churchward

American  

[church-werd] / ˈtʃɜrtʃ wərd /

adverb

1. Also churchwards. toward the church.

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adjective

1. directed toward the church.

   a churchward summons.

Etymology

Origin of churchward

First recorded in 1325–75, churchward is from the Middle English word chircheward. See church, -ward

Example Sentences

Congregations flock churchward in their Easter best, and the churches themselves are brave with flowers; the preachers for once preach joyful sermons, the singing soars with hallelujahs.

From Time Magazine Archive

Along its quiet length white people in bright clumps moved churchward, under the windy bells, walking now and then in the random and tentative sun.

From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner

In the midst of it, I saw the person who had passed me as I examined the envelope coming up the street churchward.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 58, August, 1862 by Various

She was taking her way churchward, but at no very quick pace; a fact not lost on one of her observers, who stood in the doorway looking after her with an air of puzzled amusement.

From House of Mirth by Wharton, Edith

The paths were decorously enlivened with family and neighborhood groups, bound churchward; and the rumble of the organ, playing the people into their pews, shook on the air.

From The Conquest of Canaan by Tarkington, Booth