How to leave a church?

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mouse_has_faith

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Hi there,

This is my first post outside the ‘meet and greet’ forum. I hope I’m posting this in the right place!

Anyway, I joined a protestant church a few years ago, after not really knowing anything about Catholicism/protestanism etc. Over the years I became increasingly disappointed with my church; the emphasis on money, the continual perpetration of incorrect facts, the dogma that changes every week… anyway, I’ve become Catholic again and I just want to tell the pastor I’m leaving.
I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what to say? I’m talking to him later on in the week. What if he starts attacking Catholocism?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Amanda.
 
Just leave, and write him AFTER you’ve resumed receiving the Sacraments.
 
Yes, I agree, just leave.

You don’t need his approval to go back to the true Church where you originally belong. If you are very familiar with the pastor, send him a letter afterwards to explain.

You are lucky to be in Sydny. The World Youth Day is going on.
God bless!
 
I agree with the others to just leave. Based on my personal experiences I have never been comfortable in going anywhere other than the Catholic church. I’ve always been Catholic but I just never felt that welcomed when I went to another church with a friend
 
Hi again,

Thanks so much for your replies everyone.
Ok, perhaps I’ll just leave instead… you are right I guess that I don’t ‘owe’ any explanation or whatever… and if he did start talking against Catholocism, I don’t believe I know enough, despite my research, as of yet to effectively defend the Church.

My other question is, now that I’ve come back, can I simply start attending mass again? Or is there anything special I need to do?

Amanda.

P.S. Yes it is exciting regarding WYD… I’m planning to go with my sister on Sunday for the Pope’s mass, but it’s going to be so crowded I’m not sure I’ll be able to get in!! If not I’ll have to watch it on one of the screens in the city.
 
mouse_has_faith said:
Hi again,

Thanks so much for your replies everyone.
Ok, perhaps I’ll just leave instead… you are right I guess that I don’t ‘owe’ any explanation or whatever… and if he did start talking against Catholocism, I don’t believe I know enough, despite my research, as of yet to effectively defend the Church.

My other question is, now that I’ve come back, can I simply start attending mass again? Or is there anything special I need to do?

Amanda.

P.S. Yes it is exciting regarding WYD… I’m planning to go with my sister on Sunday for the Pope’s mass, but it’s going to be so crowded I’m not sure I’ll be able to get in!! If not I’ll have to watch it on one of the screens in the city.
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Welcome back to the Church!! :extrahappy:

My husband and I left our old Protestant church and became Catholic for many of the reasons you did, and we have never looked back!

I think the other posters are right – best simply to leave and write a letter after the fact. Otherwise, your old pastor will likely want to get into a debate and try to “win you back” to his faith. It’s best to leave that sort of thing for later on, when you’ve learned enough to feel confident about holding your own in those tricky discussions.

Of course anyone is welcome to come to Mass at any time, but in order to receive Holy Communion again I believe you will need to go to confession. You didn’t mention any husband, so I’m guessing getting a marriage blessed won’t be a factor here? In any case, just tell the priest that you are coming back into the Church, and he can ask the appropriate questions. 👍

Blessings to you!

Mary
 
mouse_has_faith said:
My other question is, now that I’ve come back, can I simply start attending mass again? Or is there anything special I need to do?
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You can simply start going to Mass, but go to Confession before receiving Holy Communion. If you go to Mass before you’ve been able to go to Confession, try a spiritual act of Communion but do refrain from receiving the Sacrament.

Glad
 
You are not leaving an incomplete church, but returning to Jesus’ church, which is the fullness of Truth!

Thank the pastor for his service to God, but you must make it clear to him that while he had parts of the truth, he should follow you and join the one, holy, apostolic, Catholic church which Christ himself established.

Your witness to this man who obviously loves Jesus will help him to one day receive the sacraments, especially the Eucharist! “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35 & 48).

We are all called to spread the “Good News”!

EGO SUM PANIS VITAE
 
Hi everyone,

I went to Mass today, there was a special WYD service on, it was really great! A lovely pilgrim from Malaysia had some spare pilgrim passes and he gave one to me and another to take home to my sister (she’s still in the protestant church, but she’s starting to dislike it too), so she and I can get into some of the WYD events and get free travel. I think God had a hand in that!

Anyway, I actually received Communion today before I went to confession. I hadn’t read the newer replies and I didn’t know to do confession first… I’m sure it won’t be too big a deal? I think God will understand. :o Anyway, I actually did wait outside for confession after Mass but the priest had to leave just before me. I’ll come back tomorrow.

Oh, and surf(name removed by moderator)ure, I’m 22 and not married yet, so yeah that’s not an issue.

I am really excited to be back in the Church! Everyone here has provided some good advice; thank you. I’ll do as I said above, just leave and perhaps let him know a little later, maybe in a week or two.

Amanda.
 
Can I be really honest and say that leaving a Church without letting someone know is really rude. The leaders of any Church all believe they must give an account to God for those under their care… you don’t want him thinking he has somehow failed you.

You should be polite and let him know you are leaving. If nothing else, it’s good manners.
 
i agree give proper respect where it is deserved. however there has been on many occassions ive only been one in a crowd at a church, where there is no handshake other times a mysterious force enters the church at times the holy spirit. i build up the church strong with my spiritual abilities. these moments it is best for me to go as i entered at times never to be noticed. ill explain once we did bible study and we started to speak in tougues a new person joined us one day and thought i was playing a mind game, the others calmed her down and asked her to listen for awhile and give it a chance later she joined in like everyone else. though it was very scary for me to be told i was playing mind games when i couldnt do anything about it.
 
When I converted I simply sent a letter of resignation. I stated simply after prayerful consideration I was becoming catholic. I recieved a letter soon afterwards aknowledging my decision and a letter of release from membership.
 
almost makes me sad its like disowning you ive always belived if i call someone a friend there a friend for life id hope all the churches ive gone to will always have an open door for me as i believe that would be a true church
 
Hey, mouse 🙂 Welcome home!

When I came home after many years I was attending a Messianic Congregation. I set an appointment to meet with the pastor to let him know I was leaving. I was pretty involved in the congregation at the time, sort of a quasi-deacon and they were looking to get me more involved. So just leaving and sending him a note later really wasn’t a good option for me.

Our meeting went well. We parted in great Christian love. We didn’t debate or go back and forth on points of theology or anything like that. I have seen him several times since I returned home and we always hug each other and there is no animosity at all.

As the Great Pope John Paul II of recent blessed memory was fond of repeating: “Do not be afraid!”
 
mouse_has_faith said:
What if he starts attacking Catholocism?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Amanda.
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I would love anyone to approach me attacking Catholicism. I would see it an an opportunity to share my faith.

I remember when I got serious about about my Catholic faith. When I met my best friend who was also a “born-again Christian”, I said to him “Praise God, and blessed be His Holy Mother!”. He was shocked. The next thing happened was that my friend invited me at his home along his uncle. They were going to set me straight. My friend always respected his uncle’s knowledge of the Bible, but he admitted that my reasoning made more sense then his uncle’s. My friend is now on the verge of joining the Catholic Church.
 
Hi everyone,

I spoke to the assistant pastor yesterday. When I said, “I’m leaving the church” he didn’t seem to react at all at first; just took it as nonchalantly as if I’d told him I’d eaten a sandwich for lunch.
Afterward he asked why, and asked what I didn’t like about the church (that I’m leaving). From that, inevitably, the objections came. I responded and stuck to my guns. It remained very civil of course, and the whole conversation was over in less than an hour. I think it went very well. He said to think about coming up to say goodbye to everyone as it’s like leaving a family. That seems reasonable enough to me, so I might do so in another week or so.

Oh, and I went to WYD (the Papal mass on Sunday & Stations of the Cross on Friday); it was great!!

Amanda.
 
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