Respecting yet criticizing the church..

After reading “Church Going” it is obvious that the speaker feels as if people, and perhaps himself included, have lost their faith and that churches have misplaced their original purpose for which they were built. I would actually go as far as to say that the speaker feels as if the church has become “useless.” This is evident is lines 17-18 which state “I sign the book, donate an Irish sixpence / Reflect the place was not worth stopping for.” The fact that the Irish sixpence has no value in England could very well be symbolic of how the speaker feels about the church; it too has lost its value. Also, the speaker points out in lines 50-51 that the only reason people even go to the church is for separation, marriage, birth, and death. They just come to be present at these rituals and not to actually connect with God. On the other hand, I am led to believe that the speaker does find some significance in the church simply because the poem states that he removed his hat and cycle clips which could be considered a sign of respect. Next, I am not entirely sure why the speaker goes to multiple churches however, in line 54 he says “It pleases me to stand in silence here.” Perhaps he visits to satisfy his curiosity of why the church still exists if it’s not doing its job? Or maybe the speaker wants to recapture his faith since line 60 explains “A hunger in himself to be more serious.” Nonetheless, he undoubtedly knows that the church was once of great importance since he claims “A serious house on serious earth it is.”