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Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › The Church › Church

The question

How would you convince someone not to go to other churches?

The answer

It is definitely wrong to belong to a church and worship in another one. This church 'hopping' is not spiritually beneficial.

To convince someone not to go to other churches, you need to know their reasons for doing so and have an answer for every excuse they give. One common excuse is that our liturgy is too long! St. Paul taught us to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17). To dedicate a few hours every week to attend the liturgy and pray with others is not too much. I am sure every excuse they give could be easily refuted.

One needs to develop a sense of belonging to their own church, their own home. If we are close to our own church and understand its sacraments, its prayers, its hymns and most of all, its liturgy we will never feel we want to know any other church.

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Related questions

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 50 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.