Baptist and Nazarene vs. Catholic in Dating

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I started to date a Nazarene who used to be a Baptist. His faith seems strong and even has a degree in Religious Education. I have never dated outside the Catholic circle so I was leery about it and it’s all new to me.

I’d like to hear your thoughts… We get along very well but have not attended any church events together yet although faith has come up in conversations. He tells me sometimes that he feels we have a connection and that we need to get beyond the traditions and focus on the personal faith relationship.

It seems like the dating journey is getting serious… so I’d like to hear your thoughts. If it helps, I’m a single mom with an annulment and willing to grow my little kid in the Catholic faith. He is Ok with that.

Thank you.
 
Inter faith/different levels of same faith marriages i hear are very difficult. Hopefully some ppl with that experience can answer. I see their posts frequently.
 
I’m non-denominational, which is what a Nazarene really is (we went to a Church of the Nazarene for a while), and my wife is Catholic. We’ve been together for 18 years now, everything is fine. Her Dad wasn’t a big fan that I’m not Catholic, but I think he got over it.

Big thing is, if you both respect each other’s belief’s and go to each other’s services together, …it’s no big deal.
 
You will be asking kids to believe that mom and dad can believe opposite things and both be right.

Sacramental Confession is required for sins/Just tell God you are sorry and you are all good.

Baptism is salvific/Baptism is a symbol

The Eucharist is the Body Blood Soul and Divinity of Christ/Juice and Crackers are a symbol of the Last Supper

Holy Days of Obligation/Spending Sundays at the lake with God and Christmas at home

Artificial Contraception is a grave sin/ Good stewards decide which contraception method they will use before they even get married

Masturbation is a sin/Masturbation is a natural thing

Marriage is for life with one person/Marriage is until you fall out of love

Mary IS the Mother of God/Mary is NOT the Mother of God.

This list goes on and on. Then, there are the other stages…

“Why doesn’t daddy go to Communion”? Age 8

“If dad does not have to go to Mass/Confession, neither do I” Age 13
 
You focus on the common, and some (many) of the things brought up aren’t differences in EVERY mixed marriage.

By focusing on the common, kids don’t grow up thinking that mom and dad believe opposite things. For example, there’s 8 items in the list, wife and I agree on 6 of them.

Kids haven’t asked why I don’t go to communion (which actually is kinda surprising), and I’d never not go to church while my family goes, so they shouldn’t be asking why I don’t have to go while they do.
 
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My mother is Catholic and my father Protestant. I’m now married with 3 kids and we are a Catholic family although my husband is more of a “cultural catholic” who went through the rites and rituals because it’s just what you do.

My parents never really disagreed much about religion when I was growing up. They both respected each other’s views. I was not raised as a Catholic but rather as Protestant and I converted to Catholicism when I was 21. I think this issue really depends on if denomination and what comes with each denomination is more important to you than simply believing in God. I know many of you will say it’s not that simple, but for me it was. I always believed in God. I always had faith and I always attended church. Do I wish I’d been raised Catholic? Sometimes. But my husband is a cradle Catholic and he is nowhere near as devout as me. So ultimately those of us raised Catholic from birth may not end up taking it as seriously as another person. Good luck x
 
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Tresp said:
He tells me sometimes that he feels we have a connection and that we need to get beyond the traditions and focus on the personal faith relationship.
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You have to understand that is because he believes traditions to be false and unnecessary. Certainly he wants you to “get past them”.

He will want you to “get past” the mass, Eucharist, Rosary, Mary, Holy Days, liturgical seasons, sacraments, the Pope, and more. He sees all of these as false beliefs, traditions of man.

You don’t understand the language he is speaking. It is very specific to fundamentalist denominations.

If you are both serious in your faith, it is unlikely this relationship can grow into marriage. One of you will have to give up your core beliefs or continue to each practice your own faith separately. Which will completely combust when children come on the scene. The times I have seen mixed marriages “work” is when one or both are none practicing.
 
Thanks. We talked about going to services together in our respective churches, and the word “respect” has come up several times…
But I know what you’re saying, which sounds scary…
I wonder if any of the former contributors (@TC3033) could share their opinion on this?
Thanks again.
 
My opinion…, it’s a study of n=1.

I have never wanted my wife to “get passed” anything listed. We’ve always seen that we had way more in common in faith than we don’t. Our neighbors across the street are mixed as well and have been together over 30 years. No big deal. The only tradition that we needed to really “get passed” was that with her family Catholics only are to marry Catholics.

Do we have hurdles…sure. She knows I’m really uncomfortable at her church (for a myraid of passed events) and the Priest has made it known he may not be the fondest of NC’s, but there’s really no place else for her to go in town…so I suck it up and go when they do. Same thing with my neighbor.
 
Your kids are still little.

I will bet you a ham sandwich that you or she gets the questions within a couple of years.

Kids are smart.
 
Ya, I’m sure we will. I totally expect it, that’s why I said I was surprised it hasn’t happened yet. I figured #1 would have asked sometime last year around 1st communion, he still hasn’t brought it up yet. Like I said, kinda surprised.
 
That is when the answers get hard because you have to admit to your child that you believe one thing and mom believes the opposite thing. Both cannot be true.
 
We’re not worried about it. It’s not about wrong or right and opposites with us. We have too much else in common.
 
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Probably something along the lines of “Dad grew up worshiping a little different than Mom did, and that’s okay. Dad doesn’t quite believe the same as Mom when it come to communion and that’s why he’s not welcome to the table at Mom’s Catholic church”

I kinda thought about this on the drive in, and it’s POSSIBLE that my wife had this talk with the oldest already. I remember leaving hockey practice and myself and #1 were talking about one of his friends…and church…and something…and #1 mentioned that his friend wasn’t Catholic. I said, I’m not either. #1 just shrugged his shoulders and said, Ya…I know, and that was it…
 
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