Thank you for your wisdom and insight Eagle Heart. A lot of what you said is how I feel...it's just hard to find where we are comfortable right now...maybe I just need to wait a bit longer for God's timing rather than my own.

3. To attend an old traditional church which is solid but solemn and not so friendly.

My church is old...1243 Norman Tower.
It is solid by those who attend pledging to keep it in good repair.
It is Church of Scotland and can be solemn in service
(Communion)
It welcomes all strangers and we are asked to make people at home..I do this with happiness.

Within the congregation I have deep friendships.People whom I can rely on.
I have been asked to take someone to hospital due to injury and I jump at this chance to serve.Others do the same all with quiet respect.
For me my Church is another room in my Farher's house.

It really depends on what each person needs.
And what is familar..
Mountain ash

its lovlie reading you ladies and what counts as church and knowing a bit more of your spirituale viewpoints etc. I hope ya find something of what you need countriegirl and by the sounds of it its helping

country, what a great question. If you had to list the number one reason you are searching for a new church would it be to make friends, or be spiritually fed? I don't mean to sound flip because I understand exactly where you are coming from.

I worked part time at our church home for three years and that was enough. Prior to accepting the job, my family and I were some of the biggest volunteers and were extrememly involved which was wonderful. However, working at a church was completely different. I learned more than I wanted to know and decided it wasn't for me.

I'll share something I have done that has been extremely helpful, and I hope it will help you. I got to the point where I coudn't attend another church meeting/class due to gossip so I went outside the church to find spiritual fulfillment. I began attending classes that are offered by a non-denominational group called The Well, www.wellforjourney.org. I absolutely love it because we discuss faith issues and not church politics or gossip. So now I go to our worship service and some of our special programs, and also have faithful women friends of all denominations.

I share this because you can worship one place and have wonderful friends from another place.

This is not to say that I don't love some of my church friends, because I do. We've been friends for 20-plus years. But it's nice to step away from the interworkings of the church every now and then to gain another faith perspective.

Something else I do that feeds me is my daily quiet time. I've been doing the Women of Faith Bible Studies for almost two years and just love them. I do them alone and work through them at my own pace at the kitchen table.

How is your search going? www.womenoffaith.com.

When I was in hospital in July I clearly felt that the ward became my church.That I carried my faith to where it was needed.I do have my regular imput of the Gospel and join with others in worship.If the building burned down (God forbid) then wherever we would gather would become my Church.
Mountain ash