Catholic parish and Protestant congregation differences

  • Thread starter Thread starter santaro75
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
40.png
Veritas41:
The major differences I notice are in the areas of adult faith formation:
  1. definitely more emphasis on adult teaching (both in the sermon and Sunday School and Wednesday night Bible study and other Bible studies offered)
  2. most of the people in the Protestant congregations I belonged to seemed to be more convinced in their faith and more knowledgeable about their faith
  3. In Protestant congregations it seemed the fellowship was more cohesive (I think because of adult education classes and they didn’t have a variety of different services to attend which make it harder to meet everyone in the congregation on a regular basis)
  4. Seemed to be less concern for the poor and social justice issues in the Protestant churches I attended, but there was a greater emphasis on evangelization and missionary work.
  5. Better singing *by far *(with the exception of a Bahamian Catholic parish I attended that was awesome in that regard)
  6. Better preaching with more theological content than what I’ve generally heard in Catholic parishes (with a couple of exceptions)
In Catholic parishes:
  1. *generally *more a worshipful atmosphere before Mass, quiet and prayerful (in Protestant churches more chatty and noisy)
  2. the awareness of the Presence of Christ in the Eucharist in the Tabernacle – awesome 🙂
  3. less judgmentalism towards others --more charitable, overall, towards sinners
  4. people seem to be more honest about their failings and sins than I found in Protestant congregations
  5. the liturgical calendar gives a rhythm and focus to spiritual life (I had always attended non-liturgical Protestant churches)
  6. more awareness of the *Body *of Christ, less emphasis on the individual
  7. more tentative about evangelization, which is inexplicable considering we as Catholics have more to be evangelical about!
Click to expand...
Yeah, i agree with most/all of your points.

The people running the show in the catholic church could do a lot better to make it more relevant and interesting. In relevant i mean, take the teachings and apply it to our lives. Not just sacraments, sacraments, samcraments.
 
40.png
santaro75:
In relevant i mean, take the teachings and apply it to our lives.
Click to expand...
Could you elaborate? Myself, I seem to have a zillion things I could be doing to incorporate more Jesus into my life, I just don’t do them. My problem is not a lack of info about how to apply stuff to my life. My problem is reluctance.

I could gather better info before voting.
I could monitor the example my words give to others more closely.
I could defer to others with more joy.
I could pray more in the morning.
Oh, man, I shouldn’t have started this list…:eek:
 
40.png
Tonks40:
No comparison, at least in my parish. We’ve got bible studies, prayer groups for all ages, volunteers to service the deaf, seniors, the needy, the medically uninsured. We’ve got CCD programs going on 5 days a week, babysitting for the morning Masses, a on-site Catholic MFT, music groups…currently we’ve just completed a Lenten scripture study in which over 500 parishioners signed up…lots, lots more than I can even list! So much so that we’re currently raising funds to build a whole new school, parish center and higher-capacity church!

The people at my parish were a lot more accepting and friendly than the people who I spoke with when attending the non-denominational church I was going to. They seemed over there to be more judgemental…I got a really mean look from one woman when I told her that I was born and raised Catholic.

We’ve got people at my parish who are definately on-fire with their faith - and it does get pretty infectious!
Click to expand...
OK in the past three years since i came back to the church i have been to 12 parishes in three states. And thsoe are the ones that seemed to have the best programming based on my diocesenan internet searches, and non of them had anything like what you just described. That is certainly not the norm.

They all felt about the same, and all pretty much had very weak or nothing for young adult formation.

sounds like yours is a good one to attend though.
 
Since i have gone to both, here’s what I experienced in my town

Catholic:

could not understand mass, what it was about.
children were always crying, hard to concentrate.
people almost forced to shake hands, during peace.
no bible study.
priest made up his own rules, i don’t think the CHRUCH had his rules. i.e. he would not let me baptise my son, because his father and i were not married by the CHURCH. his godparents also had to be married by the CHURCH. never understood why we had to be married by the CHURCH, we were not together. i explained that to him. when my sister baptised her daughter a couple of months ago, she said that they only had about an hours class and just told how the ceremony would go. she asked questions about infant baptism–never got an answer. (she’s not catholic, her husband is)

church is belong to now:

feel so welcome.
i know what the presence of god feels like.
i know that i have a personal relationship with god.
the worship music is awesome.
pastor is easy to understand. (the priest of the local church is hatian, no problem, but he can’t speak english or spanish clearly)
childcare is optional, if they want to go, they can, of not they don’t, if they do go, then they are taught about the bible. 👍
i can think of so many others but those are the main differences.

sonia
 
40.png
jesusfirst:
Since i have gone to both, here’s what I experienced in my town

Catholic:

could not understand mass, what it was about.
children were always crying, hard to concentrate.
people almost forced to shake hands, during peace.
no bible study.
priest made up his own rules, i don’t think the CHRUCH had his rules. i.e. he would not let me baptise my son, because his father and i were not married by the CHURCH. his godparents also had to be married by the CHURCH. never understood why we had to be married by the CHURCH, we were not together. i explained that to him. when my sister baptised her daughter a couple of months ago, she said that they only had about an hours class and just told how the ceremony would go. she asked questions about infant baptism–never got an answer. (she’s not catholic, her husband is)

church is belong to now:

feel so welcome.
i know what the presence of god feels like.
i know that i have a personal relationship with god.
the worship music is awesome.
pastor is easy to understand. (the priest of the local church is hatian, no problem, but he can’t speak english or spanish clearly)
childcare is optional, if they want to go, they can, of not they don’t, if they do go, then they are taught about the bible. 👍
i can think of so many others but those are the main differences.

sonia
Click to expand...
Just a note Sonia, in order to baptize children in the Catholic Church, the church has to have a reasonable expectation that the child will be raised Catholic.

Since you were not married in the Catholic Church, (and don’t mention any attempt to try get your marriage blessed by the Church?) there would seem to be some doubt as to your earnest desire to raise your children Catholic, if you are not willing or have not yet attempted to get your marriage blessed by the Church.

The person who is a Godparent, must also be a CAtholic in good standing. How can a person who does not get their marriage validated and blessed by the Church, (or even look into the reasons why this is important), be expected to step in and teach a child about the Catholic faith if they obviously don’t know it themselves?

As to your sister who is not Catholic but they baptized the infant anyway, her husband is Catholic. They were married in the Catholic Church? or have had their marriage blessed since? You don’t say.

I just thought you and others who may be reading this might like a better understanding of at least one of the whys.

It is clear with your lack of understanding of what Mass is, (Forced? to shake hands, a witness of declaring that Christ is risen!), and your marriage not being validated in the Catholic church that you truly did not have a real desire to learn about the teachings of the Catholic Church. Because of this, it would be impossible for the priest to baptize your child since there can be no realistic expectation of the Child being raised as a Catholic Christian.

In the CAtholic Church, this is a very serious promise that not only the parents make, but the parish as a whole make. That promise can’t be made unless at least one of the parents is willing to actually be a *practicing *Catholic. By not seeking out at least a blessing on your marriage, neither you or your husband has shown that there can be a “reasonable expectation” of the child being raised Catholic since it seems unimportant to you and your DH to even find out the reason why the Catholic Church would require people to have their marriages blessed or be married in the Catholic Church.

God bless,
Maria
 
In the week to week living arrangements I see very different approaches to Christian life.

Catholic parish:
Sacraments, Catechetics and Fellowship are the priority. The Mass is offered daily, confessions are heard daily. Most parishes here have a school and that costs an arm and a leg and leaves little else for programs. CCD exists but is used by mostly marginal Catholics. Not to say that all the parish school parents are perfect, plenty never see the parish on weekends. Fellowship is available through the Knights of Columbus or Ladies Guilds. Fish fries are well attended. Little education opportunities are available in comparison to the Protestant churches in the area.

Presbyterian(mainline) congregation:
Sermons, music, Bible study and fellowship. Weekely worship is the summit of their life. It focuses on the sermon not so much the reading of Scripture but his talk after it. Sacraments are celebrated sparingly; baptism bi-monthly or so during worship and they celebrate the Lord’s Supper only SIX times a year! Lots of organ music and real hymns by decent singers. No Eagle’s Wings, pianos or guitars here. Also no horrible responsorial Psalms and even more horrible cantors. Nursery is available during all church related activities from worship, to Bible Studies, to session(leadership) meetings and choir practice. It is nice to not have to pay a sitter to attend or volunteer at church. I see the point about kids at Mass but could one of the reasons we have become so entertainment focused is because little ones are not intended to be at Mass? My aunt said in the 1920s and 30s children did not go to weekly Mass until they started school. That’s why there are no cry rooms in older parish churches. Weekly coffee hours and other dinners throughout the year as well as women’s Circles etc. Bible study is offered most every day somewhere through the congregation either at a restaurant or the church.

I would like to say that as the spouse of a marginal Presbyterian who has not been to church in months it is hard to see what is possible at a church without a school. As a public elementary school grad and parent or a public school 8 year-old in CCD we are not so connected to the parish as I would like. We go to Mass every Sunday and CCD each Wednesday and play sports through the parish but we never get past the initial intros with people we meet at donut Sunday or spaghetii dinners. What few catechetical studies there are for adults are poorly attended.

We could be more involved at my wife’s church since most do not attend Catholic school. You would be surprised how many do though and it makes me wonder how great are these parochial school families that are Catholic M-F during the school day but Presbyterian on Sunday morning and Wednesday evenings for Logos. The Presbyterian congregation offers neat programs but they are not reall that well attended and hardly anyone worships weekly. It is very acceptable to miss worship for any reason.

Lastly, I have tried to be involved at her church to get her more interested and it does not work. It also frustrates me when they inevitably start misrepresnting US or the Church’s teachings. In 2004 they chased me away for a year with laughing about the St. Joseph and selling one’s house custom. Recently, Ron Rand a traveling minister made incorrect statements about us and salvation by “works”. I have no desire to go back. Ecumenism sounds nice but it is hard to realize.
 
40.png
MariaG:
Just a note Sonia, in order to baptize children in the Catholic Church, the church has to have a reasonable expectation that the child will be raised Catholic.

Since you were not married in the Catholic Church, (and don’t mention any attempt to try get your marriage blessed by the Church?) there would seem to be some doubt as to your earnest desire to raise your children Catholic, if you are not willing or have not yet attempted to get your marriage blessed by the Church.

i was born and raised in the catholic church, i made a mistake and got pg when i was 17. i was never married to my son’s father, but i still believed at the time everything the church stood for

The person who is a Godparent, must also be a CAtholic in good standing. How can a person who does not get their marriage validated and blessed by the Church, (or even look into the reasons why this is important), be expected to step in and teach a child about the Catholic faith if they obviously don’t know it themselves?

the godparents were both catholic and married, but not by the church- they were planning their wedding in mexico for the following year. this was about 10 years ago, and they have since gotten married in the catholic church.

As to your sister who is not Catholic but they baptized the infant anyway, her husband is Catholic. They were married in the Catholic Church? or have had their marriage blessed since? You don’t say.

nope, my sister was not married in the catholic church nor does she plan to, and she made it very clear to the priest that she does not plan to be married by the church and doesn’t believe in their teachings. she only baptised my neice so her husband would not be complaining to her.

I just thought you and others who may be reading this might like a better understanding of at least one of the whys.

It is clear with your lack of understanding of what Mass is, (Forced? to shake hands, a witness of declaring that Christ is risen!), and your marriage not being validated in the Catholic church that you truly did not have a real desire to learn about the teachings of the Catholic Church. Because of this, it would be impossible for the priest to baptize your child since there can be no realistic expectation of the Child being raised as a Catholic Christian.

again, this is why i left the catholic church, if you were to re-read my post, i said i was not with my son’s father. by forced? to shake hands, i mean when the parishoners did it, they did not smile at you or even look you in the face. i had every intention of raising my son in the catholic church, but i guess some people just jumped to conclusions just like you did.

In the CAtholic Church, this is a very serious promise that not only the parents make, but the parish as a whole make. That promise can’t be made unless at least one of the parents is willing to actually be a *practicing *Catholic. By not seeking out at least a blessing on your marriage, neither you or your husband has shown that there can be a “reasonable expectation” of the child being raised Catholic since it seems unimportant to you and your DH to even find out the reason why the Catholic Church would require people to have their marriages blessed or be married in the Catholic Church.

i knew this, i had always wanted to get married in the church, but it did not happen that way. i know why the church maked it a commandment to get married in the church, it just seemed that as a single mother, i was looked down upon, by the priest. i don’t hold any grudges against that. i am now very happy where i’m at.
God bless,
Maria
Click to expand...
god bless you,

sonia
 
In my experience.

Catholic -
More emphasis on the Eucharist.
Singing is serious.
More formal (uniforms etc)
Serious tone (people whisper)
Consistent structure
More ornate - Incense, candles, stained glass, statues.
Babies, children in pews.
Less fellowship - Could be because of sheer numbers and numerous masses, it’s hard to get to know people.
More Masses - Sat/Sunday can have multiple services. Weekdays have them daily.
Alchohol - Reception areas next to church serve.
1 hour is typical length of Mass.
Local charities in the forefront. Parishioners are involved.

Protestant-
More emotional - I’ve seen people cry with love for the Lord.
Singing is encouraged and expressive. (It is considered worship) .
More expressive - People lift their arms to the Lord.
Less Structure - You can’t predict what a service will be like.
Less Ornate - Decorations and art are minimal.
Child Care and Childrens’ church for babies and kids. Child care has sermon piped in (probably for the workers), children’s church is lead by children’s pastors who teach on their level.
More teaching - Sermons go into depth of scripture. More bible studies during the week.
Closer Fellowship - Generally everyone knows each other. Church picnics etc. are regular.
Friendlier - There is an emphasis on greeting and aknowleging newcomers.
Fewer Services - Generally there is one service where everyone attends.
No-Alcholol - Ever
Service can last 2-3 hours (including adult & childrens Sunday school)
Missionaries are supported, local charities are not corporately supported. Although I know people on benevolence committees that offer annonymous charity that the congregation is not aware of.
PowerPoint technology is used (projection screens) to display words to songs, hymns and sermon notes.

Music is subjective. I’ve seen great music in both churches. Catholic churches hide the sound system better. Contemporary instruments are more common in protestant churches.
 
40.png
ruzz:
In my experience.

Catholic -
More emphasis on the Eucharist.
Singing is serious.
More formal (uniforms etc)
Serious tone (people whisper)
Consistent structure
More ornate - Incense, candles, stained glass, statues.
Babies, children in pews.
Less fellowship - Could be because of sheer numbers and numerous masses, it’s hard to get to know people.
More Masses - Sat/Sunday can have multiple services. Weekdays have them daily.
Alchohol - Reception areas next to church serve.
1 hour is typical length of Mass.
Local charities in the forefront. Parishioners are involved.

Protestant-
More emotional - I’ve seen people cry with love for the Lord.
Singing is encouraged and expressive. (It is considered worship) .
More expressive - People lift their arms to the Lord.
Less Structure - You can’t predict what a service will be like.
Less Ornate - Decorations and art are minimal.
Child Care and Childrens’ church for babies and kids. Child care has sermon piped in (probably for the workers), children’s church is lead by children’s pastors who teach on their level.
More teaching - Sermons go into depth of scripture. More bible studies during the week.
Closer Fellowship - Generally everyone knows each other. Church picnics etc. are regular.
Friendlier - There is an emphasis on greeting and aknowleging newcomers.
Fewer Services - Generally there is one service where everyone attends.
No-Alcholol - Ever
Service can last 2-3 hours (including adult & childrens Sunday school)
Missionaries are supported, local charities are not corporately supported. Although I know people on benevolence committees that offer annonymous charity that the congregation is not aware of.
PowerPoint technology is used (projection screens) to display words to songs, hymns and sermon notes.

Music is subjective. I’ve seen great music in both churches. Catholic churches hide the sound system better. Contemporary instruments are more common in protestant churches.
Click to expand...
What a nice and charitable desciption of both.

Thanks.

God Bless,
Maria
 
40.png
sadie2723:
The biggest differences in the actual “service” experience that I see are as follows:

At Mass the entire service seems more reverant due to the real presence of Christ. This is evident in the kneeling. I never had to kneel as a Protestant.

→ I’m a protestant by practise, thought i really do not know how actually the US protestant practise, but in my country we do kneel in the presence of Christ. All this depend on individual whether they wanted it or not.

The other things that I notice. In most Protestant churches that I attended, communion was an after thought at best. Sometimes you did it, sometimes you did not. But, it was never explained and the teaching of John 6 was never evident.

Being Protestant was all about getting people to convert. There was a lot of pressure to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. In the Mass, this pressure does not exist that much. The Church lets the teaching of Christ move you to do what we are all called to do…accept Jesus.

→ Being protestant our five goals we ought to pursue. That are workshipping, discipleship, fellowshipping , evangelism, ministry.
My church does not pressure people to accept christianity, this is not what god wanted us to be.

Finally…there was no tradition in the Protestant churches that I attended. If there was, we never understood it. It was all about the “selected” verses that the minister wanted to talk about. There was no effort made to look at the Bible as a whole or to understand it as a complete work. Sure, there was Bible study, but it was led by lay people…not ministers and certainly not those who were schollars except unto themselves. Thus, you got their interpretation of scripture, and that interpretation was backed up only by their somewhat limited understanding of that scripture. It was not until I became Catholic that I had any real understanding of the scriptures.
Click to expand...
→ You will be surprise that there are churches in my country that their sunday service are actually bible study, where pastor preach and explained every verse without skipping it!!! And of course just like catholic, we have our bible teaching (which we need to attend for a year to understand bible scriptures) as well. We do not soley just listen to our paster preaching, after service we reference back to our bible and mediate those sermon and seek god direction. And during service we drop note or record all sermon. Well i’m very happy that American are staunch catholic people, probably u folks should come over to my place and minister the catholic community, i was surprise when i ask about a particular verse on the bible to my catholic frez, they don’t know how to explain to me. Well if i guess if they understand and remember bible scripture and what they have learned through Mass, then i guess they should able to educate me. I have catholic frez who does not restrict himself to visit protestant church and i find they are more wiser and spiritual stronger then those who oppose themselves only to catholic church.
 
happygal said:
-> You will be surprise that there are churches in my country that their sunday service are actually bible study, where pastor preach and explained every verse without skipping it!!! And of course just like catholic, we have our bible teaching (which we need to attend for a year to understand bible scriptures) as well. We do not soley just listen to our paster preaching, after service we reference back to our bible and mediate those sermon and seek god direction. And during service we drop note or record all sermon. Well i’m very happy that American are staunch catholic people, probably u folks should come over to my place and minister the catholic community, i was surprise when i ask about a particular verse on the bible to my catholic frez, they don’t know how to explain to me. Well if i guess if they understand and remember bible scripture and what they have learned through Mass, then i guess they should able to educate me. I have catholic frez who does not restrict himself to visit protestant church and i find they are more wiser and spiritual stronger then those who oppose themselves only to catholic church.
Click to expand...

Problem with your assumption is that most Catholics do not go with the intent to learn exactly where things are in the Bible. The go to learn the moral story of whatever scripture is read. Most lay Catholic Christians see their most important witness as helping those in need. Not understanding that if they memorize things, that maybe sometime while helping someone, God can bring to mind particular scripture verses.

While most Protestants tend to see what a very powerful sword the word of God is and more diligently memorize and learn particular scriptures in order to witness better. In my experience, they do not see as much value in spreading the word of God through Actions like St. Francis who said “Preach the Gospel always, when neccessary use words” They tend to think that unless Scripture is quoted, they have not been a good witness to Christ, or have in some way failed Christ by not preaching His word.

Different focus. Both Godly. But different.

God Bless,
Maria
 
40.png
slyboots:
Protestants sing in church like they love singing!!! 👍
Wish Catholics would. :confused:
Click to expand...
Hee Hee! As someone very experienced with both services, I will say that the Catholic songs are sung a little too high for me. If they would just bring the scale down an octave, more Catholics could reach the notes without screeching. (Example, the intro to “On Eagle’s wings” is one of the rarely-reached songs that prompt many of us to wait for the main chorus!)
 
40.png
neweyes:
Hee Hee! As someone very experienced with both services, I will say that the Catholic songs are sung a little too high for me. If they would just bring the scale down an octave, more Catholics could reach the notes without screeching
Click to expand...
Protestants fix this problem by printing a hymnal with 4 part harmony in it. However, this isn’t a solution for Catholics, since they aren’t trained from birth to read and sing the harmony parts.😃 It’d work for me though, I’m a convert. I love singing harmony. I dig all those latin songs (which all come with nice 4 part harmony).
 
The biggest difference is that the Mass is a celebration of the Eucharist and the protestant service is a Worship Service.

In the Catholic Mass, the gifts are transformed right before our eyes, Jesus is physically present and receive the body of Christ.

In the Protestant Service, a lesson is taught by the Pastor and worship songs are sung.
 
One thing I’ve noticed is that Protestants think nothing of changing not only congregations, but also changing denominations. Transferring membership from, say, Presbyterian to Church of Christ is no big deal to them, and such changes are a regular occurrance according to my Protestant friends. If they tire of where they have bee going, they also “church shop” by attending a different church for a few sundays until they find one that suits them.

I can’t imagine a Catholic just transferring to an Orthodox church if they were in the mood, didn’t like the priest or some such reason…
 
At the Catholic Parishes I attended no one ever talked to me at all.(except for “Peace be with you”.) I was never invited to sit with anyone, never invited to a Bible study or class of any sort. No one ever called me on the phone after being there. No one even learned my Name. I attended 3 different parishes. One of them every Sunday for 4 years! The second one I attended for about a year and a half, we switched to there because it was the university parish and we felt we’d rather be with our own age group. Once at that Parish someone asked my name, and they seemed more relaxed in general. My then fieance talked me into leaving there because he wanted “High Church” he called it so we drove across town for several months. That one was less friendly than the first one. It was kept very dark in there, even the singing was quiet, people didn’t even greet one another in the parking lot. I couldn’t handle that. So we went to the last parish I attended where the Priest was… well to avoid a novel on the subject he wasn’t pleasent and now (for crimes unrelated to my hurt feelings) is in jail. My ex-Fieance used to point out that the total lack of interaction at the Catholic Parishes at least guaranteed that there wasn’t any gossip happening. LOL

I have been to many Protestant churches, some more friendly than others, but at every single one of them someone introduced themselves to me, most at least welcomed me to the church and offered me information about their church, some gave gifts for visiting. Several called me after to see if I had any questions. People try to get to know one another and encourage and pray of each other. There are Bible Studies and Sunday School and other activities. Most of them considered the training of the children to be highly important and had constant classes and Bible clubs and scripture memory contests, Vacation Bible Schools and other activities to ensure the kids learn about God at every oppurtunity.

I attened both a Catholic parish and a non-denominational church every sunday all those years and of all the differences, the friendliness was the number one thing that stands out. There was another family that attened the same two churches I did. First Mass then the non-denominational church. Every Sunday we would all arrive at mass first. We would see one another (the first time I waved in the parking lot but recieved no response) but not even smile and nod at one another. A little over an hour later, the same four of us would arrive at the other church and they’d run over to us and give us big hugs and say how great it was to see us! That example sums up my view of the difference between the two.
 
I agree with Maria. It’s a whole different feel with the children there. My parents drug me to Mass all my life and even as a small child, I remember thinking “if I yell, scream, or wiggle, I can get out of going to church.” No luck. My parents would take me out when I got rowdy, give me a lecture on the importance of good behavior and bring me back. When I discovered I couldn’t get my way, I stopped being a pain. While we were out I also got a lecture on the importance of good behavior in God’s house. “You don’t throw a fit at Grandpa’s house, you don’t throw a fit in God’s house.” Even as a three-year-old, I understood that. I had more fun when I stayed with my Southern Baptist cousins and we got to go to the nursery and skip church, but it was not the same spiritually and even at that age, I missed it. I didn’t particularly like church or want to go, mind you, but I felt different (better) when I did. Those early experiences, however painful, stayed with me. Children, however good, are also self-centered. The universe really does revolve around them. It did me good to discover that for 45 minutes once a week, it didn’t. It revolved around God. That was one reason I pitched a fit. I didn’t like something being bigger than me. It made me angry that my whims and wants were secondary during that 45 minutes to an hour, it impressed me that there was something bigger than me that my parents gave attention to. The other thing I learned was that Mass wasn’t about getting, it was about giving.
 
The biggest difference I have experienced is that when I was Southern Baptist, the church service was all about fellowship and talking about Jesus. With the Catholic Mass it is all about Jesus. For that hour we are in the true presence of Jesus. Giving him praise with all of our brothers and sisters who have already gone before us. For that hour we are in fellowship with all who are in Heaven. It does not get any better then that. I praise God that by his grace alone, he led back to the Catholic Church.

God Bless!
Stephen
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top