11 yr. old Pentecostal friend is inviting my 11 yr old Catholic- Christian to his church

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Hello. One of my sons very good friends since kindergarten is Pentecostal. My son a Catholic. We have never attended their church and they have never attended mass with us. Recently their church created a youth group where the youth is in charge once a month of the whole service, and my sons friend plays the guitar in the band. Afterwards they have basketball tournaments for the youth. Well my sons friend and his mother , have been inviting my son for awhile now to attend with them because he wants him to play basketball with him at his church. She usually just sends me a text inviting my son and my response is usually just thank you. My son and myself , along with his dad do not feel comfortable letting our son go to their non demonination, Evangelical with Pentecostal roots church. Is it ok not to let him attend? And if so how do I keep her from continueing to invite my son? We just feel that it’s great they are friends and have been friends this long, but I feel they should keep their beliefs separate from their friendship. My son is in the church choir, attends our youth group and attends R. E. Classes and is also in CYO sports at our church. Am I wrong for feeling this way? I don’t want him to attend their church. Thank you .
 
Simply tell your son that Catholics are not permitted to attend other faiths’ church services except for some extraordinary case like a funeral. And tell the other kid’s mom the same. If it’s possible to just play basketball without evangelization or church services, fine. If not, then basketball is out too.
 
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I wouldn’t allow it in your position as it’s quite a vulnerable age to be in that kind of setting. Make no mistake, the purpose of such activity would be evangelistic on the part of the organizers, and Catholic distinctives are likely to be challenged. An 11yo is really not equipped to deal with things like that. Just my opinion.
 
I wouldn’t allow it unless you go with him, then explain afterwards how their service is different from ours, and why our faith is true. Then I’d be prepared to answer any questions he might have.

Speaking from experience, I went with a friend to his church when we were younger. He went to a baptist church, I believe. I ended up wanting to go to their church because they had a band, brought cake in for birthdays- that sort of thing. I wasn’t worried so much about if their faith was true or not. At that age, I wasn’t concerned about that. I just wanted something fun and different. That’s what a kid’s mind tends to focus on.

If you’re really concerned that letting him attend might harm his faith, don’t let him go. It’s what I would recommend. If anyone else finds out that he’s Catholic, he’ll probably become a target for evangelization.
 
Not wrong at all. Your instincts are sound. As a previous comment alluded to…yes to basketball no to their particular beliefs. You could just ask his mother what time the basketball begins and that is when you will show up. Just instruct your son to inform you if it goes beyond that. But if it does go beyond that who says you can’t use this opportunity to evangelize them. 😉
 
tgGodsway said:
Let the Spirit of God lead your son where He wants him to be within the body of Christ. The Pentecostals may reach him in ways the Catholics cannot.
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This is bad advice. Catholic parents have vowed to raise their children in the Catholic faith. Parents must protect their children from those who would lead them astray.
 
This is also a good opportunity to teach the Faith at home and enforce what he has been learning (hopefully) in RE about how Jesus founded the One True Church, Catholic Church.
 
tgGodsway said:
That is bad advice. May the Spirit of God lead them and NOT the reasoning of small thinking. The Pentecostals are Also part of the body of Christ and God uses them abundantly.
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What? It is a commandment of the church for parents to ensure their child is trained up in the Catholic Faith. This means protecting them against false ideas.
 
tgGodsway said:
Let the Spirit of God lead your son where He wants him to be within the body of Christ. The Pentecostals may reach him in ways the Catholics cannot.
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This is extremely inappropriate here. First of all, the parents have a duty under Church law to raise their children Catholic. If they let the kid go off to whatever other church while still a minor and under their parental control, they would be committing a sin in the eyes of the Church.
Second, your comment constitutes proselytizing on behalf of your faith, which is against the rules of this forum.
 
What a wonderful opportunity.
Go with him.
Listen carefully.
Then afterwards compare and contrast with the true church.

Handled right, the faith will be strengthened.
 
Of course it’s ok. Simply thank her for the invitation and indicate your son will not be able to attend church services but will happily join his friend for basketball afterward.
 
No to either basketball or church service.

Being a Catholic, your child will be targeted for “saving”.
 
So God cannot possibly be using the child’s PARENTS and their judgments. Right. Gotcha. Kind of disingenuous here, aren’t you? IOW, "Let the Holy Spirit lead, but only the way that tgGodsway thinks is the right direction, which is ‘away’ from the Catholic Church’.

You really don’t think it’s possible that the parents’ instincts are the result of the Holy Spirit leading them away from the error of indifferentism and/or a faith that is not so complete as the faith the child is being raised in???
 
If your child has an interest in a youth group who teaches the New Testament, … if they teach living holy for God, … if they teach the Trinitarian view of God… if they teach salvation comes only through Jesus Christ, then what is the problem? There are many youth groups out there on fire for God, and guess what … not all of them are Roman Catholic. If this kid finds no interest in his local Catholic youth group, why derail what God is doing in his life simply because his newly found group is not Roman Catholic? Why think so intolerantly of the Lord’s body?
 
tgGodsway said:
If your child has an interest in a youth group who teaches the New Testament, … if they teach living holy for God, … if they teach the Trinitarian view of God… if they teach salvation comes only through Jesus Christ, then what is the problem? There are many youth groups out there on fire for God, and guess what … not all of them are Roman Catholic. If this kid finds no interest in his local Catholic youth group, why derail what God is doing in his life simply because his newly found group is not Roman Catholic? Why think so intolerantly of the Lord’s body?
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Because among the truth they have are very deceptive lies. Oh, don’t want to go to confession? There’s no confession here. Need to skip church for a week? That’s fine, just read the Bible. And the list goes on and on.

These things are very appealing to youth because they cannot fully understand why Catholics practice them.

Even the Pope has acknowleged that we can glean truths from other faiths. However, subjecting children to the lies that other faiths perpetuate is a danger to their souls. They can understand what people believe without participating. Children are vulnerable.

I do think attending the basketball game is fine. I am not intolerant of hanging around those of different faiths. Children should be able to share the similarities of their faith with all of our Christian brothers and sisters. This, however, doesn’t mean putting them into a situation where they are likely to be prostelized. That is foolish parenting.

You are saying that a child may have “better” faith because they like the Pentecostal way of doing things “better”. Should they decide as an adult, fine, but as a child, the option is not theirs…and they have little defense against the preaching of cunning adults looking to “win” them from Catholicism.
 
Tis Bearself,

I have promoted no denomination over another. It is those who began this link who promote their denomination over others, treating those on the outside like lepers. It grieves the heart of God to see His body treating others in this way.

I agree that parents should make the decision about where THEIR child goes to Church and learn God’s word. If the Lord is leading this youth to a particular youth group, let the parents come along to oversee it. But do not hinder the direction of the Lord, if that is the case.
 
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I agree an 11 year old cannot discern. I also agree there are many abusive environments out there in EVERY denomination. Let the parents check it out. Let them meet the youth pastor… Let them hang out with them. It could be that the Lord is doing a good thing in the life of this 11 year old.

As to the fullness of truth comment. That is utter nonsense. God has many believers who walk in fullness of the truth, and not all of them are Roman Catholic. It is prideful to think in this way.
 
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