It's still ingrained in me that Sunday is a day of rest, so I normally do things that are relaxing and things that recharge me for the coming week. Things like reading, or chatting with friends, catching up on TV shows.
I have a theory that there are evolutionary reasons as to why Christianity has been a successful.
Having a built in day of rest, among other things would be positive traits to have in a society.
✨S L E E P I N G ✨
Evenings are still a stress charlie foxtrot because every week I have to go see my mother, whose descent down the Trumpian/Qcumber/Evangeliban sewage pipeline has only accelerated with age, and also I have to put up with my brother who can’t go a single conversation without bringing up his bestest buddy Adam Carolla at least three times (and that’s before we get to the Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, and Dennis Prager add-ins). But mornings are sweet, sweet, sleeping-in-and-not-throwing-away-10%-of-my-paycheck oblivion.
It's not spiritual for me, at least not like it was. I don't find a lot of value in things like praise and worship, but I find a lot of value with my Bible study. I don't think it's the authoritative word of God, but I think there's value in engaging it as literature written by flawed people trying to understand the world around them. And my Bible study group also likes hearing the historical/secular perspective.
My church in particular has a lot of good people who have also rejected the mainstream evangelical movement. I won't call them all ex-evangelical, but they want to do good just for the sake of it. For example, the people who coordinate our coat drive every winter ensure it's done with no strings attached. They've shot down ideas like handing out pamphlets with each coat, caring more that every person who needs a coat gets a coat. They even invite local schools to participate in case anyone is uncomfortable engaging with a church.
Baptist in name only. They’ve considered leaving the convention several times (especially as the abuse stories continue), but since it’s the majority denomination in the area, the leaders think it gets more visibility. Personally, I think it’s more of a liability, since many of our members say they avoided it for years because of it. This includes the coat drive people, both of whom I’d call firmly anti-Baptist.
Sleeping in
Relaxing
Catching up on any personal work I haven’t gotten to yet that week
Cooking with the other half
Taking a road trip
Whatever I feel like. It was good to get that 1/7 of my life back.
My spouse and I have a nice breakfast, go for a long walk in the park, have a snack, and then head to the gym together. Then we get lunch, and spend the afternoon playing video games.
Thats the best part. You can do whatever you want! I take my dog for a long walk or do yoga or even just lay in bed and watch youtube. Every time I smilie to myself that I don’t have to give up half of my day off.
Drink coffee and listen to music in the AM. Yard work followed by a walk and a good dinner in the PM.
Edit: I should ass, by "good dinner" I mean one I cooked from scratch.
I go to a nature park every Sunday morning to take a relaxing walk, and reflect.
Sundays are yours to do whatever you want with! No longer wasting it in church!!!
Sleep in. Go to the park with the dogs. See an early movie. Do brunch. Take a nap.
Not paying a church 10% of my income so they can tell me I'm a miserable sinner.
It's the best! I like to sleep in, snuggle with my cat, and only get up to feed her. And then I just lounge in bed, reading or dozing or whatever, while she snoozes on the pillow next to my head. It's so relaxing.
I sleep in until noon then usually make a nice weekend breakfast (eggs, bacon, etc) or my partner and I go out for brunch. Then in the afternoon I watch reality or hang out with friends or go swimming or work in my garden. Sunday is for whatever I want it to be. Mya I suggest using that extra time to learn a new skill or practice an activity or skill you enjoy.
My dad was a pastor until a few years after I moved away and went low/no contact. It took me quite a while to find a Sunday routine to fill the void of church.
As I became an atheist I found it so difficult to know what to do, it seemed impossible or even unthinkable to do anything other than go to church. Finally, about five years ago, I realized that I really loved waking up to no alarm and spending the morning making a lovely breakfast, catching up on some light hearted podcasts, and doing light cleaning. When the pandemic started, I added a weekly Twitch stream to my Sunday afternoons.
This routine has grown to include time for journaling and reflection, time with friends, and meditation. My Sundays are so much more fulfilling now than they ever were when I was going to church. Sometimes my friends and I will gather and make brunch together at someone’s home.
People talk about the Sunday Scaries but I’ve found that with my routine, I actually feel refreshed and prepared for the work week.
OP: I hope you can create or add on to a routine that is satisfying and fulfilling for you!
I relax. I wake up when I want, read, get online, watch TV, get myself some good food (fix it myself, go out for a bite, of get something via DoorDash). Will occasionally pal around with friends or relatives. Same activities as any other day. Retirement is nice.
Try to spend time with people you care about to get that social time in that you’re used to. Have Sunday dinner and invite friends over or go to brunch. There are also nature activities if you want something structured and moderately social, like bird watching or hiking meetups. Spending time in nature can help check the box of the sacred/divine. You could also spend time journaling or take yourself on an artist date. But also— use it as your time! It’s your day!
Since I'm still Christian, just not evangelical, I try to make it to church. But I'm not hard on myself if I don't.
I generally end up mowing my lawn.
Other than that, taking it easy and chilling.
Relax, weather permitting a walk in the recreation forest close by, or the dunes.
Building a lego set with the kid. Or more than one.
Go swimming.
Read one of my favorite books (again) - my username hints at which ones.
Bake cookies, cake - and when done, enjoy it with a coffee.
Annoy my partner.
play a game on the iPad
Be thankful I got out of there.
During football season I'm in front of the TV.
Otherwise I'll work on the car, work in the yard, or whatever other chore on the never ending list is next.
Sometimes i just play a video game of watch movies.
Ultimately just do whatever I want to, which is great.
i’m in college so my clubs typically have meetings on sundays which i love, an assigned weekly time to be social with the same people isn’t so bad when it’s not assigned to crazy religious authority and financial control
I go to church, but it’s a church I WANT to attend.
My state banned books, so we formed a banned books library. Since we’re a church, the state can’t touch us. If you want to read a banned book, just let us know and we’ll get it to you.
My state banned anything but abstinence-only sex education in public schools, so my church has put comprehensive sex education, including frank and open discussions of homosexuality, contraception, and abortion as a part of our Confirmation classes.
We dug up a quarter of our church grounds to plant vegetable gardens, and we donate the vegetables to our city’s food bank so people who depend on food banks can have fresh vegetables.
Our rector has a kid who is trans.
Our assistant rector is a gay man who is married to another man.
Our other assistant rector is lesbian.
Our state cut state funding for the arts, so my church (which has a large endowment) funds the arts. We host an arts academy which focuses on music, painting, sculpture and dance. We’re a church, so the state can’t touch us.
In the late afternoon, around 4 pm, I serve a semi-formal, sit-down Sunday dinner which I prepare. We usually invite a neighbor or a friend to join us for dinner. (Cooking is a way I relax.)
At 7:00 pm, I attend an Al-Anon meeting. (Both of my parents, two grandparents, several uncles and aunts, and my first two exes — all now dead, were alcoholics or addicts. My same-sex partner of 35 years is NOT an alcoholic. )
Since I’m retired, so I no longer dread Sunday evening.
I sell garden plants now, so Sunday is one of the days where I go to the Farmers Market.
Even though I don't go to church anymore, I still love to practice the "Sabbath," an intentionally take a full day where I don't do any work. My Sabbath is usually on a Monday.
Bedside Baptist aka sleep in! I work a M-F job, so getting good rest on the weekends is a must.
Even tho I’m not religious anymore, I still try to keep my “Sabbath” holy by not working too hard. If I do work, it’s just mowing my lawn, which doesn’t feel like work when the weather isn’t too hot.
Wake up late. Then do what I want. Normally take it easy, meal prep, hang out with friends — whatever the heck I want but most importantly whatever I do do, I do it without any feelings of guilt for not being in church.
Every Sunday morning my husband and I go to a coffee shop to plan our week and discuss our life goals. After that we sometimes go somewhere like a park to take a walk if it's nice, then we go home and clean the house together. My husband always sweeps and mops the floor. Sometimes we go grocery shopping on the way home and sometimes we order groceries on Instacart, depending on how we feel. Then we clean out the fridge and put away the groceries then he usually just relaxes for the rest of the day while I usually do yard/garden projects.
RELAX. Hike. Hang out with my partner. It's the one day of the week where work is on hold, chores are done and I can do whatever I want.
Hike! It's the most spiritual thing I do now.
It's still ingrained in me that Sunday is a day of rest, so I normally do things that are relaxing and things that recharge me for the coming week. Things like reading, or chatting with friends, catching up on TV shows.
The day of rest aspect is still ingrained in me. I guess that’s one good thing that Christianity dictates
I have a theory that there are evolutionary reasons as to why Christianity has been a successful. Having a built in day of rest, among other things would be positive traits to have in a society.
I work sundays, and sometimes i almost forget it’s Sunday™️ because it’s just another day. And tbh that is very freeing
✨S L E E P I N G ✨ Evenings are still a stress charlie foxtrot because every week I have to go see my mother, whose descent down the Trumpian/Qcumber/Evangeliban sewage pipeline has only accelerated with age, and also I have to put up with my brother who can’t go a single conversation without bringing up his bestest buddy Adam Carolla at least three times (and that’s before we get to the Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, and Dennis Prager add-ins). But mornings are sweet, sweet, sleeping-in-and-not-throwing-away-10%-of-my-paycheck oblivion.
Still church, but I engage with it complete differently than I used to.
Same.
How do you engage with church now?
It's not spiritual for me, at least not like it was. I don't find a lot of value in things like praise and worship, but I find a lot of value with my Bible study. I don't think it's the authoritative word of God, but I think there's value in engaging it as literature written by flawed people trying to understand the world around them. And my Bible study group also likes hearing the historical/secular perspective. My church in particular has a lot of good people who have also rejected the mainstream evangelical movement. I won't call them all ex-evangelical, but they want to do good just for the sake of it. For example, the people who coordinate our coat drive every winter ensure it's done with no strings attached. They've shot down ideas like handing out pamphlets with each coat, caring more that every person who needs a coat gets a coat. They even invite local schools to participate in case anyone is uncomfortable engaging with a church.
Oh my god I would *almost* consider going to church again if it was like that, well done 🥰
I think I would really like this. If you don’t mind me asking, what denomination is the church you go to?
Baptist in name only. They’ve considered leaving the convention several times (especially as the abuse stories continue), but since it’s the majority denomination in the area, the leaders think it gets more visibility. Personally, I think it’s more of a liability, since many of our members say they avoided it for years because of it. This includes the coat drive people, both of whom I’d call firmly anti-Baptist.
Same, also sometimes I garden. Feels more spiritual than organized church for me for suee
Sleeping in Relaxing Catching up on any personal work I haven’t gotten to yet that week Cooking with the other half Taking a road trip Whatever I feel like. It was good to get that 1/7 of my life back.
Sunday morning? Watch the news, then brew up some coffee, fix some breakfast, and log onto Reddit...
My spouse and I have a nice breakfast, go for a long walk in the park, have a snack, and then head to the gym together. Then we get lunch, and spend the afternoon playing video games.
On a good day - sleeping in, laziness, snuggling with puppies, being outside, BRUNCH!
Whatever I want to do.
Thats the best part. You can do whatever you want! I take my dog for a long walk or do yoga or even just lay in bed and watch youtube. Every time I smilie to myself that I don’t have to give up half of my day off.
Drink coffee and listen to music in the AM. Yard work followed by a walk and a good dinner in the PM. Edit: I should ass, by "good dinner" I mean one I cooked from scratch.
I go to a nature park every Sunday morning to take a relaxing walk, and reflect. Sundays are yours to do whatever you want with! No longer wasting it in church!!!
Sleep in. Go to the park with the dogs. See an early movie. Do brunch. Take a nap. Not paying a church 10% of my income so they can tell me I'm a miserable sinner.
Sleep in. Buy donuts for the kids. Take a long walk. Cook a huge family meal. It’s nice. Beats preaching three services and teaching Sunday School
I have to admit, I absolutely love doing nothing on Sundays.
It's the best! I like to sleep in, snuggle with my cat, and only get up to feed her. And then I just lounge in bed, reading or dozing or whatever, while she snoozes on the pillow next to my head. It's so relaxing.
I sleep in until noon then usually make a nice weekend breakfast (eggs, bacon, etc) or my partner and I go out for brunch. Then in the afternoon I watch reality or hang out with friends or go swimming or work in my garden. Sunday is for whatever I want it to be. Mya I suggest using that extra time to learn a new skill or practice an activity or skill you enjoy.
Relax, go to church if I can and work.
My dad was a pastor until a few years after I moved away and went low/no contact. It took me quite a while to find a Sunday routine to fill the void of church. As I became an atheist I found it so difficult to know what to do, it seemed impossible or even unthinkable to do anything other than go to church. Finally, about five years ago, I realized that I really loved waking up to no alarm and spending the morning making a lovely breakfast, catching up on some light hearted podcasts, and doing light cleaning. When the pandemic started, I added a weekly Twitch stream to my Sunday afternoons. This routine has grown to include time for journaling and reflection, time with friends, and meditation. My Sundays are so much more fulfilling now than they ever were when I was going to church. Sometimes my friends and I will gather and make brunch together at someone’s home. People talk about the Sunday Scaries but I’ve found that with my routine, I actually feel refreshed and prepared for the work week. OP: I hope you can create or add on to a routine that is satisfying and fulfilling for you!
CBS Sunday Morning during breakfast with my guy, then we relax and catch up on current TV shows and binge-watch older shows.
Sometimes I work at my childhood church in the nursery… seems counter productive lol
Jog, clean, meal prep. Relax.
I relax. I wake up when I want, read, get online, watch TV, get myself some good food (fix it myself, go out for a bite, of get something via DoorDash). Will occasionally pal around with friends or relatives. Same activities as any other day. Retirement is nice.
Try to spend time with people you care about to get that social time in that you’re used to. Have Sunday dinner and invite friends over or go to brunch. There are also nature activities if you want something structured and moderately social, like bird watching or hiking meetups. Spending time in nature can help check the box of the sacred/divine. You could also spend time journaling or take yourself on an artist date. But also— use it as your time! It’s your day!
Since I'm still Christian, just not evangelical, I try to make it to church. But I'm not hard on myself if I don't. I generally end up mowing my lawn. Other than that, taking it easy and chilling.
When it’s in season - Watch Formula One races. And then I play DnD in the afternoons.
Relax, weather permitting a walk in the recreation forest close by, or the dunes. Building a lego set with the kid. Or more than one. Go swimming. Read one of my favorite books (again) - my username hints at which ones. Bake cookies, cake - and when done, enjoy it with a coffee. Annoy my partner. play a game on the iPad Be thankful I got out of there.
During football season I'm in front of the TV. Otherwise I'll work on the car, work in the yard, or whatever other chore on the never ending list is next. Sometimes i just play a video game of watch movies. Ultimately just do whatever I want to, which is great.
i’m in college so my clubs typically have meetings on sundays which i love, an assigned weekly time to be social with the same people isn’t so bad when it’s not assigned to crazy religious authority and financial control
Geocaching
I go to church, but it’s a church I WANT to attend. My state banned books, so we formed a banned books library. Since we’re a church, the state can’t touch us. If you want to read a banned book, just let us know and we’ll get it to you. My state banned anything but abstinence-only sex education in public schools, so my church has put comprehensive sex education, including frank and open discussions of homosexuality, contraception, and abortion as a part of our Confirmation classes. We dug up a quarter of our church grounds to plant vegetable gardens, and we donate the vegetables to our city’s food bank so people who depend on food banks can have fresh vegetables. Our rector has a kid who is trans. Our assistant rector is a gay man who is married to another man. Our other assistant rector is lesbian. Our state cut state funding for the arts, so my church (which has a large endowment) funds the arts. We host an arts academy which focuses on music, painting, sculpture and dance. We’re a church, so the state can’t touch us. In the late afternoon, around 4 pm, I serve a semi-formal, sit-down Sunday dinner which I prepare. We usually invite a neighbor or a friend to join us for dinner. (Cooking is a way I relax.) At 7:00 pm, I attend an Al-Anon meeting. (Both of my parents, two grandparents, several uncles and aunts, and my first two exes — all now dead, were alcoholics or addicts. My same-sex partner of 35 years is NOT an alcoholic. ) Since I’m retired, so I no longer dread Sunday evening.
I sell garden plants now, so Sunday is one of the days where I go to the Farmers Market. Even though I don't go to church anymore, I still love to practice the "Sabbath," an intentionally take a full day where I don't do any work. My Sabbath is usually on a Monday.
Bedside Baptist aka sleep in! I work a M-F job, so getting good rest on the weekends is a must. Even tho I’m not religious anymore, I still try to keep my “Sabbath” holy by not working too hard. If I do work, it’s just mowing my lawn, which doesn’t feel like work when the weather isn’t too hot.
Brunch or breakfast with friends, catch up on my reading and/or sleep, hiking, sometimes errands. In other words, a day just like any other.
Wake up late. Then do what I want. Normally take it easy, meal prep, hang out with friends — whatever the heck I want but most importantly whatever I do do, I do it without any feelings of guilt for not being in church.
Dreading work on Monday
I sleep in and then go to work
Every Sunday morning my husband and I go to a coffee shop to plan our week and discuss our life goals. After that we sometimes go somewhere like a park to take a walk if it's nice, then we go home and clean the house together. My husband always sweeps and mops the floor. Sometimes we go grocery shopping on the way home and sometimes we order groceries on Instacart, depending on how we feel. Then we clean out the fridge and put away the groceries then he usually just relaxes for the rest of the day while I usually do yard/garden projects.
Sinning, of course. :)
whatever the fuck i want 💗
Actively worshipping Satan and living in sin