I am conscious that, whilst my intended audience was people who 'Don't do God' I am more often reaching people to whom that doesn't apply. My dilemma is shared by the churches themselves and the fact is that believers and non believers come to acts of worship from very different perspectives.

My non believing friends tend to come out of church saying 'they should have done this' or 'they should have done that'. They invariably complain that the service was too long. The problem is that they come to church with the expectation that the service is directed towards them and that they should be entertained.

It is hard to explain to them that our worship is directed towards God and that its objective is to bring us to an awareness of his presence and engage us in worshipping him.

The idea of engagement is critical. Liturgy, a word referring to how church services are shaped and put together comes from the Greek word 'Leiturga' which brings together the ideas of 'work' and the 'people'. It is not meant to be something done to us or for us but a coming together in collective worship; the work of the people.

'They' can get it wrong. They get it wrong when they fail to create an atmosphere of worship that engages us and draws us in but we share responsibility too. We are not in church to be entertained we are there to experience the presence of God. The attitude and approach we, as  a congregation, bring to worship is equally important.

There are different traditions and styles of worship and you may be predisposed to one rather than another but the key thing in each case is to bring and give something of yourself to the act of worship.

If it's a 'happy clappy' style sing along you may need to relax and enter into the spirit of the worship abandoning yourself in praise. You may not be comfortable with the raised hands and extravagant gestures of fellow worshippers but remember it is God, not them, your worship is addressed to, so don't copy others, bring something of yourself.

You may or may not find it easier to come to grips with a more formal style of worship. In all honesty it probably works best for those who engage regularly in the service and are familiar with its rhythm and content. Familiarity can be an excuse to only half engage or an opportunity to focus more fully finding new meaning and relevance each time you return to it.

Hardest perhaps to engage with are choral services that seem to be all about the choir. These are an opportunity for immersing yourself in the music and enjoying a time for reflection.

Lastly but not least are openly evangelical services that, in contradiction to most of what I've said above, are designed to reach out to the wavering or the unconvinced. Ironically these are the services many non believers are sceptical and most wary of.

So many ways to approach God. Fortunately he sees past these outward differences into our hearts and minds. The important thing in worship, as I've said, is to give something of ourselves.