On Personification of God and Politicizing the Faith

1. Does personifying God help or hurt our ability to better understand him/her/it/them? Or is it just the best we have in terms of metaphors?

2. I was raised Catholic, but in my experience "Church" often feels more like a political party than anything else. I want to know God, but I feel like I'm more likely to find Him on my own than in a so-called worshipping community. Am I missing something?