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I was raised in the church and throughout my adolescent years, I never wanted to rebel from church. I had no interest in going out to parties and my parents were very strict and never allowed that sort of thing anyway. Now I am almost 30 and I still go to church mainly because I am so used to it and don't really know where else to go. Sometimes, it's fine. I like the socialization, sometimes the music is really good and I enjoy it. Other times, it's just a long miserable and depressing day listening to nonsensical sermons and me wondering why I still attend. Every now and then if I put off church, I end up bored and return to church the following week. And figuring out something besides church is daunting because I'm not the most social person, most people I'm close to go to church, and doing something else means making some new friends. How do you distance yourself from church when you have gotten this comfortable there yet get so depressed when you're there?
There is a whole world of things to do, so I'm not sure how you even COULD be bored, and I sure don't see how going to church would solve that.
Are you extroverted, and very social? If so you are probably one of those people who gets antsy if you don't have enough Other People stimulating you. If that's true, then once you recognize that church is meeting a social need, you can find alternatives.
One that I don't consider "church" in other than a superficial sense, but which provides most of the trappings and social opportunities, are Unitarian Universalist societies, which are welcoming to all beliefs and unbeliefs. Others include volunteering for secular charities, political campaigns, community food banks, and so forth. You can make friends through joining an exercise class or a secular meditation group.
I was raised in the church and throughout my adolescent years, I never wanted to rebel from church. I had no interest in going out to parties and my parents were very strict and never allowed that sort of thing anyway. Now I am almost 30 and I still go to church mainly because I am so used to it and don't really know where else to go. Sometimes, it's fine. I like the socialization, sometimes the music is really good and I enjoy it. Other times, it's just a long miserable and depressing day listening to nonsensical sermons and me wondering why I still attend. Every now and then if I put off church, I end up bored and return to church the following week. And figuring out something besides church is daunting because I'm not the most social person, most people I'm close to go to church, and doing something else means making some new friends. How do you distance yourself from church when you have gotten this comfortable there yet get so depressed when you're there?
Really? Church is the only thing that can get you off your duff and out of the house? Maybe you should rethink this agnostic/atheist thing.
Look up your local chamber of commerce. It will have a long list of organizations that you could join and/or volunteer for. Pick one. Pick three.
Spend more time at the library. Their bulletin board will be full of current local activities. Take names and phone numbers.
Register at meetup.com. See who is meeting about what in your area.
What makes for an interesting person that other people would like to know? A person who is *interested*. Your problem isn't church. It's your own ennui.
I was raised in the church and throughout my adolescent years, I never wanted to rebel from church. I had no interest in going out to parties and my parents were very strict and never allowed that sort of thing anyway. Now I am almost 30 and I still go to church mainly because I am so used to it and don't really know where else to go. Sometimes, it's fine. I like the socialization, sometimes the music is really good and I enjoy it. Other times, it's just a long miserable and depressing day listening to nonsensical sermons and me wondering why I still attend. Every now and then if I put off church, I end up bored and return to church the following week. And figuring out something besides church is daunting because I'm not the most social person, most people I'm close to go to church, and doing something else means making some new friends. How do you distance yourself from church when you have gotten this comfortable there yet get so depressed when you're there?
So my experience my have been a bit different from yours. when I left the faith, I was married and my wife and I both left at the same time. We replaced the time we spent at church with sleeping in on a Sunday, or working on our home improvement projects. It has been many years since we left, but we still end up with some "rituals"
Currently, Sunday morning we go to my in-laws house for biscuits and gravy, and a couple games of dominoes. If my wife's folks didn't live up here, my Sunday morning would consist of running 6-10 miles with my running buddies and breakfast afterwards. In a couple weeks, my Sunday afternoon will be filled by volleyball at the local Y. The time I would have previously spent on religion in one form or another, which probably added up to 15 or 20 hours a week, I now spend on my family, my friends, my hobbies, and my home improvement tasks ( I always have a ton of those!).
I garden, play with my dogs, work in the shop, paint, make things, clean the house, do netflix marathons, have dinner parties with friends, go to the park and feed the ducks, go grocery shopping (really quiet during church hours in my town), wash the car, bake a cake, go to the farm down the street, make jam, etc.
Pretty much whatever I want to do on any given day. This Sunday we're doing a Dr Who marathon with some friends and maybe a couple games of pool or air hockey (I love my gameroom)
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