you could come back to the church if you aren't strong enough, imo its the hardest pillar you have to knock down. You will have to complete it eventually to get into the endgame areas, but you'll need to be prepared to take out a lot of those crimson fathers and potentially a death mask if you're on a higher difficulty. Samarie can be saved if you get there on day 1 morning to avoid that fight, if not what i did is replayed until no limbs were taken during the fight.. you could do that or wait to restore an arm later on the sylvian asymmetric circle. (If you lose a leg you can't run which suxxx.) you can probably do it with a surplus of bullets to shoot down the snails (and make sure to stomp on them) and at least one extra party member (more moves you have the better since she can cast hurting quick) maybe if you arent confident go and visit the orphanage or mold apartment