I'm generally socially anxious, so I'm not a fan of large parties, gatherings etc. I really don't enjoy crowds - so very busy supermarkets, packed festivals and concerts, the train at rush hour etc is a massive source of anxiety. I'm also anxious if I'm centre of attention - job interviews are the worst, my wedding day was a nightmare I endured for the sake of family, I could never do anything that required me to be on stage, do public speaking, presentations etc. Driving can be awful for me too if I'm going somewhere new, I need to plan the route well in advance.
I get awful physical symptoms, which vary depending on the severity of my anxiety at the time - tension headaches, sweating, flushing, shaking, stumbling over my words and having a shaky voice, feeling 'foggy' and unable to focus, mood swings that range from being overly giggly to being easily irritated and snappy, a constant feeling of needing to 'get away' which makes me unable to sit/stand still and I'm extremely fidgety, palpitations and hyperventilating, panic attacks.
However, meds have helped with making it all a little less extreme. And facing the fear and pushing myself to be out of my comfort zone. The more I do something, eventually the less anxious I become about it. I have a tendency to massively overthink things and imagine the worst case scenario all the time. If I do the thing I'm anxious about a few times, and realise the worst case scenario hasn't happened then I begin to relax a little.
However, some things will never change and I can't get past no matter how hard I try to push through it (crowds with loud noises for example)
As nolonger suggests, maybe start returning to church when its less busy. I imagine Sunday's are one of the busiest days to go?