I too picked do not attend because about every church I attended regularly being various Protestant denominations either folded, one switched to all Spanish services and I don't speak Spanish, or had a major blow up with bitter feelings to abound. Tried a few others for a while that for various reasons I did not attend permanently.
I am a bit jealous of those from smaller communities that stay intact for decades upon end. In the drive to build all these urban mega-churches we often forget that the local church should be a stable pillar of the community. The churches where my relatives live out in the boonies pretty much all seem to fit this category but are too distant.
So then when I moved to FL I thought this would be a good opportunity to seek a home church. After a while I found one that seemed like a good fit and attended there like 3 months or more. But in all that time the members didn't seem too willing to interact (most conversations were just polite hello, goodbyes). Then came the death nil. I heard members backbiting the pastor right outside the chapel doors and wanted no part of that! having seen too many needless blowups already. I don't think I've even visited a church since.
I intentionally have omitted the denominations as these are local issues. And this progression is over numerous years. At one I think I had perfect attendance for, off the top of my head, like 7 years and about 6 at another before I was 20.
I feel secure in my Salvation but have grown apathetic towards more formal congregations. I could say more but for the purposes of this thread perhaps it's best to say that I am disenfranchised with commercial Christianity and that besides perhaps many pastors and deacons I know too well among other things the damages from interpersonal conflicts within the local body.
I grew up in an age where many young people still believed Christian life was as portrayed in the Billy Graham films, that the Apostles were almost angelic living saint-like lives and that we could never measure up to but should strive towards. Who knew they were human?
I was crushed by the Jim Bakkers, the Jimmy Swaggarts, the Without Walls, and other major scandals of recent years. I'm still wondering why Paula White is still "ministering" on TV after this last divorce, but I guess that's what happens when the minister becomes more important than the message and there's no accountability or restoration process.
So it's little surprise to me that America is losing her moral footing because the foolishness of too many congregations, especially the excesses in some televised mega-churches, have driven the youth away from the Christian lifestyle, leaving a void for secular educators and media stars to fill with whatever messages they deem worthy of defacto indoctrination.
