You could take bard up to around lvl 30. At that lvl you'll be joining more parties without noobs

. Then untill lvl 40 you can decide which of the 2 subs you want. If you decide to switch to cleric you should do that at 39/40. If not, well, you can just go on with bard.
Yeah, costs some gold and time but maybe it's an idea in your situation...
(or just start 2 of them, cause lvl 30 ain't hard to reach with a wizzie)