Do You Ever Attend Non-Catholic Worship Services?

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SteveGC said:
They look for it because the Christian life is about beauty in all things, not just the Eucharist, which is clearly the most beautiful and majestic thing on this earth. Most of life is lived outside of our direct consumption of the Eucharist, even though the spiritual affects of that consumption are meant to be lifelong and ever present in us.
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True. Some seem to think I attend those worship services in place of the Mass. I don’t and I never would. That is a falsely constructed situation. However I have never been to a Catholic parish with truly excellent singing/music. Some with preaching and fellowship. A tiny Eastern Catholic parish I attend does do a nice job with their coffee socials. That is the one exception. And I DO appreciate these things and I sincerely believe that Jesus is pleased that I have found them and that I am nourished by them.
SteveGC said:
What I mean is…we are naturally and wonderfully drawn to fellowship with one another…to celebrate with one another…to sing and rejoice, laugh and cry, and feast together as fellow Christians in communal life. And Catholics in our day and age just don’t do this very well anymore. Most non-Catholics do. Most Catholics don’t commune after Mass. Some do, most don’t. Most also don’t get involved in their own parish in general. We have 1500 people at my parish. We have upwards of 80 ministries, all run by about 10% of the parish. The other 90% come to Sunday and HDO Masses, and that’s all you see of them. Some of that 90% take their wonderful talents (for music, public-speaking, teaching, etc) away with them in their absence from parish life…which is an absolute shame.
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Yes it is a shame. A TERRIBLE shame. The pews in my parish are FILLED with nice, spiritual, high-caliber people (far more capable than the other 10%) who put in their 50-55 minutes/week and then flee. Yet when I talk to these people they have invariably have been burned (sometimes badly) by the 10% you mention. That’s tragic but it’s not nearly as bad as those who have left altogether.
SteveGC said:
Some Catholic parishes I’m sure are different…and more vibrant outside of Mass in their shared communal life. I envy that reality…and I think that’s a healthy envy. Catholics need to get together and celebrate together, and eat together, and sing together…and we need to do this outside of Mass. Granted, if all we do is Mass together and nothing else, then I can live with it, as the Eucharist is our faith’s source and summit, and in a huge sense, we are feasting and praying and singing and lamenting and rejoicing together at Mass. I get that 100%. I just lament the lack of communal life among Catholics outside of Mass. Not that we have to be together all the time…not even that we have to do it most of the time. But come on.

That’s my experience anyway. I’m a 4 year convert, btw.

Peace.
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I agree 100% There is ONE event per month in my parish that allows for faith-sharing, fellowship, etc. It’s a 90 minute adult catechesis. More than half the time it’s led by someone I simply don’t want to listen to. Example: a lay member of the parish who just finished some sort of “certification” program that now makes here a “spritual director” where she charges by the hour. I’m wouldn’t think about attending a session led by her which turned out to be nothing more than a sales pitch.

I did go last month as it was led by my pastor. Same 20-30 people (out of a parish of 6,000 people) who are at EVERY parish event. I don’t even want to be in the presence of most of these 20-30 people. It was a dismal and rather embarassing (for my pastor) experience. That’s pretty much our best and it’s no worse than any other local parish.
 
SwizzleStick said:
**I’m still trying to find the answer to the question whether it is or is not acceptable practice for a Catholic to **regularly attend non-Catholic worship services. Apparently, it is okay to attend with qualifications, for just cause. Some sources say it is not okay to attend for good “feelings,” fellowship or to attend just for the sake of attending.
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Me too. Ultimately it’s OK as my pastor said there was no problem and because I have been diligent in choosing a worship service (not anti-Catholic, no communion, altars calls, etc.) and setting so clear boundries (my chat with the senior minister.)
SwizzleStick said:
With that particular examination of conscience, if one were attending non-Catholic service regularly, I would think one would have to look within to answer the question “Have I taken active part in any non-Catholic worship?” With the examination of conscience that you linked to, one might look within to ask “Did I give scandal by what I said or did?” (as suggested by Fr. Levis in my post #53).

At the very least, it does not seem to me to be a prudent practice for a Catholic to regularly attend non-Catholic service because it could be detrimental to Faith, but is it more than that?
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Why wouldn’t it be prudent? Some people think that the minister I spoke to lied to my face, that they will try to prosthelize me. And when they do, I am so weak in my faith that I will leave the Catholic Church and become a tithing member of their group. Where do they get such notions?
 
ElToro said:
…Why wouldn’t it be prudent? Some people think that the minister I spoke to lied to my face, that they will try to prosthelize me. And when they do, I am so weak in my faith that I will leave the Catholic Church and become a tithing member of their group. Where do they get such notions?
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Your experience is not everyone’s experience. I have read that Roman Catholics form the largest religious denomination in the United States. And, the second biggest group is former Catholics.

Here is an excerpt from a source that supports that idea, though it is from a liberal source. I’d prefer something from the “National Catholic Register,” but I don’t have time to find additional references right now.

"…The adult population of the United States was 228.1 million in 2008. So if one in 10 U.S. adults were former Catholics, that 22.8 million would make ex-Catholics, if one considered them a denomination, the second-largest in the country behind Catholics, who list 68.1 million members, according to the National Council of Churches’ 2010 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. The ex-Catholics would far outnumber the next largest denomination, Southern Baptists, who claim 16.2 million adherents.

While 68 percent of those born Catholic remain in the church, the nearly 23 million ex-Catholics, according to Pew, are almost evenly divided between those who are unaffiliated (14 percent) and those who are now Protestant (15 percent). Three percent of those who have left are now members of another faith."…

Source:
The ‘had it’ Catholics
ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/had-it-catholics
 
No. I really don’t want to but would go if I had to for some reason.

I’ve once been to a wedding in a presbytarian church and a baptism in episcopal church.

I’d love to go to Orthodox Divine Liturgy. As for non-Christian places of worship, I’d like to visit a synagogue to see what it is like.
 
ElToro said:
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.
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I have been to (non-Catholic) church services. Frankly speaking, I think Catholic music is superior…
 
antoniont1 said:
I have been to (non-Catholic) church services. Frankly speaking, I think Catholic music is superior…
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“Catholic music?” I’m not entirely sure what that means. The non-Catholic parish I attend for prayer services uses many traditional Catholic hymns. They just sing them a whole lot better. It’s like everyone there is part of the choir.

Failing to sing is just another apathetic quality that many Catholics have.
 
I remember going to the funeral of the lady who lived next door to us from when I was born to the time I graduated from school and left home. She out-lived everyone. I went to her modest funeral. It was at a mortuary. The room was filled with maybe 40-50 people, mostly older folks.

I could see from the hand-out that a few songs were going to be sung. Looking around I sorta cringed at the age and small number of people. When the singing began they all sang like ANGELS! I was dumbfounded. I asked someone if she was in the choir and were thse all fellow choir members? Nope, just her friends from church. I was awestruck.

I mentioned this to someone after Divine Liturgy on the following Sunday. His response (and I quote) “yeah, but they don’t have the Eucharist.” The universal excuse…

:banghead:

There must be a desire/work ethic defficiency in Catholic parishes I attend.
 
ElToro said:
I remember going to the funeral of the lady who lived next door to us from when I was born to the
I mentioned this to someone after Divine Liturgy on the following Sunday. His response (and I quote) “yeah, but they don’t have the Eucharist.” The universal excuse…

:banghead:
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Ha ha. That is the standard answer.
 
In response to the O.P.

I was raised Protestant and just joined the Church on Sunday. When I went to Protestant services during my Catholic conversion I always felt it was incomplete. There is no Eucharist, so I always feel that service stopped half way. I love Gospel music and it is what I grew up with. I am a Black Catholic and go to a largely African-American Parish, so the Masses at my parish consist of this rich Gospel music tradition. My advice to you is to look up and call Catholic parishes in your city that play the music you like.

Also, you probably wouldn’t believe this! The Protestant church I was raised in had very little scripture read during their services. Around one verse and a half! In the Catholic Church we are nourished by the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Most Holy Eucharist.
 
Only if someone holds a gun to my head. But I’ll stay open as long as I get the interrogate the preacher.😃
 
I hope this is not a duplicated entry: My wife and I attended the baptism of one of our granddaughters this past Sunday at the Baptist church they attend. They are extremely active and our son in law is now the Sunday School director. We were also raised Southern Baptist so the service is not something that we are unfamiliar with. We feel sorry for them, our family and all that attend, for what we know they are missing. They are extremely friendly, had me on their prayer list for a year while I battled liver cancer, and are wonderful people. We feel “empty” during their service. The best way to describe our feeling comes from a Patrick Madrid quote appearing on the following website:
davidmacd.com/catholic/statues_in_church.htm
This is a great site!

Scenario 1: I enter the majestic castle. The walls of the court have beautiful tapestries and there are courtiers in long robes. There is beautiful music by court musicians. There are beautiful statues of great administrators of the country in the hallway. At the front of the court there are two chairs. One for the King and one for the queen. Everyone in the court has a great honour for the queen. They kneel before her they kiss her hand they pick up her robe after her. But they know who has all the authority. It is the King. When they see him they are in awe. They want to serve him. They know he is Lord and that he has all authority. The beautiful queen at his side and the beautiful wall tapestries, statues, and the music, only serve to give greater majesty to the King. Because he is so great, nothing could obscure him. All of this beauty around him only serves to make him more majestic. (I think of this the Catholic model, and also the model of Heaven found in “Revelation”)

Scenario 2: Now let’s go to a big empty room - a warehouse. The walls are barren. No one is there. At the front is the King sitting alone on a plain chair. (I think of this as the Evangelical Model)

There will always be reasons why Catholics must attend a non-Catholic service. In and of itself I don’t see a problem. The problem comes IF the Catholic is not grounded in their faith and able to defend the faith if necessary.

God Bless
 
We will sometimes attend Vespers on Saturday evenings at a nearby Eastern Orthodox church. The reason we go there is that there are no Vespers services at any of the Eastern Catholic churches (or Western, for that matter) in our area.

Even if there were, we would probably still attend the EO church, as we have friends there whose parents attended our EC church before they passed away.

FWIW, I find that the closer a non-Catholic church is to Catholic belief and worship, the more comfortable I feel about attending/visiting - for example, Eastern Orthodox churches, or the more traditional Anglican or Lutheran parishes. Just my 2 cents. 🙂
 
Like Theistgal, would have no problem attending an Eastern Orthodox vespers or DL because even though I couldnt receive communion, its still the DL and Jesus is still physically present and the worship is holy and pleasing to God. I say would have because I have no Eastern Orthodox Church near me anyway.
As for Protestent services, only for a required attendence at a wedding or funeral. I just have no desire for Protestent worship and don`t think I would have much spiritual fulfillment.
 
Our Catholic Sunday School took us to an Episcopal service once when I was a small boy. Looking back, why they did that I’ll never know. And I went to a Methodist service once when I was about 12 years old, but I can’t remember why. All I remember is the soft purple cushion on the pew bench. If you were to take one person from each century, from the 1st century to the 15th century and told them we’re going to church then took them to any protestant service they would say: That was nice, BUT WHEN ARE WE GOING TO CHURCH!
 
Although there are certain similarities between Catholic and non-Catholic worship services such as gospel readings, let us remember that non-Catholic services lack the most important thing–the Eucharist. It’s actually the very center of the Mass and without it, it’s not just the same. We notice that although non-Catholic masses do have eucharistic consecrations, it’s not really valid and they do not put as much emphasis to it as Catholics do because I don’t think they really believe in transubstantation.

In fact most of those who left the Catholic Church and subsequently returned tell that the reason why they rejoined the Church is that they felt a hunger for the Eucharist.
 
Oh I forgot to mention I also went to one of those non-denominational services one time about 14 years ago. It was so unholy and frightening. Words can’t describe the horrid feeling I had. I couldn’t wait to get home. Thank you Jesus. Thank you for giving us your one and only true Church. Thank you for the ONE HOLY CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC Church. EVERYBODY! Let’s all say: Thank you Jesus for giving us the One True Holy Catholic Apostolic Church. AMEN!
 
Supercatholic said:
Oh I forgot to mention I also went to one of those non-denominational services one time about 14 years ago. It was so unholy and frightening. Words can’t describe the horrid feeling I had. I couldn’t wait to get home. Thank you Jesus. Thank you for giving us your one and only true Church. Thank you for the ONE HOLY CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC Church. EVERYBODY! Let’s all say: Thank you Jesus for giving us the One True Holy Catholic Apostolic Church. AMEN!
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Those “Non-denominational” services (they can’t really be called a liturgy) are the worst of cafeteria religiosity. Borrow a little from differring religions, throw in some new age stuff, mix well and serve.

That said, the Orthodox and Catholic churches share much in common. Even the more mainline Protestant churches have more well grounded theology than these “non-denominational” (worship) services.
 
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