Firstly thanks for writing this. What you are describing is not restricted to the US church though, as always, that country does seem to magnify things. I too have recently left my church after it was discovered just how much the ministry was taking and how little was going to more appropriate causes. Like you, and many commentators below, I now fond myself wandering in the wilderness a bit. My faith in Christ does not waver but a deep skepticism of all that is church has now set in.

I imagine that the original church was simply a group of believers getting together to share a meal and help each other and those that were in need. With a small group of people I am now looking at that route but it is too early to tell where it will go.