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Lepanto
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Do you belong to a “Catholic Parish” or a “Catholic Faith Community” ??
Do you belong to a "Catholic Parish" or a "Catholic Faith Community"?
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EasterJoy
Guest
The bulletin and the mission statement both say “parish”.
My impression was that, in spite of whatever usage the terms actually get, “parish” refers to a church whose “target audience” is defined by particular geographic boundaries, while “faith community” applies to a stable worship group that exists within one or more parish’s boundaries, but not as a part of any parish: like a college Newman center or the group of Catholics at a given nursing home, something like that. The problem is, I think it has grown to mean “a stable group of Catholics who drive somewhere other than their own parish, in order to be able to worship with people who share their sentiments on the faith” or “Catholics who worship together because they agree with each other, and to heck with what anyone else thinks.” I don’t think that’s fair, but it is how the term is taken.
The original term would refer to a multi-parish EF group, too, although most I know would rather die than use it!
My impression was that, in spite of whatever usage the terms actually get, “parish” refers to a church whose “target audience” is defined by particular geographic boundaries, while “faith community” applies to a stable worship group that exists within one or more parish’s boundaries, but not as a part of any parish: like a college Newman center or the group of Catholics at a given nursing home, something like that. The problem is, I think it has grown to mean “a stable group of Catholics who drive somewhere other than their own parish, in order to be able to worship with people who share their sentiments on the faith” or “Catholics who worship together because they agree with each other, and to heck with what anyone else thinks.” I don’t think that’s fair, but it is how the term is taken.
The original term would refer to a multi-parish EF group, too, although most I know would rather die than use it!
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Trishie
Guest
My parish is a Catholic Faith Community!
It is a vibrant Catholic community which is welcomingly human, and prayerfully spiritual. It supports the disadvantaged in our own parish, and also raises and sends money, resources, and people to help rebuild the infrastructure in a separate country which the United Nations termed ‘the poorest country in Asia’.
It is a vibrant Catholic community which is welcomingly human, and prayerfully spiritual. It supports the disadvantaged in our own parish, and also raises and sends money, resources, and people to help rebuild the infrastructure in a separate country which the United Nations termed ‘the poorest country in Asia’.
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EasterJoy
Guest
Well, one would hope so…My parish is a Catholic Faith Community!
The difference is along the lines of saying “married” rather than “in a committed relationship.” One would hope that a marriage is a “committed relationship,” but not all couples in “committed relationships” are married! The ones who say “committed relationship” when they are actually married kind of make a person scratch her head. (Like, “So, you’re married but you still date around? What?” or “So, you’re trying not to judge people who live together without marrying?” or “You’re married, but with a difference?”…
)The reasons people use when they choose one term instead of another in these cases are interesting, I think.
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MGLechner
Guest
My parish is St. Philip’s…but I am sure it is a Catholic Faith Community, too!
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LeroyCRHP
Guest
What is your definition between the two?
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Ghoti
Guest
“Faith communities” have more felt banners?
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EasterJoy
Guest
I think s/he means “what does it say on your bulletin?” That is, how does your parish/faith community choose to define itself? One, the other…or something else?
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Phemie
Guest
I belong to a Catholic Parish. Before I moved to this town I belonged to a small language-based Catholic Faith Community; our members were from close to 2 dozen different geographic parishes in a large (for Atlantic Canada) metropolitan area and its suburbs.
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LilyM
Guest
Nary a ‘faith community’ to be seen on a bulletin around these parts - and I hop between most of the parishes around here, so I ought to know!
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Lepanto
Guest
Correct! :clapping:
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ibkc
Guest
I belong to a parish. I know of only a couple of “Catholic Faith Communities” in this archdiocese. It’s a thing that hasn’t really caught on here.
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WhollyRoamin
Guest
There’s a screwball dissident parish in my backyard that calls itself a “Faith Community”. I refer to it as the Methodist Rite Catholic Church.
BTW: there are territorial parishes and personal parishes-- a territorial parish is your regular old neighborhood parish. A personal parish is defined outside of a territory, like the Korean parish or the TLM parish.
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Phemie
Guest
But those parishes are erected as parishes are they not? The CFC I belonged to was recognized by the Diocese as a Faith Community and assigned to a priest as his secondary duty. He provided the sacraments but we had no geographical boundaries, we weren’t canonically a parish and for the time I was there any sacrament that had to be recorded was recorded at the Parish down the street.
There’s a screwball dissident parish in my backyard that calls itself a “Faith Community”. I refer to it as the Methodist Rite Catholic Church.
BTW: there are territorial parishes and personal parishes-- a territorial parish is your regular old neighborhood parish. A personal parish is defined outside of a territory, like the Korean parish or the TLM parish.
If the priest wasn’t available to celebrate Mass we were the ones responsible for finding a replacement.
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tobinatorstark
Guest
I belong to a Catholic Parish
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