LEWISTON — For years, Sofe Silverman sought her church.

Although raised Baptist out West, she never felt a connection to the religion. She tried the Methodist, Pentecostal and Seventh-day Adventist churches. She tried being as traditional and fundamentally Christian as she knew how.

“It just didn’t ring true,” said Silverman, 62.

It turned out her church wasn’t a church at all. It was a synagogue.

“For once I was accepted and had a place to be and a community and I could worship and be Jewish,” said Silverman, struggling not to cry. “You can’t beat that.”

Silverman always felt a connection to God — a connection that saw her through abuse, homelessness and other dark times. It wasn’t faith that was missing from her life so much as a faithful community.

“For the longest time I cut out the middle man and went straight to God,” she said. “But I was still searching.”

A few years ago, following a divorce, Silverman moved to Maine. As she settled into the Lewiston area, she found the Temple Shalom Synagogue Center in Auburn and decided to check it out. She immediately felt at home.

Even though she was raised Christian, it turned out Judaism wasn’t such a leap for her. As an adult, she discovered her mother’s family was Jewish until World War II, when family members started hiding their history and religion.

Today Silverman is a member of Temple Shalom, happy she finally found what she spent most of her life looking for.

“The synagogue is my family,” she said.

ltice@sunjournal.com