Hi, Kristin--excellent post.

I think this sentiment (I’m pretty sure God’s greatest desire isn’t for us to be in a church building on Sunday mornings. His greatest desire is that we find ways to regularly commune with him, and with one another and his creation—that we can get a few steps closer to him, by bridging the chasm between heaven and earth. Often that happens in church communities, but not exclusively, by any means.) is a vital one.  

I never felt close to God in Church, but I came to understand that the Church as an official body was not okay with my giving in to that feeling.  I know many people who claim to feel wonderfully inspired at formal services, and who love going every Sunday.  I think that's great for them--but that is a very personal sentiment.  Not everyone is inspired by the same songs, the same responses, the same prayers.

I would never presume to know what God wants us to do (and my inability to see how anyone else could presume that was a big factor in my leaving the Church!).  But I do have a hard time believing that any being that is all good would care more about a ritual or a rule than about our response to it.  To have a healthy spiritual life, you just have to embrace feelings of gratefulness, joy, peace, and wonder--if you don't, it's spiritual neglect.  So if you get that from nature and not from one cookie-cutter idea of what worship should be like...well, it's not the Christian answer, but I think it's the right way.

Thanks for addressing this!
Genevieve