darken a church door
Enter for service
To darken a church door is to enter a church, almost always used in the negative: He hasn't darkened a church door in twenty years.
The phrase emphasizes absence from religious practice—someone who never darkens a church door stays away entirely.
The image is of casting a shadow across the threshold by entering.
- estrangedSeparated by emotional distance
- spiritual exileSeparation from sacred connection
- lost sheepAnimal separated from flock
- enterPass into a space
- prayAddress a deity
guilt · hesitation · worship · devout · longing · come to Jesus · congregate · reverence · skeptical · backslider · prodigal · awe · infrequent · kneel · confess · pious · repentance · born again
religious commitment
darken a church doorlapsed
Ended through neglect
unchurched · irreligious · fallen away · backslidden · secular
dark, darken, darkened, darkening, darkens, darker, darkest, darkness, church