As a non-churchgoer, I've been reprimanded by at least one fellow Christian for "forsaking the assembling of yourselves together." That's Paul's command. Jesus, on the other hand, said where two or three are gathered in His Name, He is there with them in Spirit. I like to discuss the Bible and spirituality (among other ideas) informally with my wife or a friend. I get far more out of casual conversation than big formal meetings; I dislike formality period. (I sometimes tell people I had a hard time showing up at my own wedding.)
I was raised in a conservative Lutheran church and went to a church school my first eight grades. By age 15 I felt saturated with boring religion and left the church. I still believed in the Creator. In high school I read Emily Dickinson's poetry and identified with her private spirituality, apart from the formal church, considering Nature itself as God's "temple". I still find her poetry to be deeply spiritual, comforting, inspiring, more contemporary than the Bible. I like her understanding of God as a familiar friend and "neighbor". I relate better to a woman spiritual writer than the all-male club of the Bible. I also tend to find women easier to confide in than men, generally, anyway.
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