Yeah. The standard advice for a person looking to make friends now is, "have you tried Meetup?" And, speaking from experience, it's not the same.
The thing is, a Meetup doesn't ask very much of its members, which leads to loose ties: "I'll go until it stops being fun, or I get busy, or I get a better offer." People take their religion much more seriously than that.
And that, in turn, leads to a different social dynamic: when you expect everyone around you to still be there in 5 years, you treat them differently.
My more recent experiences with Meetup are that most events there seem to be just ways for their organizers to make money, and generally not a great way to meet people.
YMMV though; I had better experiences with it in the past in a different city.
The thing is, a Meetup doesn't ask very much of its members, which leads to loose ties: "I'll go until it stops being fun, or I get busy, or I get a better offer." People take their religion much more seriously than that.
And that, in turn, leads to a different social dynamic: when you expect everyone around you to still be there in 5 years, you treat them differently.