jesus went to the wilderness to be alone with the Father. Not all the time! Just when a little one-on-one was necessary.. Enjoy!

You can certainly go to church without being a Christian, people in my community did it all of the time. When I was a Catholic, I went to my own church, but I went to other churches, temples, and gatherings as well, and no one seemed to mine. I have been to Buddhists, Hindu, and Jewish temples, and no one complained. I just wanted to know what the different religions were about. It's okay to explore different religions and beliefs.

I don't think it's necessary. I think most of your faith is in your heart. I don't go when it's cold out because I need to walk to church as we have no Mass transit at that hour and I have no car. I've concluded that God would want me to get frostbite just to go and honor him. I don't feel that God endorses stupidity. I like to go in the Spring and Summer months. I must admit that I don't even always go then. Sometimes the body is not willing to give up it's warm place in the covers. Although, I'm getting better at getting up early and staying awake all day without taking a nap. I hope this will improve my church attendance in the warmer months.

Church, the original meaning of church is a group of followers of Christ. They look out for each other like family. Helping each other. Its not a building you go to. Its wherever you're at. Your house, outside at the park, wherever. Your body is a temple, and wherever you are the Lord is too. You don't need to go to some building full of people trying to prove they're Christians.

WHilst I am the one who has the least right to comment - I don't go much to church - church going is a remnant of the early days of christian community. :) Christianity is based on a community feeling- and this is enriched by going to church

Yes it is. It has to be a God=fearing, Bible believing church and the church can be anything from a house like the Chinese Christians gather in for fear of persecution, a Hall or building that is rented for Sunday until they can build a regular church of them own. God may convict a person of his need or she may feel that her life is sinful, but once the spark is inside, that person must find a church to go to. Or else she or he may get the wrong idea and believe that man's opinions matter more then God's.

Base on my own experience as a christian, it is better to be on a church regularly than not going to church but still meditating alone. Yes, there is no wrong of not attending a church service but there is a different feeling that i felt whenever i am in a fellowship. Maybe because as he said in the bible that whenever there are 2 or 3 gather together in His, He is in the midst of them.

The Bible stresses the need for community and accountability. I believe the true "Church" is the body of Christ, in other words, the Christians of the world. While I believe it's not truly necessary for a Christian to go to Church as a building, I think that Christians should have some sort of Church as a community to go to. A lone Christian is going to suffer on their walk, and fall without anyone to help them up. They need friends in Christ.

For me, going to church is a must for all Christians. We need to go to church and have a fellowship with our fellow believers. It is so important for us to ignite the fire and passion in serving God once again. Going church is also necessary for us to grow. It is one of the factors that could help a Christian mature spiritually and strengthen someone as he walk in faith. Going to church regularly also feeds our spiritual being hearing those messages that could either comfort us or afflict us.

As a real christian you should show it to the whole world to create an influence in others lives.How? by going to church and joining a fellowship,initiating some christian activities, reaching out for lost souls too is a good act.

I believe that it is important to gather with other believers. The bible emphasizes a "fellowship" of believers. Do I think you have to go to "church" to do that? No. The body of Christ is the church, so I believe if you had a bible study of say 5 people gathering together - that would be fine. Remember the bible says "where ever 2 or more a gathered..." I believe putting time aside alone is important, extremely important, but that fellowship time with other believers is also. I think the other mode others get into is thinking that if I go to church, I'm a Christian, and I don't believe that to be true...

I don't think that Christians have to go to church. I think you should be able to pray anywhere and connect with God. If you HAD to go to church to be a Christian it would just be like how the Catholics forced people to pay money for their sins to be forgiven. So no, you don't have to go to church. Church is a place where you hear someone else talk about the bible while you're among of group of people.

I see the word church as you do, that the church is the people. You are also right that it is not good to be a loner Christian. Heb. 10:25 exhorts us not to forsake assembling together. If we are truly a Christian, then Christ dwells within us, and so do His works. He assembled with Jewish believers and participated in the synagogue and temple services. Those acts of publicly worshiping God with others is resident within us, so there will be an urge for us to assemble with other believers.

i think as a christian it is important to commune with fellow believers also, church is a good place to learn more about God and worship Him.

I believe walking into a church makes you as much of a Christian as walking into a barn makes you a cow. That said, I do agree that, as Christians, we are called to be missionaries to the world, and things like worshipping with other believers--as well as quiet Bible study at home--are important to develop and grow. So...is attending church absolutely necessary in order to have a personal relationship with Christ? No. But it helps...Often God uses other believers to speak to us, whether that is your preacher on Sunday morning or a friend sitting next to you in the pew. If you aren't there, you may miss out on what God wants you to hear. Just my humble opinion...

hello puppynut, there are other Christian religions that actually does have gatherings either not only in the church but also in other places like stage, houses and other places o consider but for the catholic thing, it's really good to have some place to spread the word god to.

I suppose for faithful Christians,there is a need to connect spiritually with God and the best way to do so is to attend church along with others with same purpose,gives a more holy atmosphere when devout christians come together to worship God,feeling of closeness to God in church is stronger than if one were to be praying by himself,

It is good to go to church,the bible rightly say when 2 or 3 are gather He is in their mist.Going to church you can learn something new that day that will increase your spiritual level and you will start seen things in a different manner and saying it also in a different way too.Gather are also good for the growth of a christian.

If you are truly a Christian, church is always necessary. We need the church as Christians in our relationship with God. The church is just not a building. it is a way of life.