Catholics Converting to Non Denominational

[Hope1960]

As many of you know, I’ve been interested in learning more about a non denominational church nearby. From what I read so far during my research into these types of churches, they are the fastest growing Christian churches in the USA.
Also, I read that Catholic Churches are quickly losing members, who very often convert to non denominational churches.

Why? I read a list of reasons, but after my experience this past Saturday, after going to a non denominational church for the first time, comparing the service in a Catholic Church to the non denom church is sort of like comparing an 8 Track tape to a CD.

If people really are rapidly leaving the CC as much of what I read indicates, what’s going to happen to the Catholic Church? Will it’s members age, pass away and make the Church obsolete?

 

[Kaliaa]

Nope, the Catholic Church will continue until Jesus comes again as he promised us. It doesn’t matter one whit whether some people think it’s not to their “taste” or obsolete.

I am surprised that you would consider leaving the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus in the sacrament of the Eucharist for a church that cannot and never will be able to offer that to it’s members.

Please make sure that you looking at the substance of the church and not the trappings before you make a decision.

 

[Fauken]

To nitpick, there aren’t always three readings at the Mass! There’s always at least two though.

 

[Padres1969]

I presume the Catholic Church was the 8 track in your metaphor?

 

[Hope1960]

I presume the Catholic Church was the 8 track in your metaphor?

Yes.
…

 

[commenter]

The strength of non denominational churches is also their weakness. They are indeed free from some denominational “baggage”. They can look at the Bible right now, as it is, without having to consider the Catholic, Lutheran, or whatever, traditional context. They can plan their worship services from scratch, to fit the demands of the current culture.

That is also their weakness. The absence of Tradition means they lose out on a safeguard that helps protect us somewhat from being slaves of the current culture. Sure they have the bible, but the secular culture deeply shapes and biases us as to which verses to choose, which to ignore, and how the bible should be interpreted.

The Catholics and Lutherans and Methodists of 200 years ago had blind spots, but they were mostly different from the blind spots 2018 people tend to have. They also had some insights that 2018 people tend to lack. Non denominational churches don’t benefit from tradition really.

In the Catholic Church the Magisterium is there, and visible. We know who the imperfect individuals are, how it operates in relation to the bible and Tradition, the 3 leg stool in balance. With a non denom, the pastor doesn’t really have limitations. He may be relying heavily on this or that writer, who knows? There may be a link to a larger coalition of non-denoms. But then how is that different from a denomination? We don’t know what parameters that coalition is guided by.

In my area, non denoms are attracting people who used to go to Catholic and Protestant churches. There seems to be a cafeteria atmosphere: you want X, we’ll give you X (whether it be babysitting, weight loss class, something else - you name it, we’ll supply it).
But I’m not seeing any major call to conversion, or any active prolife ministry. Their pastors apparently never say anything that calls people to change much. (That requires some dogma, which they tend to de emphasize). Their job is to meet people’s perceived needs, not necessarily their actual needs.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

In my experience, it tends to be women, who are sweet-natured and Jesus-loving, but poorly catechized and low information.
They tend not to have close friends in their parish.
And they saw something that upset them (like my coworker who says that on her deathbed, her mother prayed to Mary more than Jesus.)
They also tend to be concerned about the direction society is headed.

 

[Sbee0]

Non denominational churches are like a Big Mac and fries. They give you a lot of enjoyment when you consume it but it’s empty of what’s good for you and cannot possibly sustain you like a nutritious meal and water can.

Seems that those kind of churches attract a congregation through a “cult of personality” (like a charismatic speaker, or infusing pop culture in their services, or a band playing popular music, or a compelling social media presence, etc) than anything related to faith and certainly not the real presence of Christ at Mass. They tend to focus on being “cool” and “hip” and not on morality and what faith tells us between right and wrong. That’s where the danger lies IMO.

 

[phil19034]

The Catholic Church will continue. The Catholics who join those Churches typically do not believe in the Real Presence to begin with. So what we Catholic need to do a better job of is helping people to believe in the Real Presence.

Non-denominationals are all the “rage” right now because it is trendy to be “spiritual but not religious” in America today.

The vast majority of non-denominational churches actually do subscribe to theology from a particular denomination. However, they simply are not part of the denomination’s convention/communion for one or more reasons.

When I was a kid, non-denominational simply meant a service that would not offend any Christian group. So some are still that way… they are simply watered down services in regards to dogmatic theology and focus strictly on Scripture. Or they are actually very baptist and/or Pentecostal in their theology (which is what most of them are).

I hate to say it, but to me… it’s really just a marketing ploy. By claiming to be non-denominational, they are practically saying, “Come join us, we are not your grandfather’s strict baptist church and we are not like the liberal mainline protestants either! We’re not Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, etc; we’re just Christians!”

I hope this is helpful

God bless

 

[RCIAGraduate]

To be fair, are not some non-denominationals pro-life and active in those ministries as well as others like aid to the poor?

 

[RCIAGraduate]

When I was a kid, non-denominational simply meant a service that would not offend any Christian group. So some are still that way… they are simply watered down services in regards to dogmatic theology and focus strictly on Scripture. Or they are actually very baptist and/or Pentecostal in their theology (which is what most of them are).

How would you respond to arguments that they are not necessarily looking for watered down theology but rather a theology with simplicity such as one focused with having the Scripture as the foundation perhaps with a major focus on the Gospels like the Beatitudes?

 

[commenter]

Yes, they are.

 

[RCIAGraduate]

Many if I may ask, or more would be nice (actually more would always be nice)?

 

[TC3033]

Non denominational churches are like a Big Mac and fries. They give you a lot of enjoyment when you consume it but it’s empty of what’s good for you and cannot possibly sustain you like a nutritious meal and water can.

than anything related to faith

They tend to focus on being “cool” and “hip” and not on morality and what faith tells us between right and wrong.

Eh, agree to disagree (and as someone who’s non-denominational I find that very uncharitable as well). My wife (who is Catholic) really likes my church and the ability to take something away from the sermon to think about for the week. We find that very “nutritious and sustaining”, maybe that’s just us.

 

[paperwight]

To nitpick, there aren’t always three readings at the Mass! There’s always at least two though.

And if I can point out another irksome thing - the word is ‘verses’ not ‘versus’.

 

[Camehome4john6]

Did the non-denominational thing a few times during my my little (well, 20 yr (Calvinist…I lol when our priest says people complain if his homilies go past 15 minutes as ours lasted 45 )) fling with protestantism. My experience was that the sermons were long but basic…kinda like being milk fed when you may be needing more meat, the music was an exciting performance but the lyrics lacked depth, and the “communion” was an irreverent afterthought. If you enjoy the praise and worship music maybe you could still go to mass for worship and then get your fix of the music through radio, concerts and, yes, CDs.

 

[Sbee0]

Sbee0:

Non denominational churches are like a Big Mac and fries. They give you a lot of enjoyment when you consume it but it’s empty of what’s good for you and cannot possibly sustain you like a nutritious meal and water can.

than anything related to faith

They tend to focus on being “cool” and “hip” and not on morality and what faith tells us between right and wrong.

Eh, agree to disagree (and as someone who’s non-denominational I find that very uncharitable as well). My wife (who is Catholic) really likes my church and the ability to take something away from the sermon to think about for the week. We find that very “nutritious and sustaining”, maybe that’s just us.

Didn’t mean to sound disrespectful or anything - it just appears that what brings people in (and someone I know who attends a church that bills themselves as “Without Walls” can attest) - seems to be very cult of personality driven as opposed to any matter of faith. That’s what I mean by something that’s enjoyable in the short term but can ultimately leave one still “hungry”…

 

[Gabika50]

No such thing as Christian generic or non-denominational. See where the pastor went to school, what Bible they use, and what they believe about communion- wine and bread or actual body and Blood of Christ. Many people (pastors and followers) of Protestant groups do this or say this out of survival. I saw this in the military and reminded the chaplains that you cannot to have no denomination and be a chaplain in the military. The closest one can get is the Evangelical Church of America which will endorse you if you “believe in Jesus and the Bible.” The europeans have done a better job with non-denominational making secualr humanists chaplains in their prison systems and the military.

 

[phil19034]

well… I was referring to watered down “dogmatic theology,” not “biblical theology.” They surely don’t have a watered down “biblical theology.”

Catholics take a more well rounded approach to theology. Yes, we do offer biblical theology, and can go into lots of depth at Bible studies, etc.

However, we also address dogmatic theology, moral theology, systematic theology, church history, etc. I think the biggest issue for these communities is the fact that they often divorce church history from Biblical Theology. How can one properly understand what the Bible means when you do not understand the historical context in which passages were written in?

 

[lanman87]

I attend a church that was started as a mission church by a Southern Baptist church, but technically we are non-denominational because we aren’t members of the local Baptist Association.

Our church sounds similar to the one you are describing. We have communion every Sunday morning, we have a band instead of an orchestra/choir, typically our teaching series and sermons are on Books of the Bible instead of a different topic every week. Currently we are going through the book of Mark.

There are several ex-Catholics who attend our church. Including one couple in my small group and I found out last week that one of the elders was raised Catholic.

From my studies I found that typically Catholics join Evangelical churches for several reasons.

1. They come to faith in Christ in an evangelical service. If you realize that you didn’t know Jesus, despite years of being religious, and come to know Jesus in an internalized and “heart” way in an evangelical church then most of those people will join the place they came to faith in Christ.
2. They long for the community found in many non-denom/evangelical churches. The main way to grow community in your typical evangelical church is in the small groups. Be it Sunday School, home groups, women’s Bible studies, youth groups, interest groups (Christian Bikers, Christian Outdoorsmen, Karate for Christ and so forth). From what I’ve read, this is a real strength of Evangelical churches over traditional Catholicism. Although I understand American Catholic churches are started to offer more of these opportunities.
3. They experience more Bible teaching in the Evangelical World. Sermons are either how the Bible relates to a relevant topic (Sex, Marriage, family, fear, holiness…) or an in depth study of a particular Book of the Bible. This is a standard part of evangelical worship/culture whereas, from my understanding, Catholics have to search outside of Sunday morning to hear any teaching beyond a short Homily.
4. The Evangelical church offers more opportunities to use talents/gifts both in the worship service and in church life in general. You can teach Sunday School, play music, work the computer slides during the service, teach children, work the lights and sound, be a greeter, be an usher, work on the security team and on and on. So if you are a really good drummer you may never get to use that gift in a Catholic (or traditional evangelical church) but you may be able to serve the Lord using your gift of drumming in the local non-denom evangelical church.

I’m sure there are many more reasons that people leave the Catholic church and join evangelical churches. However, those are four very common reasons.