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Cardinalsong
Guest
Sandy, you answered better than I did. Thank you
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AlegreFe
Guest
We answered the same. I just had more words that’s all. 
As a matter of fact, when I was reading your reply, I said to myself, “hey she said the same thing I did!” 
We even used the same scripture verse.
You are most welcome. All for the Glory of God! :bowdown2:Thank you
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Alexius
Guest
The Orthodox Catholic Church is no more divided than the Roman Catholic Church. Sure there are different ethnic expressions in the Divine Liturgy, but no difference in doctrine. That means that the Serbs, Greeks, Antiochians, Russians, Poles, Ukrainians, Georgians, etc. (and we all know the list goes on
) all teach the same Orthodox Faith.BTW, I don’t think the Orthodox Church is willing to give up the title “Catholic” this easily. The last time I checked, the majority of Patriarchs presided in the east. The correct title of the Orthodox Church is “The Holy Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Eastern Church.” Doesn’t The Roman Catholic Church have a similar title, except that instead of “Eastern” it’s “Roman.”
Prayers and petitions,
Alexius
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awantz
Guest
If I were to look for another church, I would look for a church that believes the way I do.
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runandsew
Guest
Would it have to exactly match what you believe or could there be somethings that it teaches, which you don’t believe, and you would submit to their teaching authority?
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awantz
Guest
It depends on what they believe differently and it’s level of importance. In some cases I am willing to submit to their teaching authority, but not in all cases. Is there any particular belief you are referring to?
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runandsew
Guest
Not really a particular belief, there could be issues such as full immersion baptism only, infant baptism, or if someone can lose their salvation. I realize that you would have to have the same beliefs on the teachings which deal with salvation, but other issues might not be that critical.
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awantz
Guest
On issues that aren’t as critical I am willing to accept their way of teaching.
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runandsew
Guest
For me, I don’t think I could attend a church that taught that you could only be baptized by full immersion only. Even though this is not critical for ones salvation, it seems a little bit legalistic to me, and I wouldn’t want to be a member of a “legalistic” church, that is why I am Roman Catholic.
But seriously, things like full immersion only, or that you have to speak in tongues as proof that you have recieved the Holy Spirit, this type of thinking kind of turns me off
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Syele
Guest
I’ve never seen a church that has “childcare” that sees it as a babysitting service and not as a chance to teach kids at their own level. I used to be the teacher for the Toddler class. (Note: not daycare) The toddlers learned songs about Jesus, many that included scripture word for word or they told entire Bible stories in the songs. 2 year olds CAN learn things about God, but they don’t tend to learn it in services ment for adults. Getting a toddler to sit still for an hour mass is probably difficult and the 2 year old dosn’t understand much of it at all. The 2 year olds in my class could tell you Bible stories, sing to God and even quote scriptures because they learned it in songs.
I am late coming in this thread btw, sorry.I don’t know if I’ll read all of the posts but I will read some as my time is limited.
I find it sad to see protestant “childcare” made fun of in one thread and also see other threads where Catholics here are asking “How come Protestants know so much scripture?” “How do Protestants get people interested in having Bible studies?” How? We start with tiny Babies singing to them and teaching them, not only by their parents but by a Christian *community *as well.
I think that if I ever came to believe the Catholic Church is the true Church, it would be the saddest day in my life, because I’d have to give up living, worshipping God and being family in a *community *of people who love God. In all the time I attended Mass I tried to find such community. It didn’t exist. They came together for Mass but shared nothing with one another. They recieved the Eucharist as though they were each there apart from other humans. After mass there was no Sunday School, no fellowship events, no getting to know even what the names of the others there were. That isn’t how Jesus lived. He traveled with the disciples, lived with them, ate with them taught them, showed love for them. When I mention this, Catholics even show contempt for my concern. “Fellowship is not important.” My heart breaks for what you miss out on. I guess you can’t miss what you never had.
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E.E.N.S
Guest
I am a convert to the Catholic Faith, and I can assure you that if one side is missing something of grave importance, it would not be the Catholic Church.
My heart breaks that you miss out on receiving Christ, truly present, in the Holy Eucharist.
(PS~ Since becoming Catholic my “community life” has increased dramatically, I am sorry that you had such a bad experience and it is keeping you from coming into full communion with Christ’s Church.)
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Unfinished
Guest
Wow. I’m sorry, you definitely didn’t come to my parish!
There is a local “mega” Catholic Church that i don’t like for the reasons you listed. (I am not trying to downplay your concerns. I know it happens. A lot of Catholics go to Mass and just go home, then you never see them until next week. But this isn’t just a Catholic problem.)
But the smaller parish I attend, I knew over half the people’s names within a few months of attending. I just got involved from day one, and now I couldn’t change parishes even if I wanted to! I would miss everyone too much.
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Syele
Guest
I am glad to hear that some areas parishes are not so impersonal that they exclude community completely. This is not the reason I’m not Catholic. I will go wherever I believe God wants me to be and do whatever He wants me to do even if that was to join the Catholic Church. I’m only saying it would be sad for me because I know what sort of gorup I’d be joining. Around here at least, it’d mean I’d no longer have a Christian community and attending Mass. It would mean me and God and an overworked Priest alone. No one else. Yes, one can survive that way, but it would be hard.
Adam wasn’t **ALONE, **he had God. It still wasn’t good.
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tequilamac
Guest
St. John’s Episcopal in Stockton Ca. All legos, trikes and play gyms during the sunday service. No teaching of religion during the babysitting. The babysitting is called babysitting and the person doing the work is called babysitter.
Annunciation Catholic Cathedral in Stockton Ca. drawing of religous scenes, movies of religion, etc. making of rosaries, etc. during Mass. It is called child care and the person operating it is called child care director.
My parish has hospitality every sunday, lenten soup suppers, once a month potlucks, home visitation daily, spring flings, dances, carnevale, prayer groups, bible study. not sure what kind of fellowship you are looking for? How is your fellowship different from the myriad groups of fellowship that exist in the Catholic Church? Let me see.
We have:
Knights of Columbus, Legion of Mary, St. Vincent de Paul, Franciscan Third Order, Carmelite Third Order, Women’s Society, the Squires, Opus Dei, Disciples of Jesus and Mary, etc. etc. This list does not include the above potlucks, dances, etc. What were you looking for in fellowship? I would suggest that you were not reading the Sunday bulletin.
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awantz
Guest
As far as the baptisim it depends on a few other things. As far as speaking in tongues as the only proof of receiving the Holy Spirit that is just down right wrong. I left a church over something similar to that.For me, I don’t think I could attend a church that taught that you could only be baptized by full immersion only. Even though this is not critical for ones salvation, it seems a little bit legalistic to me, and I wouldn’t want to be a member of a “legalistic” church, that is why I am Roman Catholic.
But seriously, things like full immersion only, or that you have to speak in tongues as proof that you have recieved the Holy Spirit, this type of thinking kind of turns me off
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Blue_Serenity
Guest
I think this is true for Protestant churches as well. My friend attends a church where there are hundreds of people EVERY Sunday so it’s impossible to know who is who. My church is VERY small, maybe a hundred or less every Sunday. I am very involved in my church and I know most of the people there. I don’t think I could personally attend a large church. I feel more comfortable in smaller groups.
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Damascus
Guest
Run and Sew,
I did not read all the posts here but will tell you how I did it when I was a protestant.
I am only relating my personal growth in the journey I am still on and in no way shape or form imply anyone else was as messed up or confused as I was at that juncture in my life- I am still messed up but not about Church anymore
So my advice would be to check them all out and when they bug you move on to another one.
I did not read all the posts here but will tell you how I did it when I was a protestant.
I am only relating my personal growth in the journey I am still on and in no way shape or form imply anyone else was as messed up or confused as I was at that juncture in my life- I am still messed up but not about Church anymore
- drive around and if one grabs my eye and is on a convienient route may check it out.
- If the homily was boring scratch it off the list
- if the singing was lousy or there was too much singing- scratch it off the list
- the people. If the women gave looks to other women that were not wearing skirts or dresses, I was outta there.
- It got to a point where I would leave a parish if people spoke randomly during the service in a charasmatic way interrupting the minister. Which, seemed to happen an awful lot at the end of my protestant life, even in the Lutheran Church!
- Finally I got to a point where I actually started reading about the Early Christians, and the history of the Bible, and could not go on with the fiasco I had been living.Questions led to more questions that led to more answers, that led to shock and the reality that Jesus already established a Chruch and it was high time I checked it out.
So my advice would be to check them all out and when they bug you move on to another one.
J
jlr247
Guest
That’s what I generally think about protestant churches too…like, they all claim to follow the bible, but differ on important things like abortion and divorce. Then both people will tell you that they are right! It just doesn’t work out in my head.
However, I think a lot of people don’t know the differences between protestsant denominations. I have friends that go to a protestant bible college that appears to encompass all protestant denominations, one of them is mennonite, one is pentacostal, and they were telling me how at chapel they “change things up at communion”. Like, one week, the leader (pastor? I don’t know) said “today we’re going to do communion the Anglican way”…huh?!
I think I’ll stick with the RCC.
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Cat
Guest
As a former Protestant, I just want to add that searching for a new church is heartbreakingly difficult. Please pray for your Protestant friends.
You get up early, get yourself (and kids, if any) ready, and then walk through a strange door into a strange building full of strange people. Nowadays a lot of the megachurches are providing well-trained “greeters,” but to me, it always felt like I was at WalMart. These people weren’t my friends. They didn’t know me. Yet, they were forced to say Hi and greet me like a best pal!
Often your children go off into a different part of the church for Sunday school, while you sit in an adult class. Sometimes the kids are separated from you during church, too.
One thing I learned during church shopping is that you never base your choice on the Sunday morning worship service. I used to say that ANY church can put on a good show on a Sunday morning! It doesn’t tell you a thing. When church shopping, it’s better to attend Sunday school, Wednesday evening prayer meeting, and best of all, a church social. Also, invite the pastor and his family for dinner and check him out that way, not just by listening to him preach. This is the best way to see honestly what the people and pastors in the church are all about.
But it’s so hard to meet different people and attend different meetings every few weeks or months. You miss the friends and family in your old church, you miss your beloved former pastors, you miss your “work” (whatever it was–playing the piano, ushering, teaching Sunday school, making coffee and setting out donuts, etc.).
Imagine how you would feel if you had to search for a new family because you are unable to be part of your family. Imagine traipsing from house to house, from dinner to dinner, meeting up with a different Grandma, Mom, Dad, Aunt, Uncle, Cousins, and trying to fit in.
I used to cry. We moved away from an awesome Christian and Missionary Alliance church in North Carolina, and were horribly homesick for it. I still miss it, even though I’m Catholic. It was truly like a big family.
And then there are all the doctrinal issues. Nowadays you have to be so careful, especially with all the non-denoms around. You have to scrutinize the church Statement of Faith and compare it to what you believe and decide if the church is a prospect or a never-return! You don’t want to be in a cult or a fringe movement or a one-man show.
We always used to look for churches not on the basis of what they could do for us, but what we could do for them. I play piano, and once we made the bad mistake of settling into a church that had a professional musician (internationally famous among churchgoers) for a music minister. I thought this would be marvelous, but it was awful. He never allowed anyone else to play except him, unless he was using a track that he created. The music was all HIS music; the few times we ever got to sing a hymn, it was slow and funereal. (Our kids said that he played bad hymns on purpose so that everyone would like his music better.) I felt totally out of place since I had nothing to do at that church. He also wouldn’t allow anyone into his choir unless the made it through the tryouts. I am not exaggerating!
I still think it’s important to settle into a church, including a Catholic Church, not on the basis of how they meet your needs, but because you have place in that church where you can help out and meet the needs of others.
Anyway, like I said, pity the Protestant church-shopper and pray for them. There is another thread somewhere on this vast board where I state that if Protestants attended mass for several weeks, I believe that many of them, especially the Bible-literate ones, would become Catholic. It’s just that most Protestants who are already involved in a church are unable to take several weeks off and attend a Catholic Church. So if you know Protestants who are “between churches,” invite them to church with you! Tell them you are interested in their opinion.
You get up early, get yourself (and kids, if any) ready, and then walk through a strange door into a strange building full of strange people. Nowadays a lot of the megachurches are providing well-trained “greeters,” but to me, it always felt like I was at WalMart. These people weren’t my friends. They didn’t know me. Yet, they were forced to say Hi and greet me like a best pal!
Often your children go off into a different part of the church for Sunday school, while you sit in an adult class. Sometimes the kids are separated from you during church, too.
One thing I learned during church shopping is that you never base your choice on the Sunday morning worship service. I used to say that ANY church can put on a good show on a Sunday morning! It doesn’t tell you a thing. When church shopping, it’s better to attend Sunday school, Wednesday evening prayer meeting, and best of all, a church social. Also, invite the pastor and his family for dinner and check him out that way, not just by listening to him preach. This is the best way to see honestly what the people and pastors in the church are all about.
But it’s so hard to meet different people and attend different meetings every few weeks or months. You miss the friends and family in your old church, you miss your beloved former pastors, you miss your “work” (whatever it was–playing the piano, ushering, teaching Sunday school, making coffee and setting out donuts, etc.).
Imagine how you would feel if you had to search for a new family because you are unable to be part of your family. Imagine traipsing from house to house, from dinner to dinner, meeting up with a different Grandma, Mom, Dad, Aunt, Uncle, Cousins, and trying to fit in.
I used to cry. We moved away from an awesome Christian and Missionary Alliance church in North Carolina, and were horribly homesick for it. I still miss it, even though I’m Catholic. It was truly like a big family.
And then there are all the doctrinal issues. Nowadays you have to be so careful, especially with all the non-denoms around. You have to scrutinize the church Statement of Faith and compare it to what you believe and decide if the church is a prospect or a never-return! You don’t want to be in a cult or a fringe movement or a one-man show.
We always used to look for churches not on the basis of what they could do for us, but what we could do for them. I play piano, and once we made the bad mistake of settling into a church that had a professional musician (internationally famous among churchgoers) for a music minister. I thought this would be marvelous, but it was awful. He never allowed anyone else to play except him, unless he was using a track that he created. The music was all HIS music; the few times we ever got to sing a hymn, it was slow and funereal. (Our kids said that he played bad hymns on purpose so that everyone would like his music better.) I felt totally out of place since I had nothing to do at that church. He also wouldn’t allow anyone into his choir unless the made it through the tryouts. I am not exaggerating!
I still think it’s important to settle into a church, including a Catholic Church, not on the basis of how they meet your needs, but because you have place in that church where you can help out and meet the needs of others.
Anyway, like I said, pity the Protestant church-shopper and pray for them. There is another thread somewhere on this vast board where I state that if Protestants attended mass for several weeks, I believe that many of them, especially the Bible-literate ones, would become Catholic. It’s just that most Protestants who are already involved in a church are unable to take several weeks off and attend a Catholic Church. So if you know Protestants who are “between churches,” invite them to church with you! Tell them you are interested in their opinion.
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AlegreFe
Guest
If you actually read my post you will see that I stated both types. But I did not call one of them a “babysitting service.” I just said that it was during the services.
Well isn’t that great for you.
My sister works for a protestant church (not her own) and she is a teacher there. So far she has had the babies, the older toddlers and the 2’s and 3’s. And it’s all in the “daycare” even the Toddler class is considered part of the “daycare.” So you can call it what you want. She’s been there for almost two years now. She also works for her own church for the Sunday service to “babysit” the toddlers and babies during service. (yes, I said “babysit” this time). They take turns however, for Sundays. So she doesn’t do it every week. So that is how I know about this watching of the kids during the services.
Isn’t that special.
At that age my child was learning how to share, how to be compassionate towards other children, how to respect adults, how to be patient and wait her turn for everything. She would always put herself last and she did it gladly. She was also learning how to love others and of course how to love Jesus.
She knew about Jesus and Mary very young but I didn’t even tell her that she needed to learn bible verses. My child did not have to learn bible verses to learn all that. And God is not going to stand at the gates of heaven asking everyone, “how many bible verses did you learn today?” or He won’t be saying, “If you didn’t learn your bible verses, I can’t let you in. So learn these bible verses to prove you loved and cared for others and for Me.”Jesus did not hand out bibles to children nor to adults for that matter. He wasn’t telling children, “here I want you to learn these verses.” He taught them by showing them what love is and by preaching to adults, word of mouth. There were no bibles back then.
My child did have her “bible story” books. So she read from those books herself at the age of 3. But they were those “story books” and not bibles. By the time she was in Kindergarten she knew many bible characters and stories. But still no memorization of bible verses. Oh and she also had those bible cards that you collect and sort them in the box. She loved those! :yup:
My niece is in “Awanas” right now and she’s only 5 years old. Her bedtime is 7:30PM but Awanas does not get out until 9:00PM and the poor girl is exhausted the next day and very grumpy. She is learning bible verses because my sister is trying to shove these verses into her brain. What good is it to learn bible verses if the child is going to misbehave? I am proud to say that my child did not need bible verses at the age of 2 or even 5 or even 10, for her to be the compassionate, kind and loving child that she is right now at 13 years of age. But I can tell you right now, she knows her faith backwards and forwards (still learning of course at her age). And she loves reading her bible too.
She sometimes remembers more than I do where a certain passage is. So I ask her sometimes when I can’t think straight if she remembers where a certain verse is, and she lets me know. She’s a great kid! Any child would be lucky to have her as their friend.Cont…
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