Do You Ever Attend Non-Catholic Worship Services?

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ElToro

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Do any of you ever attend non-Catholic worship services? I do and I really enjoy it.

I attend the Mass 1-2 times during the week at my parish plus every Sunday. I also attend the Divine Liturgy at a local Eastern Catholic parish from time to time. On Sunday evenings I now also attend a “non-denominational” (Protestant) worship service. I really enjoy the singing, the fellowship and the communal prayer. I sure whish my parish had that level of music and fellowship. Obviously such services are no replacement for a valid Catholic sacrificial liturgy and it would be wrong even to compare the two.

I was obligued to attend one service a while back at this place because a friend was being presented with an award. I enjoyed myself. A few weeks later I attended again. I found myself looking forward to attending again one Sunday evening so I made an appointment with the head minister of this group.

I gently grilled him to see if the group in any way preached anything anti-Catholic. They don’t. I asked what he thought of me attending as a non-tithing, fully devout Catholic. He said he had no problem with it. I specifically asked that I not be evagelized and he said he would quietly put the word out. This group is clearly “Christian Lite” but I am curious if there is any problem with me attending? I asked my pastor and he looked shocked/pained but said there would be no problem so long as my Mass attendance did not suffer.
 
I’ve been to Anglican services with my mother on a few occasions. I went to one at Easter and honestly it drove me insane. It was so unstructured, during the sign of peace people were just wandering around the church freely, it took forever. We even watched a cartoon movie about Easter, it just seemed so inappropriate.

Honestly I would never go to a non-Catholic service on a regular basis, it doesn’t seem appropriate to me. Even if one doesn’t take Communion at these services, it still gives the wrong impression (ie. that one approves of the teachings/practices of this church) and could be almost scandalous. But that’s just me. 🤷
 
My son is a Methodist, and I have attended services with him at his church. It doesn’t hold a candle to Catholicism, but the people are very friendly and they do have a good music program. The Methodist church seems to have more fellowship and community spirit, but feels less holy, beautiful and deep. They do follow the liturgical year, and have some of the same readings, but they only have communion once a month, and it is grape juice and bread!
 
I do not. I did attend a Lutheran service to support my mother when she joined the church. She invited me and I felt it would be hurtful to refuse. The service itself was nice enough but it was empty.

I don’t say this to offend anyone, but after being introduced to the Mass any other service feels empty. The music, the fellowship, the prayer… it all feels like it’s missing something and that something is the real physical presence of our Lord. So it’s all good but it’s not enough for me.

🤷 I suppose if you don’t believe in the real presence a Mass would seem dull in comparison to other Christian worship services.
 
My wife and I will occasionally go to my father and stepmother’s baptist church when we visit them a couple times a year. Stepmother teaches an adult Sunday school there and when we attend we silently chuckle as she’ll make subtle anti-Catholic assertions to the group with the obvious intent of hoping we’ll absorb it and see the error of our ways. It’s done with love and good intentions…but also unfortunately with ignorance. :sad_yes:
 
I do! I enjoy a peaceful mass but I also enjoy a great praise and worship program from a non catholic church. I believe God is everywhere that people call to him and glorify him no matter how it is done.
 
I have a couple times, I’ve went to my best friend’s baptist church twice, and I’ve went to this non-denominational Church, but that’s it. 🤷
 
SteveGC said:
My wife and I will occasionally go to my father and stepmother’s baptist church when we visit them a couple times a year. Stepmother teaches an adult Sunday school there and when we attend we silently chuckle as she’ll make subtle anti-Catholic assertions to the group with the obvious intent of hoping we’ll absorb it and see the error of our ways. It’s done with love and good intentions…but also unfortunately with ignorance. :sad_yes:
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My mother does that all the time. She will insist she is not anti-Catholic if approached directly but she takes every opportunity she can to try and undermine Church teaching.
 
josephback said:
Not anymore. Why do such a thing:confused: The services I used to attend mix Truth and lies. Screw the comraderie feelings.
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Would you mind elaborating? What truth and lies? What was the affiliation of that particular church?
 
No, I do not.

While Catholics may attend non-Catholic services for just cause as a guest, maybe for a wedding or the like, I don’t think Catholics are supposed to attend just to attend.

I did a search and found some Q&A’s from Ask an Apologist that may interest you. It seemed at first that the answers were contradictory, but then I noticed that the common element to attend is if there is just cause, then Catholics may attend a non-Catholic service (as long as we meet our Mass obligation too). Otherwise, I take it that we should not do so. I’ll keep looking for further clarification.

Am I wrong to go to Church with my parents?
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=2548

What do I do with the crackers and wine?
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=108232

Is it a sin to worship in other Christian churches?
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=92880

Could Catholics attend Protestant services before Vatican II?
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=21249

Since Mass bores me, can I attend a Protestant service instead?
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=187438
 
One time I was at a United Service for/with a friend, and believe me, I can’t say all United services were like this…
but I specifically remember the lady pastor prayed

for the God who created the Moon, bless us… etc.
The God of the Earth, the God of the Water, the God of the Air…

creeped me out. Didn’t sound Franciscan either. It sounded pagan.

I went to a Lutheran wedding too, last year. It seemed strange not having the Blessed Sacrament in our presence. It just felt like an ordinary room. Nice grand piano though.

I missed the Blessed Sacrament, the Altar, the reverence.

Not to say that there aren’t lovely people there, and lovely music, and plush carpet, and comfortable seats and no hard kneelers…

Guess I’m a converted Catholic to the core…
 
Well, let’s see…

Having lived in SE Asia for many, many years I’ve been to more Theravada Buddhist services than I can remember. I’ve also been to dozens of TB weddings, funerals, house blessings, temple fairs, child blessings, alms-giving ceremonies, and temple cleanings.

My husband’s Malaysian with a number of Muslim relatives, friends, and colleagues, so I’ve been to four Muslim weddings - three in KL and one in Bangkok - as well as any number of Ramadan and Eid services.

I’ve attended any number of land and building blessings in Macau and Hong Kong conducted by Buddhist monks, Chinese geomancers, and Taoist priests. My office in Hong Kong was adorned the white and red blessing papers for months after it was opened and we could move in.

I’ve also been to a couple of Hindu worship services.

In this country…

I attended a Lutheran funeral of a colleague seven years ago. Her husband was the minister who presided over the service.

I’ve been to a couple of Jewish services, but the details are fuzzy as all this happened when I was an undergrad.

One of my grandmother’s sisters went rogue and married a Baptist. Aunt Zona used to take me to her church when I was a kid and as her minister to say a prayer over me, “even though she’s a Catholic.” I used to want to die with embarrassment when she’d do that.
 
People seem to be getting all twisted-up because I am equating these services to the Mass or Divine Liturgy. I’m not. I specifically said that in my original posting. They also don’t take the place of either one. I am obviously aware of that.

I look at it as an hour of reading the Bible, prayer and fellowship. It’s funny that someone mentioned the Charistmatic movement. That couldn’t be more misplaced. The services are fairly formal yet far different than a Mass. If a Catholic parish were to have a big Bible study, I suspect many would look similar to this service.

I wouldn’t do this if there was even the tiniest hint of anti-Catholicism. It’s Christian lite for sure but it certainly is pleasureable on a Sunday evening after dinner…
 
karow said:
Well, let’s see…

One of my grandmother’s sisters went rogue and married a Baptist. Aunt Zona used to take me to her church when I was a kid and as her minister to say a prayer over me, “even though she’s a Catholic.” I used to want to die with embarrassment when she’d do that.
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:rotfl:
That’s hilarious
 
ElToro said:
People seem to be getting all twisted-up because I am equating these services to the Mass or Divine Liturgy. I’m not. I specifically said that in my original posting. They also don’t take the place of either one. I am obviously aware of that.

I look at it as an hour of reading the Bible, prayer and fellowship. It’s funny that someone mentioned the Charistmatic movement. That couldn’t be more misplaced. The services are fairly formal yet far different than a Mass. If a Catholic parish were to have a big Bible study, I suspect many would look similar to this service.

I wouldn’t do this if there was even the tiniest hint of anti-Catholicism. It’s Christian lite for sure but it certainly is pleasureable on a Sunday evening after dinner…
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In the area where I live there is only one church that is not Anti-Catholic - and it teaches that homosexuality is A-Ok, God is a she and Jesus was not real. 🤷 So, for me at least, attending a non-Catholic Worship Service is akin to walking into a mine field. Certainly not a relaxing evening.

Have you read the responses to the Ask an Apologist threads? How do you feel about those?
 
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