What do you think about church?

I'm in the middle of writing a paper about church, and I'd like your opinion! Whether you've grown up in the church or never attended a service, let me know what thoughts or questions you have.

I'm focusing on the corporate aspect of church, and not necessarily on what it means to be a Christian and follow Christ.

Here are the questions I'm hoping to tackle:
1) What, biblically, constitutes 'corporate worship'? Is it a Sunday morning church service with 500
people, or a group of two or three people praying together, or everything in between?
2) What were the purposes for which the church in the New Testament (the early church) gathered? How do they set an example for us?
3) How/why does God uniquely manifest himself to a group of believers in a way that is different than he does for, say, my own times of prayer and Bible reading throughout the week?

So...what do you think? I'm just in the beginning stage of this paper so my thoughts aren't fully formed, but next week I'll share some of what I'm learning and thinking about. In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to have some discussion about our church experiences (good or bad) and what you think God's purposes are for his people to meet and worship together.

Loving being part of the community of God's people,
Kristyn