I'm atheist, but really value the focus the rituals of the communal service of the Episcopal church to which I belong provide.

I'm sure if I attended a congregation where dogma reigned I might be very uncomfortable and the rituals might seem dogmatic to me. As it is, I find the shared rituals of the service provide a focal point and a shared experience that are reminders that while we are individuals, we also are dependent on community and exist within the context of community. Also, that the function of institutions, ultimately, is to sustain social community which is essential for the survival of our species. (I know, lots of tensions involved, some of which are very tricky to resolve or balance.) Maybe because I was not "raised in a church" I do not generally have strong emotional reactions against "religion" or particular spiritual beliefs.

I do find ritual useful in my life, and once I became familar with the communal rituals of the service at my particular church, I found them comforting and inspiring, although perhaps not in the same way Christian believers experience them.

Some rituals have shifted over the years in my particular congregation. More people stand than kneel during particular parts of the service, although most people still kneel at the communion rail and those who don't are generally people who find it difficult to do so.

I genuflect when I enter the pew and kneel with head bowed for a moment or two before settling myself in the pew. I kneel during the parts of the service that indicate one should stand or kneel, and, when my knees allow, which is most of the time, I kneel at the alter rail for communion. Yes, I take communion. The rules of the church say all those baptized may do so, I was baptized earlier in my life, so it is "legal" and it is a rite of great meaning to me, only not quite the meaning perhaps it has to others.

To me, the kneeling and the genuflecting, and the bowing when the cross proceeds up the aisle are not bowing before a god I don't happen to think exists, it is an honoring of and a recognition that there is a power greater than myself on which ultimately my sustenance depends. Community. Other human beings in organized association and mindful living. Nature. The universe.