“Dear Her Darling Life, I have a question, would it be rude for me to tell my friend to stop inviting me to her church? I never grew up in church nor were my parents religious so I have no attachments to any religion. My friend on the other hand loves to invite me to her church. I am getting tired of being asked the same thing over and over again, would it be rude for me to tell her no?”
Her Darling Life Answer
“Oh happy day, Oh happy day, when Jesus comes”, or maybe not for you but certainly for your friend who loves to invite you to church. We love our church-going friends not only do they pray for us but they are usually very kind-hearted. But O Lord, there is nothing wrong with church, and there is nothing wrong with attending church but when it’s not your thing why does your friend insist on extending the invitation?
It’s not like you are going to conform to Christianity and Darling you have every right to say “NO THANK YOU, I don’t want to go to your church or any church for that matter”. In case you are stuck we have some more solutions that you can try.
9 Things that you can do when your friend keeps inviting you to church
If your friend keeps inviting you to church and you do not want to go you can start by thanking her for the invite and politely decline the invitation you can say something like ” Thank you for the invite, but I won’t be able to attend, maybe we can do something at another time”.
Be honest
Ya, you know that slogan that has been around for years that says ‘ honesty is the best policy ” well it’s kind of true, not always but when it comes to friendships it’s true. So be brave and tell your friend “ I love you, but will you stop inviting me to church?” you don’t have to say it as blunt as I have but girl, be honest.
Express your appreciation
Unless your friend thinks you need spiritual deliverance because she thinks that you are possessed by the devil or that you need to change your ways her church invitation is coming out of the goodness of her heart. So instead of completely telling her “HELL NO”, you can start by saying “ Friend, this is why I love you, you always think of me and I appreciate it” and then hit her with the bad news.
Find other activities to bond over
I could come up with a list of at least 100 activities that you and your friend can do that don’t involve opening the bible or singing church hymns, activities that will make the both of you happy. So when you have the time you can type something like “ fun activities to do with your friend” and Google will give you a mountain of suggestions.
Remember the rules of friendship
I don’t know the type of person your friend is, but I hope she is not the stuck-up church-going judgemental type of friend. You know those friends that we feel that we have to hide our true selves and God forbid we mention dating, kissing, or drinking in front of them. Friendship is built on mutual respect and your friend should agree with your decision to not go to her church.
Let go of any guilt
The word “church” is attached to purity and innocence and for some reason, people who go to church are viewed by society as being good, humble, and noble people. Oh, no, but if you don’t go to your friend’s church what will people think of you? Darling they, including your friend, won’t think of anything and even if they do, let go of the guilt.
Look for the motive
Well, did something happen that made your friend think that you need divine intervention? Are you going through a tough time in your life and nothing has been working out in your favor? Or is your friend pushing you to attend her church because she holds a high title in the church administration and she wants to show off her unholy friend? Whatever the reason, look for a motive as to why she has invited you, maybe this is all innocent and her church has some charity event and she wants you to donate some money, well Darling go ahead and ask her why?
Set firm boundaries
If you have ever met church folk then you will know that they never give up, because some of them are encouraged by their church to invite friends, aarrgh, but why can’t they respect the fact that we don’t want to go to church? Anyway, if your friend continues to invite you even when you have told her “ No thanks”, then she is not respecting your boundaries, tell her “no” once, and if she asks again you can call her behavior to order.
Accept the invite
Sometimes we need to bite the bullet and do things that we wouldn’t normally do, I mean what harm could there be if you attend one church service? It’s not like the pastor will call you to the front and match you with a single church guy, but wait, they do that in some churches, but you get my point. Go and open yourself up to new experiences. Who knows the church choir might sing one song that takes you back to your childhood.
Say no
For the sake of peace say “No” and keep it moving, if you think it will be weird then immediately change the subject afterward.
How to reject a church invitation ( 16 Ways to respond to a church invitation)
If you are thinking of ways on how to respond to a church invitation here are the 16 best responses if you don’t want to go.
- “I would love to but I am busy”
- “ Thank you, but I have work to do”
- “ Oh, I am sorry friend, I have a prior engagement”
- “ Thanks for the ignite but you know how I feel about church”
- Thanks for thinking of me, but I am not comfortable going to your church”
- Oh, how sweet, but I am not religious and you know that”
- “ How about we find something to do that we will both enjoy”
- “ Thanks, my friend, but No, anything but church”
- “ Why are you inviting me, is there a church event”
- “ Thanks but I think we need to do something else, and please don’t raise this again”
- “ No, I don’t think I can make it”
- “ No, I would not like to go, but thank you for thinking of me”
- “ I don’t believe in Christianity”
- “ I have only gone to one church and I don’t want to go to any other church, I am sure you understand, right?”
- “ You know the church is not my thing”
- “ I would go, but now is not a good time, I will let you know when is a good time, but please don’t ask me repeatedly”
When all is said and done, Darling
Whether you go to your friend’s church or whether you spend the morning drinking champagne, eating pizza, and binge-watching desperate housewives the decision is yours and any decision that you make should in no way impact your friendship, if your friend is a great friend like you think she is, she will go to church and after church go to your apartment and join you in your binge-watching of depraved housewives.