In the direction of a church; toward the church.
From 'church' plus the suffix '-wards' (also '-ward,' meaning 'toward a direction'), following the pattern of 'homewards,' 'skywards,' and 'seawards' in English.
The '-ward' and '-wards' suffixes trace back to Old English and create direction words—'backward,' 'forward,' 'eastward'—and adding an 's' just makes them more common in modern British English!
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