I Don't Go to Church

Written: Friday, 19 June 2026

STARTED WITH CATHOLICISM

I follow God

You could say I was raised a Catholic as I went to Catholic schools and attended Catholic churches as a child and teenager. As a young adult I stopped going to church until I was drawn back to Catholic and non-Catholic churches decades later, not by people but by God. I no longer go to church and I wouldn’t return unless instructed by God.

I ONCE WENT

My history of church

As a child and teenager I regularly attended Catholic churches then had a break that lasted around 20 years and I eventually returned for a short 2-year stint at both Catholic and non-Catholic churches when I was in my early to mid 40s. I first experienced going to church as a toddler with my grandparents at their church, St Joseph’s the Worker in Turangi when I would stay with them in the holidays. When I turned 5, I went to a Catholic school and started attending church every Sunday because it was strongly suggested that all students attend the Catholic church, which was just across the road from the school.

In my college years, I also went to church at the Catholic boarding school I attended because it was just natural that all students attend the church we had on the property. After college, I stopped going to church because there was no requirement to attend and nobody was pressuring me to go. After a holy epiphany that I had around 2012, I started attending church again around 2021 simply because I was following God’s instructions. Around February of 2026, I stopped going to church for various reasons that I’ll tell you about later.

TOUCHED BY GOD

The Epiphany

After leaving the Air Force in 2010, life started to get me down so I asked God for a sign and He gave me an epiphany. In the year before the epiphany, I was struggling mentally because I was still getting used to being out of the Air Force and being a dad. The epiphany itself, which happened after I ran up and down a hill six times because a voice in my head told me to, felt like a huge sense of relief and a feeling of being super confident.

At the time, I thought the epiphany was something really amazing because it made me feel very peaceful, confident and free. Immediately after the epiphany, I came out of my shell and started doing things I hadn’t done before because I felt I needed to take the new me for a test drive! My life has been amazing since the epiphany because I’ve done things I was never able to do before and I see the world and my life as things that are amazing and positive.

GOD WITHOUT CHURCH

I found God without church

My epiphany lead me to God and I was able to come right with God without regular church attendance. Since the epiphany, my life without church has been great because I’ve always had a great relationship with God. My experiences throughout my life since the epiphany have confirmed for me that I didn’t and don’t need church because there is nothing the church can offer me that I can’t get through God somewhere else.

Now, I believe that you don’t need to attend church to be right with God and my experiences have proven it. Outside of church, I have learnt alot about God through studying the Bible, prayer and living a life guided by Holy Spirit. Futhermore, I know that I can have my sins forgiven at any time without going to church.

GO TO CHURCH!

Why I started going again

I had my reasons for going back to church around 2021. Some years after the epiphany, God told me to go to various churches so I listened and became a church-goer again. I might have also been influenced to return to church by Billy Graham videos when I would watch them in the mornings during a workout because Billy would tell me to, “Go to church this Sunday!”

Before going back to church, I thought my life would be better as a church-goer because I thought many good parts of my childhood, especially the mental peace, came from attending church. At that time, I also relied on many signs from God before returning to church because I wasn’t going to go to any church without God telling me to go! Overall, I felt what I describe as a “pull” towards being a church-goer again because of all the signs God was giving me.

LEAVE NOW!

Why I stopped going to church

But then again in 2026, I stopped going to church. Some time after attending church again, I realised that church-going could be temporary because in my past God had sent me on “missions” that I thought would last “forever” but ended up being short-term and this church-going could be one of those short-term missions. Also, on my return, at any church I attended, I wasn’t totally into it because I noticed my beliefs about God differed to the beliefs of the church.

In 2025, I was told to leave church through a vision that I had while sitting in church one Sunday. After leaving church, I realised that I would rather do other things on my Sundays than church because I was having lots of fun and accomplishing alot in the time when I would normally be at church. Ulitmately, I saw no advantages in going to church because I already had everything from God that I needed.

IF GOD SAYS

Good and faithful servant

I have had history with going to church and not going to church and since my epiphany I’ve always had a good relationship with God, church or no church. My experience with God has given me beliefs about God that are different to the churches I’ve attended and in my later life I’ve only gone to church because God instructed me to go.

Has church helped me? Overall, I can’t see that church has helped me more than anything else in my life because God is my helper and is with me in and out of church. Would I go back to church? If God tells me to go back to church, I would go back to church because I would want to listen to God!