Can future children go to CCD even with believers baptism in the Protestant Church

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whichwaytogo47

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I want to raise my kid Catholic and my wife wants to raise them Christian so they’re likely to get dual cathetical instruction. My wife asked me about CCD classes and even called me a liar because I said I wanted to raise my kids Catholic. As a result, we were able to get married Catholic because I’ll do everything in my power to raise them Catholic. I truly and genuinely wish to raise them Catholic.

She talked with a friend who was mistaken. Her friend brought up that because our child won’t be baptized that I’m not attempting to raise them Catholic, but doesn’t realize that it requires dual-consent of both parents and that as long as i want the child’s baptism, I fulfill my role as well as wanting them in CCD… My wife believes in believer’s baptism - i.e. when the child reaches a certain age (maybe 5, 6, 7, or 8), they will be baptized either in the Catholic Church or in the Protestant Church and because we’re adopting, they might already be baptized.

So my question is once the child is baptized, can they go to CCD classes? Can they go thru RCIC if they are over age 7, whether they’re seeking baptism in the Catholic Church or have already been baptized in the Evangelical Protestant Church and then continue to go to CCD classes once they complete Rite of Christian Initiation for Children? I’d be a proud sponsor of my child and I’d be proud to have this same friend be a sponsor if we have multiple children seeking RCIC at the same time.

Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut. We both want them to get cathecized in both the Christian church and the Catholic church, but am wondering what’s the process of them taking CCD classes. What about at the children’s mass when they take children ages K-3. Can they attend that even if they aren’t attending CCD?

Thanks so much for your help!
 
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whichwaytogo47 said:
I want to raise my kid Catholic and my wife wants to raise them Christian
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You mean she wants to raise them Protestant
whichwaytogo47 said:
As a result, we were able to get married Catholic because I’ll do everything in my power to raise them Catholic.
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Keep in mind this is a very serious obligation. It’s not enough to just try. “Oh well, I tried to raise them Catholic” doesn’t fly.
whichwaytogo47 said:
Can they go thru RCIC if they are over age 7
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CCD classes are generally for children up through Confirmation.
whichwaytogo47 said:
in both the Christian church and the Catholic church
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Here we go again. As if they are two separate churches. I’ll just err on the side that you are being innocently naive.

You have to raise your children Catholic. Exhausting your every effort to make sure they are raised in the only true Faith.
God bless.
 
Thing is, you and your wife believe opposite things.

Kids are so much smarter than we give them credit.

You want your kids to believe that two opposing things can both be true. You expect kids to believe that 2+2 = 4 because that is what dad believes AND that 2+2=22 because that is what mom believes. You know what the kids will do? Think you are both full of baloney.
 
Agreed. The OP mentioned his wife called him a “liar”. Basing it off of that, it seems very difficult there will be any serious concessions or ground made.
 
I have to agree with the others that there’s a lot to discuss between you and your wife even without discussing how to raise your children.

I’m curious as to what you do now in regards to your religious life. Do you and your wife atttend services together or do you go your separate ways on Sunday mornings? And if you do attend together, which church do you go to?

You said that you promised you would raise the children as Catholics when you were married. What did your wife say about that? She was supposed to be informed about this commitment you were making.

Have you spoken with your priest about any of this? Did he have any advice for you?
 
Thanks for all your replies. We had our Deacon really work with us thru the process and had about eight premarital classes. I informed my wife about my obligation to raise the kids Catholic. She’s not required to this same obligation as long as they’re her sincere beliefs. In other words, while she doesn’t have to consent to baptism, she must allow me to take the kids to mass and must consent to baptism when the kids are ready since she sincerely believes in believer’s baptism. That means, our kids will likely be baptized between 5-9 years of age.

She’s an awesome wife because in the last four years, including very early on in our dating life (at least week two), we have attended the 9am Catholic service and 11am Protestant service together. Since I serve at both churches, sometimes we attend the 12:30 PM mass and go to the 9am Protestant service.

I’m curious when the kids can go to CCD. They need to learn. They also pull out kids from the mass at our Church. I’m hoping that even if they’re unbaptized that they can attend this pull-out so they can learn with other children even if not officially enrolled in CCD. And I’ve heard that if they reached a certain age, they must go thru RCIC.
 
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whichwaytogo47 said:
She’s an awesome wife because in the last four years, including very early on in our dating life (at least week two), we have attended the 9am Catholic service and 11am Protestant service together.
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I absolutely wish you the best. It won’t be easy to make that work. My sister’s husband is Protestant. In the beginning, they attended both Sunday Mass and Sunday Protestant services. Their first child was baptized in the Catholic church. They’re second two children were baptized in the Presbyterian church. Along the way, it became too much for the children to spend all that time in both services on Sundays (too much for anyone, from my perspective 😉 ) and now they attend only the Presbyterian services.

As a matter of fact, the first child (the Catholic one) is 17 years old, didn’t even know he was Catholic until my mother happened to mention it to him when he was 14.

Like I said, it’s going to be a tough job, and I wish you the best.
 
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You need to talk to your PASTOR about this, not random strangers on the internet. This is because the spiritual formation of your children is something you will undertake under his direction.

This is a complicated question and needs pastoral guidance by your pastor who knows you and your wife and your situation.

Also, just FYI, it does NOT take consent of both parents to baptize a child in the Catholic Church. It takes one parent. (however, that doesn’t mean there aren’t serious considerations when it comes to one parent being opposed).
 
Normally children in religious education classes are already baptized. Children over seven or so are considered to have reached the age of reason and go through RCIA tho receive all of their sacraments of initiation. I’m a little skeptical that your wife will have opposed their Catholic baptism for the first seven years of their lives, then will magically change her mind and be happy having an eight year old Catholic child.
 
Thanks. Yes it will. But it’s an honor to go to both services as I am able to give the Sabbath to the Lord. As a parent, it’s important that they’re instructed in the Catholic faith.

I think my wife believes that as children, we will do our best to raise them Christian and make sure they get instructed as such. For her Protestant Church, it’s KidsQuset and in the Catholic Christianity its CCD.

Suscipe, I think you have a valid point. That’s something we’ll need to discuss as we go along. I think it’s about allowing the children to make their own choices on faith formation and for us to guide them.

I’d personally like them to either be cradle Catholics or Catholic converts. I’d like them to get instruction so they can get the Catholic perspectives on things as well as teachings on the sacraments.

The Catholic Church is the Church founded by Christ and St Peter. The sacraments make it easier for a person to choose a life of holiness and allow a Catholic to go to a priest that is in the person of Christ to get absolution.
 
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How can you “serve” at two churches? You are, I believe, a Catholic. It is not possible for you to serve at other churches, and especially not take a regular (what we would call liturgical) role in their worship services.
 
Exactly. Thankfully we had Vatican II. We had some people in our RCIA class that were very upset because Father had allegedly said that Protestants were not Christians (I was not at that mass so I didn’t witness this). I did see him attack Protestants in other ways, however and was disappointed since I respect their division. They’re imperfect and we all have a sin nature and thus I won’t hold against them that they followed people who didn’t stick with the Catholic church or the church that was founded by Jesus.
 
You are correct that I cannot take a liturgical or pastoral role in the Protestant Church. I am however involved in a Bible Study, am involved in teller and welcome team, and proudly serve as Lector in the Catholic Church. I am also proudly involved in a Catholic Bible Study as well. They’re both mens groups.
 
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I’m a catechist and I disagree, to a degree. CCD is also to help the children learn about their catholic faith. Yes it prepares them for the sacraments but is not solely for sacraments.

At my parish you only need be a registered parishioner to enroll your child in CCD and also the children’s liturgy on sundays. There are years where all of the children of an age are preparing for a sacrament, but as long as your child is baptized by age 7/8 when first communion happens, they can still participate with kids their own age.
 
Respect meaning human inclination to make mistakes. Not respect meaning to endorse or enable.
 
Gingersnaps4 said:
I’m a catechist and I disagree, to a degree. CCD is also to help the children learn about their catholic faith. Yes it prepares them for the sacraments but is not solely for sacraments.
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That’s why I want them to go to CCD, to get prepared for the sacraments and learn about their faith. My friend went to Catholic school but had to go thru RCIA to get the Eucharist, Reconciliation / Confession, and Confirmation as an adult as his parents were Presbeytrian. I don’t see anything wrong with that and I kinda wish I didn’t get confirmed at 16 but did thru RCIA because I would have treasured that a lot more. I was ready at 25 to be confirmed into the Church but not at 16. I do think there’s a benefit to accepting the Holy Spirit on your own, rather than simply going as a class and hoping that it will one day come. I fell away from the Church at 18 but was a revert and became pro-life at age 25. I became a revert because I began to see the love and beauty of the Church.

If it wasn’t for my wife, I’d be a luke-warm Catholic that took his faith for granted. I’d be a KOFC member but I wouldn’t truly live out my faith. Now that I’ve gotten saved, I don’t for a moment take it for granted as having an encounter with Jesus means I need to be constantly obedient and willing to go to Confession at any time that I am in danger of being separated from God. When you see the light of the Holy Spirit, you don’t ever want to give that up. I also don’t take the Eucharist for granted either because it’s the belief in the Eucharist and Reconciliation that is why I’m Catholic.
 
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Gingersnaps4 said:
At my parish you only need be a registered parishioner to enroll your child in CCD and also the children’s liturgy on sundays. There are years where all of the children of an age are preparing for a sacrament, but as long as your child is baptized by age 7/8 when first communion happens, they can still participate with kids their own age.
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Oh that would be beyond awesome. It would be so great if they could be part of the children’s liturgy on Sundays and be able to go to the CCD during the week. I might need to try to get a dispensation from the bishop as this is really important to me. I am hoping that the CCD teachers and pastors can do a great job of teaching them all about the Catholic faith and I can teach them that the Catholic church is the full church and help them read the Bible and my wife can teach them about the Christian church and read the Bible and we can come to a Christian agreement of goodwill towards others, a belief in God, following God everyday, sharing Christ with others and making disciples, and that our works reflect out love of God & neighbor. Though she doesn’t believe you’re saved by works, she does believe that the Holy Spirit makes you a new creation and thru your love of God, you will show fruits of your salvation. Though I don’t believe in faith alone, I do believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and that the Holy Spirit will lead you into obedience with Christ and part of that is your good works that are inspired by the Holy Spirit.

My wife is truly trying and is willing to respect my willingness to raise them Catholic, but she felt concerned that since she doesn’t want to raise them Catholic that the church would refuse to allow them to get into CCD and felt that I was thus not able to raise them Catholic, but I feel that if they’re 7 and become believers in Christ, this shouldn’t be a problem. We’re going to have a Christ-centered home and want them to have the desire for salvation - have that encounter with God. If you’re not born of the water & the spirit, you shall not have eternal life and inherit the Kingdom of God, John 3:5. I think there’s an element of self-determination for our youngsters as to how they practice their Christianity, but they will be exposed to the Catholic faith and raised in the Catholic faith. From what I’ve seen of my Protestant friends who were raised Catholic but exposed to both, they have a deep respect for the Church. That’s what I see in my wife too since as a child she was in Reform Protestant (i.e. Methodist) to Evangelical Protestant (i.e. non-denominational Church). For Catholics that left the Church who were not raised in both, I see a huge resentment and a total misunderstanding of the Catholic faith by these people. So I gladly have my Protestant people as friends. I’ve gladly shed friends that didn’t respect my Catholic faith including an ex-girlfriend just three weeks before I met my wife.

Oh, I am also a 4th degree Knight too.
 
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