%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1608866159094846300
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
%%
[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wolverine_church.png]]]]
%%
A character is stressed or scared and is confused about what to do. Things have gotten rough, and their faith is close to breaking. Or they could just be lonely and seeking a place to feel at home, and there's nothing like God's house to help them there. They often sit in a pew by themselves, thinking, or even praying to {{God}} about their situation. Sometimes a pastor comes in to talk to them, or another character from the series does. The question of why the church is being left unlocked and seemingly unsupervised even in the sort of neighbourhood where this would attract thieves and vandals is usually left unaddressed.

It's a common thing in dramas and SoapOpera shows for someone to go pray alone in the hospital chapel for the deathly ill person to pull through.

SeekingSanctuary is a different trope in which the heroes of the story are being pursued by evil forces and they run into a church for protection.

TruthInTelevision, obviously, particularly in the case of the hospital chapel. After all, that's why they're ''there''. Also TruthInTelevision for small chapels in some rural areas.

----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Hinako's attempt at this [[{{Confessional}} is the event]] that kicks off ''Manga/BitterVirgin'''s plot (Daisuke thought he'd have some fun hearing her confession, and immediately canceled that when she asked if she was allowed to celebrate the birthday of the ChildByRape she'd had to give up for adoption). Daisuke's sister also sees Sanctuary towards the end of the story.
* In ''Anime/CodeGeass,'' CC does this in the final episode.
* Much of the world does this after news of the Tokyo blast in ''Anime/FutureWar198X''.
* [[TearJerker Played for tears]] in ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' -- [[spoiler:Wolfwood is shot]] and goes into the church, bleeding, begging forgiveness for his life by himself and begging to live only a awhile longer. [[spoiler:He doesn't.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''Comicbook/{{Preacher}}'': Cassidy does this, and no, it doesn't [[OurVampiresAreDifferent hurt him]], either.
* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'': The Franken-Castle arc has ComicBook/{{Morbius}} sits alone in [[MonsterTown Monster Metropolis']] church, seemingly to overthink what to do with the Bloodstone in his possession.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': ComicBook/{{Venom}}'s origin story: Eddie Brock, down-on-his-luck reporter, [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Venom_origin_in_church.jpg is contemplating suicide in a church]] while Spider-Man is trying to escape from the Symbiote. After he successfully drives it off, it bonds with Eddie, and Venom is born.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'': After [[spoiler:Shinji merged with Unit-01]], Asuka set up a shrine to ''[[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Khorne]]'' inside an abandoned building where she went to pray and worship [[WarGod Khorne]] every night when she was sad, lonely and upset due to [[spoiler:Shinji's absence]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film — Animated]]
* Played in the creepiest way in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'' with Frollo singing "Hellfire".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
* ''Film/CoolHandLuke'' does this at the end, with Luke sneaking into a church to talk to God. Mocked in ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'''s parody of the movie. "Lord, please, just give me a sign, any sign of what to do!" God sends a sign on the altar in front of him: "''GET LOST!''"
* In ''Film/EasyA'', Olive feels bitter when she enters a confessional and spills out all her insecurities, only to find out later that no one was in the other half of the cell. (Of course, the whole ''point'' of God is that no human can replace Him, so...) The 'solitude' part of the trope is especially important because the bullies victimizing her are mostly religious fundamentalists. Olive correctly anticipated [[{{Hypocrite}} they]] would not be in the church they claim to honor so much.
* Kevin on ''Film/HomeAlone1'' is lonely on Christmas night, so he goes to the church to hear the choir sing.
* In ''Film/InterviewWithTheVampire'', Louis visits the church on his old plantation. It's a rare case of self-inflicted LastSecondChance.
* In the very first scene of Creator/JohnWoo's ''Film/TheKiller1989'' when Sidney Fung meets Ah Jong at the church, he asks if he believes in God. Ah Jong replies in the negative but that he "enjoys the tranquility here," making it clear that the church is a place of peace for him. The church gets blown to hell during the course of the final shootout.
* Ronnie's father in ''Literature/TheLastSong'' often went to the church alone to play the piano, [[spoiler:contemplating his past life before cancer.]]
* ''Film/PhantasmIVOblivion'': The main character takes a rest in a funeral car in the light of candles alone in the desert and enemies do not attack him there. A funeral car is not a monastery but it is a part of a ritual sphere and may be considered a somewhat spiritual thing.
* The Queen Mother (Anne Parillaud) does this in the 1998 film version of ''Film/TheManInTheIronMask''.
* In ''Film/SchoolTies'', David Greene is a Jew attending a conservative preparatory school on a football scholarship, and one scene has him playing in a game on Rosh Hashanah; afterwards, he is caught in the campus chapel saying his prayers.
* Cole in ''Film/TheSixthSense'' is sitting in a church by himself when Bruce Willis goes to talk to him.
* In ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic'', Maria sits contemplating in the church, and the reverend mother comes and talks to her.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] broods in the sanctuary of St. Mary of the Angels a few times. At least once an archangel shows up to chat while he's there.
* Sarah Miles in ''Literature/TheEndOfTheAffair'' often seeks refuge in a church after the, well, end of her affair.
* Charles Smithson from ''Literature/TheFrenchLieutenantsWoman'' seeks solace in an empty church after [[spoiler: committing adultery with Sarah]].
* ''Literature/TheLostFleet'': Captain Geary spends a fair amount of on-page time in the equivalent of the ship's chapel praying to his ancestors and "the living stars" for guidance. [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane More often than not, he seems to receive it.]] The trope is played with a bit in that the worship spaces are intended for solitary use: To allow someone else to accompany you is a gesture of great significance, and usually only done by one's spouse or close relative.
* In ''[[Creator/IsaacAsimov Sodom's X - A Song For The End]]'', one of the characters, Parini, sneaks off to the church at night time.
* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', occasionally a character will visit the Moonstone or Moonpool to commune with the spirits of their ancestors when they are troubled.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In the television adaptation of ''Literature/BridesheadRevisited'', Charles visits the chapel at Brideshead to reminisce about his experiences with the Flytes.
* Happens several times in ''Series/CriminalMinds'':
** At the end of "Lucky", Morgan, who's been dealing with a crisis of faith, goes to church for the first time in years. Ironically, he's there because [[spoiler:his [[MostImportantPerson 'baby girl']] Garcia is mad at him and refused to spend the evening with him. As a result of that, she gets shot by her date. The team can't reach him to tell him because he's turned his phone off in church. Morgan {{lampshade|Hanging}}s it in the next episode asking Reid "What are the odds that the first time I pray in twenty years, she's on the table?"]]
** Prentiss subverts the trope in "Demonology" when she walks home instead of leaving with the team when [[SinisterMinister Silvano]] is finally captured. She ends up outside a church (which she hasn't been in since her [[spoiler: abortion at fifteen]]) and while she looks longingly at it, the last shot is of her deciding ''not'' to go in.
** Gideon ends up in a church at some point for himself (I'm blanking on when it is), but he also follows a young girl into one in "The Popular Kids". She confesses what's really been going on with the murders the BAU is investigating and she blames herself, though Gideon tries to help.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]] begins with Wilfred Mott doing this after having unsettling nightmares. The church he goes into just so happens to have the TARDIS depicted in one of its stained glass windows...
* Dr. Gregory ''Series/{{House}}'' occasionally goes to the chapel of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Never to ''pray'', of course; it's just a place where a) nearly everyone who comes in there is going to be quiet and self-absorbed and (the key part) ''not bother him'' and b) it's not a place that would logically come to the mind of anyone who actually knows him even slightly, so it's a good place to hide from Cuddy/Wilson/The Fellows.
* In episode 10x12 of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', Ziva David sits alone in a synagogue after [[spoiler: her father is killed]].
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Series/PeepShow'': Jeremy stumbled across Mark praying in the church on the latter's (much dreaded) wedding day. Mark unconvincingly insisted he was simply "kneeling".
* ''Series/TheWestWing:'' It features President Bartlett giving God himself a chewing out in the National Cathedral after the funeral of Mrs. Landingham.
-->You're a son of a bitch, you know that? She bought her first new car and you hit her with a drunk driver. What, was that supposed to be funny? "You can't conceive, nor can I, the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God," says Graham Greene. I don't know whose ass he was kissin' there, 'cause I think you're just vindictive.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* "[[OneWomanSong Eleanor Rigby]]" by Music/TheBeatles describes this.
* "California Dreaming" by The Mamas & The Papas:
-->Stopped into a church\\
I passed along the way.\\
Well, I got down on my knees\\
And I pretend to pray
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Videogames]]
* ''VideoGame/CallOfCthulhuDarkCornersOfTheEarth'': Jack spends some time more or less peacefully in the catacombs under the church.
* ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'': Characters can go to a hamlet abbey to meditate, pray or flagellate themselves, these activities reduce stress for them.
* ''VideoGame/TheLongDark'': In the first episode one can find an abandoned church and take shelter there, warm up, rest and make other necessary preparations for survival.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'': After a particularly hard fight with Nemesis Jill has to take shelter in an abandoned chapel to recover from wounds.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/WayfarersMoon'': Lily is rather surprised to see Iri joining her as she prays to one of their gods.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* During an ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' sketch, Dot goes in search of quiet, but is thwarted at every turn, even in a church.
* ''WesternAnimation/BlueEyeSamurai'' subverts the hell out of this. [[EvilColonialist Abijah Fowler]] has a chapel in [[GildedCage his palace in Japan]], through he admits that he didn't ask anyone for it, Japanese builders just assumed every rich white man needs one of those. He does sit in there and attempts a prayer, but it's far from how this trope goes. Instead, Fowler seems to try to ''bargain'' with God, offering to spread Christianity to Japan if he succeeds in his plans. If there is any doubt or fear in him in this moment, his arrogance does not let it show.
%%* ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' does this quite often.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Cartmanland" after Kyle gets a hemorrhoid, he goes to the synagogue to contemplate by himself. He yells at God and wonders how this could have happened to him.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** Spoofed in "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson":
--->'''Homer:''' ''*kneeling in a church*'' I've never reached to you before but my wife is in her hour of need. Your help could make all the difference in the world.\\
[''RevealShot shows that he's actually talking to a group of gangsters'']
** Some episodes have Ned Flanders praying alone in church when in a dilemma, such as "Hurricane Neddy" and "Homer and Ned's hail Mary Pass".
* Comicbook/{{Wolverine}} does this in ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'', [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wolverine_praying.jpg shown here]]. Rogue notices him from the back of the church and her eyes well up with tears.
[[/folder]]

----