Shulgoer

[H]e was invited, on his first visit to my synagogue in St John's Wood, to choose between sitting in the wardens' box or occupying a prominent front row seat. As he is orthodox and a regular shulgoer, this was quite a quandary. He decided to sit in the wardens' box.

He knew that some of his congregants, especially the regular Shulgoers (Synagogue worshipers), would not buy their meat from the local non-Jewish butcher, and came instead to Stern.

Having greeters at the entrance of the worship space not only sends a message of welcome, but it allows newcomers to enter a little less nervously, take an appropriate seat, and ease into the worship experience itself. This is often an awkward moment, even for the veteran shulgoer; how much the more so for a new visitor, a non-Jew, or a recent Jew by choice.

If you're an occasional shul-goer and have not yet found a home, ask your friends, people you feel are on the same wavelength as you. Go shul hopping!

Although Jonathan states that "schools and shuls", which seem to always appear as a pair, are entities with which South African Jews identify, most of my interlocutors did not seem to be avid shul'''goers.