Do you find going to church fun? praise and worship is up lifting

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Fun? I have fun when I go swimming or meet my friends. Mass doesn’t need to be fun, and even when it is beautiful, it’s not funny for me in a profane way.
It’s sometimes physically not funny, for example (just stayed three hours standing in a full to the roof little church) but so full of grace to be close with the holy.
 
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Good question!

I don’t find church fun, in the way a carnival is fun.
I do find it profoundly meaningful, and I like to go to church.

I want with a friend to a Baptist praise and worship service.
I was impressed with the devotion of the congregation. Just like me, they are developing a relationship with their Savior.

But through my years of study and life experience, I hold to the Catholic Church.

Peace!
 
Theres nothing fun and uplifting about these sing and praise hallelujah meetings of pentecostal churches and the like imo. Putting on a fake smile and clap and chant like a bunch of children is not fun. And its not what Jesus meant by be like children either. He didnt say, be infantile.
Mass and communion is how God has meant it, the highlight of my week, every time
 
The singing is enjoyable, but that’s bout it for me.
 
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A concert for God? I’m really not sure I am at all happy about the idea that church is about us entertaining God, or even Him entertaining us.

In my life, I work very hard. I earn money, I run my home and look after my family. I also have recreation time, which I try to make relaxing and may well be fun, particularly when I am with my children. I love to laugh, joke and mess about and be silly with friends.

But Mass? Different order of experience altogether. I often enjoy it ( though not always) but that is not at all the same thing as finding it ‘fun’.

I have been to many a protestant service where the content was hyped up fun. I have also been to protestant services where everything was deliberately cerebral and designed to discourage any emotional engagement at all.

The problem with both these approaches is that their focus is almost entirely on external things like emotional or intellectual responses. Real worship is grounded in Spirit and truth - eternal things, rather than froth and candy.
 
I do. I have fun. I have to admit it.
Some people have noticed me with a happy demenour -
Let’s face it - it’s God’s House - away from the world -
A refuge, for me anyways.
Love singing the songs ( quietly lol )
Love seeing the people, at all various walks.
Love, and if I can, encourage the Priests.
And - obviously - the resurrection of myself - eucharist - revitalized !
I always walk out of church different and for the best.

Other denominations - good intentioned as they are -
were a lot of bells and whistles -
 
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Quite true, I often feel the same. I just think ‘fun’ is not quite the right word. Seems far too light and fluffy - almost like it’s just missing something important.
 
Not sure why the OP keeps making threads trying to convince us that the Catholic Mass and church is not fun, is not spiritual and not interesting.
Every Mass is exhilarating because of WHO is present, body, blood, soul and divinity.
Every else or anything else would be the icing on the cake.
Feelings are fleeting,
Christ HImself, is eternal.
Peace.
 
I w ent to the Easter Vigil mass this past year. For the first time, I enjoyed the two hour service listening to God’s words throughout the whole time and enjoyed why I was there celebrating the Risen Christ. I am coming to enjoy mass and prayerfully celebrating Christ 's love for me. If this were me last year, I would have been bored out of my mind. Having a good understanding of the mass itself truly made a difference in how I enjoy going to mass these days.
 
ongpattersonny said:
Having a good understanding of the mass itself truly made a difference in how I enjoy going to mass these days.
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Mass is definitely something where you get out of it what you put into it.

If you’re just looking to show up and be entertained, you should be going to an entertainment venue, not Mass.
 
I remember going to Mass once as a child. I rarely went and I didn’t really understand what church was all about. We were in a school gym, but I remember feeling such a profound peace, joy and presence of God that stayed with me the entire day. Now looking back, I know it was encountering Jesus in the Eucharist that made the experience so powerful.

Now as a practicing Catholic, I feel so blessed to be able to go to Mass every Sunday (or even more often than that, if I am able and want to do so) and receive Jesus who is really present in the Eucharist. I have never been more spiritually fulfilled. There are weeks when I can really feel God, when I have great moments with my friends after Mass, when the music really moves me, when the homily is funny, when I am filled with joy.
There are also weeks when I am tired or when I don’t really feel anything inside or when the homily may be less than exciting- but I never regret going. I know God is working and present, regardless of what I am feeling. Feelings change, but God’s love and presence do not. Mass is so much more than fun. It’s the highlight of the week- because I get to encounter God in the Eucharist together with my Church family. ❤️❤️
 
Just back from my second Mass as Catholic. I had a headache and serious stomach pains. It was very difficult to concentrate, so I focused on offering up my discomfort and remembered I was about to receive Christ in the Eucharist again.
It wasn’t as emotionally overwhelming as the Easter Vigil, but it was a quiet, peaceful experience and I was tremendously pleased I went, as I always am. Fun? Not especially. Highlight of my week? Emphatically yes.
 
I feel the same at my Protestant Church services now. It’s all very showy and entertaining, but I leave feeling just as empty as I did before I got there. It’s been this way for a while.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I’m not going to church for a good time.
The Mass is the unbloody sacrifice of Christ crucified. I don’t think Mary, John and Mary Magdalene were dancing joyfully around the foot of the cross.

While certain feast days like Easter and Christmas are joyous and that is reflected in things like the music, decorations and Scripture readings, Mass in general is not a party. It’s a solemn celebration and we approach it that way.

As for it being uplifting, yes it frequently gives my spirit a needed boost, mostly because I get to be in Christ’s physical presence and receive Him and this gives me grace and strength.
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Maybe their souls though were dancing at the heavenly welcoming dock upon their arrival. I do think though this thread shows a difference among Christian communities. Faithful Catholics as many have noted, emphasize the sacrifice Christ made for us. Others may place greater emphasis on the joyful aftermath. But one thing is certain. For believers to get out of the Eucharist what many here do, they first have to believe what faithful Catholics do about it.
 
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Yes, it’s obvious there’s a different emphasis.

My personal opinion is that if you don’t believe in the Eucharist, there is no point in a church service or maybe even in belonging to a “church” or coming to worship in a church building. Many who do not believe in the Eucharist obviously disagree, but that’s their issue to deal with. I know I would not bother to show up if Jesus in his Real Presence was not going to be there.
 
Except many non Catholic Christians do believe Jesus is truly present at least spiritually in their worship. I once had a Disciples of Christ pastor tell me he sure hopes Jesus is present! And of course there are Christians communities such as TEC and Lutheran in which worshipers do believe in a form of a physical RP as well.
 
I don’t go to church for “fun”. I go so that I can be right with God.
 
It’s very true. I attended three different places last weekend, my own Catholic parish, my husband’s Anglican building, and a congregation of Reformed Baptists.
Whilst I appreciated their love for God and commitment to their faith, it was very difficult to avoid a curiously empty feeling of being at a gathering without the guest of honour being physically present.
 
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