I am not religious and have no desire to start being now but sometimes I just want the community people get with church. I am craving connection with the community and feel it’s very healthy for families and neighbors as well. The United States is seriously lacking in third spaces and communities. It’s leading to a serious loneliness epidemic… Just wondering if there is anything that can fill that need for non-religious folks?
Church is definitely easier to keep managed than the other options. I thought I finally found a hobby group of people I enjoyed hanging out with, but after a couple weeks everyone just stopped talking to each other. We even have a Discord group and the last message was sent in mid-December.
I’ve also struggled to find much for volunteer work that gets me connected to people I’d want to be around. Seems like the only people doing volunteer stuff are people 10+ years younger than me, usually young girls, which just makes me feel uncomfortable being the only guy in his 30s.