Ever work with people who talk about church all the time?

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Does it get on your nerves? If so, how do you deal with it?? I'm no devil worshipper, and I see my self as being pretty tolerant of others, but I work with some people who seem kind of smug about their church attendance and often find a way to work that into many a conversation. Completely unrelated conversations.

Specializes in hospice.
I work with several very religious people and we all eat lunch together........ If the conversation goes on for a while, it ruins my lunch. As our boss is part of the group, there doesn't seem to be a lot I can do about it.

Quit eating lunch with them.

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
To echo another poster here, yes, I have worked with people who talk about church all the time.

I have also worked with people who talk about their dogs all the time, their mother-in-law, their grandchild, their kitchen renovation, their study abroad semester, their medical problems, their new diet...

After I saw "American Hustle" I SWORE I would never talk about my cats at work again.....

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No good deed goes unpunished. Someone starts a thread and then people reply and derail the topic with personal issues... Sound familiar?

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I work with annoying people of all different religions and I play the role of the annoying agnostic. It is a good balance

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Well, the main person I have in mind talks about her church. Not religious concepts. Kind of like it's a really cool country club that she belongs to. It doesn't offend me, but it annoys me just enough. IMHO, it comes off as a kind of snobbery in this case.

And, yes. I talk about sex a lot. No I don't. Well, maybe. Nevermind.

Some churches provide a social function as well as religious and that might be why the person is bringing it up if they aren't trying to convert people. haha. I'm religious too, but generally don't talk about it as I feel it is personal. Plus I'm not perfect and don't want to be accused of being a hypocrite if I were to talk about God and people would see I'm no saint! I'm just another struggling person in this world doing the best I can.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I am also "religious", meaning I attend Mass weekly (for the most part) and try to live out my faith by performing good works where I can. However, there is a place and a time for talking about my religion, and work ain't it. I know it's customary in the South to talk about church a lot, but it's not a good practice elsewhere as it can give rise to arguments. My parents raised me to not talk about politics, religion, or money in polite company; and while I will make the occasional remark on those topics here, it's not appropriate on the job or in any type of professional environment. JMHO.

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If these people are not proselytizing but only talking about the activities at their church I don't see how this is any different from people going on and on about their hobby or their gym or their kid's sports team or anything else. For a lot of people their social life revolves around their church and why shouldn't they feel free to talk about it? No one would ever consider telling someone that they cannot mention the high school marching band so how could it possibly be OK to tell people not to talk about their church's choir practice? It seems like there is a double standard when it comes to people being open about their activities if they are related to religion.

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I don't get the impression that OP feels inferior. Possibly like others treat her as if she were though. It's perfectly possible to be annoyed or feel excluded if someone or several "someones" looks down their nose at you (for whatever reason, religion or something entirely unrelated) or treats you condescendingly, without having any self-esteem issues. In this particular instance I believe that Mrs. Roosevelt's quote is irrelevant. In my opinion there's no need to psychoanalyze OP or any soul-searching required by her.

Yes, I felt this person was behaving in a smug way about church. And it's true that I feel fine about not belonging to one. She said that she knew someone we work with but not too well, because 'she doesn't go to church all the time". And my church this, my church that. I just thought she seemed a bit high on her horse about church. I wanted to ask if she felt like church was really working. And I couldn't get away like I normally would because I was trying to orient her to our facility.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas, which is known as a literal and figurative buckle of the Bible Belt region, so I do have coworkers who talk frequently about church. In addition, they invite other coworkers to visit their churches.

The church discussions and invitations have never bothered me all that much. The last time I was annoyed by this situation was 14 years ago, back when I was a clerk at a grocery store in southern California. The maintenance man was a reborn Christian who talked about his church up to 50 times per shift. However, most reasonable people realize there's definitely a limit on how many times some topics can be unearthed.

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Specializes in CVICU CCRN.
I am also "religious", meaning I attend Mass weekly (for the most part) and try to live out my faith by performing good works where I can. However, there is a place and a time for talking about my religion, and work ain't it. I know it's customary in the South to talk about church a lot, but it's not a good practice elsewhere as it can give rise to arguments. My parents raised me to not talk about politics, religion, or money in polite company; and while I will make the occasional remark on those topics here, it's not appropriate on the job or in any type of professional environment. JMHO.

I'm not religious at all, but I was raised the same way. We have so many brilliantly diverse opinions in my household that the "no religion or politics" rule has actually been extended to the dinner table! lol I don't mind a healthy debate in my household, but not when we are sitting down as a family and trying to catch up after going 70 different directions for weeks on end!! My partner knows the rule... And oddly enough he's the one who needs the most reminding. We are also Sicilian so there would be a heck of a lot of flying pasta around my place if these conversations occurred in the presence of food!

I actually hear a lot of folks talk about it at work, both in my previous profession and now that I'm in clinical. I try to be polite and respectful and when things start crossing In to uncomfortable territory for me, I find something to clean! :) I actually get seriously nervous when people start debating this stuff around me in a professional setting because I want to avoid that type of confrontation at all costs. Even an unintended offense can leave a majorly bad taste in someone's mouth and lead to a permanently damaged relationship.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses

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I am so sorry that your coworker has annoyed you. As a Christian, I have even been annoyed by other Christians. Please see below as I try and explain the motivation of the typical Christian.

2 Timothy 1:9 NIV

"He has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,"

So I am sure to get flamed for quoting scripture but please be kind. Maybe your co-worker is just happy and loves her church. I love my church too. Doesn't sound like she is trying to push Christ on you. I quoted the above scripture for understanding. I am not preaching to you. Please understand that as a Christian I am a sinner that is forgiven only by the penalty that Christ paid on the Cross. Although I strive to live like Him I will fail. Unbelievers will see me fail and think what a hypocrite at times. That causes me great pain. I want you to have the relationship that I have because it has changed my life, not because I am pushy.

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It is true that the 'I'm so great', 'I'm so smart' people get on my nerves. I try to be tolerant of all those around me. To appreciate whatever attributes they have. It just bothers me when that is returned with a condescending attitude. Sometimes I want to say "Just because I am courteous and not constantly bragging about xyz, doesn't mean that you are better than me." ...even if I went to church, I doubt that I would be constantly talking about it. I try to be in the moment.

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