I Went to a Bible Church!

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Permit me just a few observations regarding this interesting topic. First a bit of background… We left the Episcopal tradition when Robinson (an active homosexual and activist) was ordained a Bishop. We are currently attending a Lutheran Chruch but seriously considering a move to Catholocism.

Be careful not to use too broad a brush when characterizing Protestants. Yes, there are some things they/we frequently do which we may find very annoying, but to question their very redemption is akin to judging and is not looked at too kindly in the Bible. I would suggest, for example, that the Baptist or Free Methodist and the Catholic are all Christains–saved by the blood of Christ. These believers, however, have a different understanding of what it means to be a Christian. The nature of faith is the same in most ways, but the details are different. By all means pray for your Protestant brothers and sisters (we all need that), but don’t assume that they aren’t Christians as much as yourselves. (A Catholic writer named David Armstrong writes along a similar vein.)

Remember also that denominations as a whole are sometimes ill-represented by specific churches. For example, the Free Methodist Church is a wonderful denomination, in my opinion. We happened to visit a local service, however, when the pastor was denouncing Catholics for the sins of the Episcopal Church. While we walked out quickly after the service, this doesn’t mean that the whole denomination is lacking in depth and understanding of the issues. This church happens to have some wonderful scholars in schools like Seattle Pacific University.

A comment on non-denominational churches… They frequently have little in the way of outside authority to answer to. The pastors can get away with saying incrediby foolish things. My wife attended a popular church in this category recently, for example, and the pastor indicated that he didn’t believe that Christ had descended into hell after the Crucifixion. Abandoning the Nicene Creed, Biblical authority, and tradition wouldn’t be looked at so kindly in more mainline denominations–I hope!

One last note… I read in another post on this topic that the Protestant songs were boring. This hits on a problem in the modern church. Many consider that church is to be entertaining first and foremost. (This is one of the reasons we have been without a church home for so long.) A good service, however, should be engaging, but not necessarily “entertaining”. Entertainment is what we find on television; church should be where we are convicted of our sin and receive hope in Christ.

I could go on and on (haven’t even discussed Communion yet!), but I must go. I hope my thoughts have not been too rambling or incoherent.
 
1962Missal,

Hey, I’m a mom. I chastise all day long. I was trying to be motherly and give him a little good advice about not picking on other people’s religions in a public arena in a mean-spirited way. I am not trying to start a “flame-throwing” contest or whatever. I was not trying to challenge him but rather giving him the equivalent of sending him to his room to think it over and hopefully he’ll come back and say he was sorry. That’s it.
 
As far as boring goes our parish is having trouble keeping our youth interested in the mass. They have visited youth oriented services at local protestant denominationsand are now asking for their own mass and are pushing for “praise music” What is most heartbreaking is that most of their parents are supporting them. --The grass is always greener–where you water it.
 
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Writer:
One last note… I read in another post on this topic that the Protestant songs were boring. This hits on a problem in the modern church. Many consider that church is to be entertaining first and foremost. (This is one of the reasons we have been without a church home for so long.) A good service, however, should be engaging, but not necessarily “entertaining”. Entertainment is what we find on television; church should be where we are convicted of our sin and receive hope in Christ.
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Yeah, I’m never quite sure what to say to my non-Catholic wife when I head to Mass and she says “Have a good time”. In a certain sense it is a good time, but that’s not the point. It’s not about fulfilling some sort of need for entertainment, it’s about hearing God’s Word, giving praise and worship, and most of all Communion.
 
Hello all, I’m writing as a convert to Catholicism, and I have to say that I miss those half hour sermons… they could never make up for the Eucharist, of course, but a good preacher is a delight to listen to and learn from. (Would you believe that, in Elizabethan England, fashionable dinner parties would sometimes include a renowned preacher delivering a sermon as after dinner entertainment?) I understand that the Mass is not designed to be a place where Bible studies are conducted, but given the Protestant understanding of the church, they don’t always do too badly. The problems occurred when someone whose gifts were not in the preaching department felt obliged to preach for forty minutes!

As for the music, the situation here in Australia may be a little different from the US. Suffice to say, most Catholic parishes have woeful music; embarrassing may be a better term. We can learn a lot from our Protestant bretheren.
 
Bernard Jones, I am sad to say that the state of Catholic music in the average parish in the USA is exactly the same as in Australia. Not that we need to start co-opting Praise songs–that’s exactly why especially Life Teen grates on me. I can sing “Shout to the Lord” all I want in my own home listening to the local Christian music station. What happened to hundreds of years’ worth of perfectly good Catholic music? Would it hurt to sing “O Salutaris Hostia” just once? Perhaps you are familiar with Hillsong from Australia, the famous megachurch that publishes tons of music. This has all made its way here and taken root in many places. St. Cecilia pray for us!
 
I’m a lapsed Catholic very close to reverting, but I went to nondenominational and bible churches for the past seven years. FWIW, if I’d invited a friend to my bible church, and he said it was “misguided” and “pointless,” it wouldn’t have built any conversation bridges for me to inquire more about the Catholic church. What would have worked better for me was if my friend had pointed out something positive about the experience, or reflected on one of the bible verses, and used that as a segue to discuss the Catholic church. That’s just what would have been more effective to me, so I’m mentioning it here.
 
I have been to both Evangelical and Mainline Protestant worship services. I like the music better at the Evangelical groups than I do at the Mainline groups…when I attend the Eucharist at the Episcopal church with my boss…we attend the early morning service as I can’t hang with the “lack-luster” hymns that only a few half heartedly sing at the other services but which are absent at the early morning hour…liturgy only.

I have also attended Catholic services with some friends…I find myself cringing at the complete lack of enthusiasm with which the hymns are sang…and the very mono-tone responses from the congregation was…“painful”.

The sermon at the Evangelical groups was informative and very Bible based and lasted 30-45 minutes…then prayer…then dismissal. The homilies at the Mainline, Episcopal and Catholic services was terse and to the point with perhaps no reference to the Gospel passages nor the OT readings…and…BLAND as could be.

The Eucharistic celebrations at the Episcopal and Catholic services at the end was like a “cattle call”…I did enjoy the “invitation” from the Episcopal priest much better as he was much more enthusiastic in his appeal to share in the “Body and Blood of Christ” at “His Table”…it seemed very much by rote at the Catholic service.

I’m sure NONE of the examples presented in this thread are nominal for every church service.

I have attended various Friends Meeting for Worship and the same situation is present…sometimes it’s an “act of God” to keep people from snoring in their seats…I find this is due to lack of preparation before hand by those in attendance.

I would think, from experience, that if one is prepared to meet the Risen Christ and prepares to worship and enters the worship space with reverence and a prayerful heart it is never boring…no matter what type of service one attends.
 
After going to Sat. or early Mass, I attended a AOG service a few times. My friend, an
ex-Catholic, would invite me over and over again, so I went. I felt like I was in an auditorium, though they did have “pews” but no kneelers. There emphasis was on their
music and it was,well, like a Christian concert. I accepted it as such. The preaching
was okay, but, especially the first time, I wanted the “worship” to begin. At the time I
was going through some very rough waters, but I found no “connection” or solace there,
just in my friend’s friendship. I also was appalled at the lack of quiet, the casual postures
(leaning over to visit with those behind them and across the aisle.) All did have their
bibles and used them during the service with note taking, etc. Like someone has said,
it was like a bible study.
This was my experience, definitely not anything that would inspire me. It is not to criticize
but just to tell you how I saw the differences. My friend never asked my what I thought, but
it was comfortable and not strained between us, so I guess I was polite enough!
 
My question is…. Is it American Idol or Americas Got Talent, or is it about approaching the thrown of God? If all anyone is rating a Church on is by its music and how entertaining it is, then some folks have some serious soul searching that needs to be done. We can all find fault and nitpick any Church apart. Far too many want a show and to be entertained, this is sad. What about reverence, solemnity, respect, veneration, and holiness, why does it have to be a show and entertaining, to me this is just indulgence of one’s own desires, not Gods.
 
It has been my experience that even those with faulty foundations have little grains of wisdom. After all, Protestant churches would not do as well as they have if they didn’t have some truth in them. Perhaps if you ever attend such a church again you could focus on what the minister is saying and look for the truth hidden in his words instead of tuning him out and flipping through the bible. It’s not wrong to read the bible, but it is very rude, especially in the context of a service.

As to the music. We all have personal preferences but I have to tell you the music is the one thing I’ve never had an issue with inside Protestant churches. Yes, their newer choruses are all about what God has DONE for them instead of just worshipping God because He’s God but some of the older hymns are truly beautiful. 🙂 Even if the music isn’t executed well the lyrics usually have something good in them.

Yes, I find the music at Mass far more fulfilling because it’s like finding a quiet place of worship but that doesn’t necessarily mean all Protestant music is useless and dismal.

Here’s the thing. If you had listened to the sermon a bit closer you might have been able to lay out your theological objections instead of laying down generic criticisms. For example; ‘The minister said THIS about this verse but actually this verse means THAT and not THIS. And I disagree with the idea that God is a big sugar daddy who gives us anything we want…’

I’ve never been to a ‘Bible Church’ but I imagine it can’t be much different from most Protestant services.
 
The OP was just asking for the experiences of those who have attended a Bible church. Maybe some might think that one’s personal experience seems harsh, but the posters are just being honest.

Not all protestant churches are the same, but the OP didn’t ask about any other churches except Bible churches.

One poster who was Catholic, but I think is now protestant, went on and on about all the sins she knew fellow Catholics were committing, well the same can be true about any church. I also attended a Bible church when I was young with my friend and gossip about what all the others were doing was one of main topics among the younger members. The pastor’s son-in-law was having sexual relations with the teenage girls, the elders were drinking and some were actually stealing from the church. The reason we all go to church, which ever one we choose is because we are sinners. If listening to gossip and making a judgement about the faith your church is based on is this, then you are no better than the people who are involved in these sins. Leaving a church because others sin is no excuse for leaving it as you will find that every church is full of sinners.

At least in the Catholic Church you don’t find the preacher ranting about how terrible other denominations are and many times condemning other denominations to hell…

There is a hugh difference in Catholic theology and fundamentalists’ theology and there is nothing incorrect about pointing out the differences.

Although my experiences in both fundamentalist churches and mega churches is more or less the same regarding worship as other posters, I also have seen many of these churches bringing the word of God to the members in the best way they know how.

Each person must find their own path to Christ and we can’t judge their hearts. We all grow spiritually on different levels and although we feel that protestants in general have not got the fullness of the faith, most are trying to follow Christ in the only way they know how.

As far as arrogance goes many protestants are just as or more so than Catholics, they condemn Catholics to hell and call the Pope the anti christ, which is very offensive to us. I have never heard a Catholic within the Church united with the Pope condemn others who are protestant to hell. So let others not say that Catholics are arrogrant and not be honest about many of the protestant denominations being even more so.

I also am a convert and now see some of my former brothers and sisters going against those within my former denomination condemning those of us who crossed or are crossing the Tiber. This was a liturgical church, not a Bible church. So it appears that Christians in general are pretty uncharitable when it comes to other churches.

We all have human natures and that means sinful natures, it doesn’t matter which denomination we belong to.

I personally don’t care whether a person belongs to a Bible church or whatever one, if it actually leads them to Christ. It is not my business to try to convert other Christians to become Catholic. It is the work of the Holy Spirit and He does a much better job of it than I could.

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

Bernadette
 
Andrew_Larkoski said:
Yes, it is true. However, I only attended the service because a friend of mine (an ex-Catholic, sadly) invited me after another Catholic friend and I took her to St. James Cathedral here in Seattle. With that out of the way, here was my experience.

To sum up the service in one word I would say boring. The songs that were sung were very dull and rather unmusical. I am biased, but Catholic music is heavenly, while this was mundane. Also, the service was unorganized. At the beginning, a pastor talked about his recent trip to the Holy Land and asked for prayers for an upcoming pilgrimage back. After some more (sorry!) painful singing, this same pastor talked about several chapters in Joshua where God sections off Israel to give to the tribes. I did not pay attention for one, because their Bible is missing several books and has some sketchy interpretations, and be cause this Sunday was Pentacost and the pastor didn’t say a lick about it. Instead, I thumbed through the Bible and found the passages that were read in Mass that day and meditated on their meaning. I also prayed that the Holy Spirit might guide these people back into Christ’s Church.

To end the service, the pastor simply said “You may leave.” Very unclimactic. I stuck around and had my friend introduce me to some of the parishoners, including the pastor. He and I talked for a little, and he said that he was a math major in college. I told him that I am a physics major, and so we talked about that a little. Then I said that math is the only subject that you know you have the right answer. He, however, said that in addition to math, theology is also a subject that you know you are right. I did not want to engage him in a debate by asking him why he thought that theology (more specifically, the Bible) was right (in retrospect, maybe I should have), so I let it go at that.

All in all, there was no point to the service. If I wanted someone’s opinion on a Bible verse, I might as well walk the streets of downtown Seattle. If I wanted to hear about some guy’s journey to Israel, I would ask him. After we left, my friend asked me what I thought of it. I said to her that it was also pointless and misguided. I pray for her every day that she might come back into Chrsit’s Church for she would make a great Catholic.

Anyway, just wanted some thoughts on Protestant (specifically non-denominational) services.
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Sounds like another newbie church founded by another man/woman and we can add to the long list of the thousands upon thousands of different denominations or whatever one wants to call them these days.:dts: And why?

Because of this type of belief:

*He, however, said that in addition to math, **theology is also a subject that you know you are right./*I]
 
Before I came back to the RCC, a neighbor invited me to his Evangelical mega-church. I was interested because the way he described it sounded like my younger brother’s description of the mega-church back east where he is the “music pastor”. My neighbor’s church was huge and had several different kinds of services going on simultaneously. He took me to a sort of night club service, where we all sat around little tables with refreshments. A few people prayed briefly and then there was a floor show with dancers and a contemporary Christian rock band that played “praise music” very loudly. Truthfully I couldn’t detect the praise in it, it just sounded like bad very loud rock music. The dancing was, let’s say, secular.

When it was over, my friend asked me how I liked it. I said “That was quite a show. When does church start?” He didn’t invite me again.
 
I intend this in all charity and do not want to offend anyones delicate sensibilities. Evangelical services are completely devoid of true worship. There. I said it. There is nothing there. EMPTY. Think about it. They sing a lot, and although sometimes is is good toe-tapping music, worshipful, it ain’t. The central portion of the service is the sermon. Usually over-long and devoid of theological truth. If somehow orthodo teaching does sneak in, it is completely by accident. Then there is the “altar call.” Given that God is omnipresent, prayer is no more powerful there tan at home. The whole point of this is a display to the congregation that you are holy. Jesus condemned that sort of thing. I think I might have read that somewhere. They do have an anemic version of Communion, but it is lacking in significance. SO much so, that it is done as infrequently as once a year! Since the Eucharist is presented in 3 of the 4 Gospels, mentioned rpeatedly in Acts, and discussed in Paul’s Epistles, one might think it is important! My 2 cents.
 
CWBetts said:
I intend this in all charity and do not want to offend anyones delicate sensibilities. Evangelical services are completely devoid of true worship. There. I said it. There is nothing there. EMPTY. Think about it. They sing a lot, and although sometimes is is good toe-tapping music, worshipful, it ain’t. The central portion of the service is the sermon. Usually over-long and devoid of theological truth. If somehow orthodo teaching does sneak in, it is completely by accident. Then there is the “altar call.” Given that God is omnipresent, prayer is no more powerful there tan at home. The whole point of this is a display to the congregation that you are holy. Jesus condemned that sort of thing. I think I might have read that somewhere. They do have an anemic version of Communion, but it is lacking in significance. SO much so, that it is done as infrequently as once a year! Since the Eucharist is presented in 3 of the 4 Gospels, mentioned rpeatedly in Acts, and discussed in Paul’s Epistles, one might think it is important! My 2 cents.
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Oh you’re absolutely right, nothing worshipful in the music at all. Just look at these lyrics!

Above all powers , above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began
Above all kingdoms , above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There’s no way to measure what You’re worth
Crucified , laid behind the stone
You lived to die, rejected and alone
Like a rose , trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me , above all

Nothing even resembling worship there.

And how about these;

When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that’s of worth
That will bless Your heart

I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart

King of endless worth
No one could express
How much You deserve
Though I’m weak and poor
All I have is Yours
Every single breath
Yup. That’s not worship music at all. Just empty, vapid sound. 🤷
 
nickybr38 said:
Oh you’re absolutely right, nothing worshipful in the music at all. Just look at these lyrics!

Above all powers , above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began
Above all kingdoms , above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There’s no way to measure what You’re worth
Crucified , laid behind the stone
You lived to die, rejected and alone
Like a rose , trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me , above all

Nothing even resembling worship there.

And how about these;

When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that’s of worth
That will bless Your heart

I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart

King of endless worth
No one could express
How much You deserve
Though I’m weak and poor
All I have is Yours
Every single breath
Yup. That’s not worship music at all. Just empty, vapid sound. 🤷
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Its not the words it’t the style. Not all styles of music, no matter what the words are, are suitable for worship.
 
CWBetts said:
Its not the words it’t the style. Not all styles of music, no matter what the words are, are suitable for worship.
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Wait a minute, who are we to decide what music pleases God and what music doesn’t please Him? So long as our hearts are rightly aligned what does it matter? I understand not having that kind of music in Mass (considering what takes place at Mass), and rightly so, however outside of Mass that music could feasibly please God. In my experience Protestant ‘worship’ music does not appeal to non-Christians. You know why? Because it’s WORSHIP music, aimed at praising God.

Sorry, I’m a bit defensive of music, I’ve been involved in Protestant music ministry for years and it’s the only part of their service where I truly felt we were offering up any kind of worship.
 
CWBetts said:
Its not the words it’t the style. Not all styles of music, no matter what the words are, are suitable for worship.
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Who determines what others consider worship? I may not consider “canned prayers” and “ritual gestures” worship…but you may…you may not consider a group of people sitting quietly expectantly waiting upon the Lord with hearts raised in praise and adoration but without vocal words…but I do. Who’s to say that hearts raised in joyful song…hands raised in praise isn’t worship? You? Or the people worshipping in the manner they are drawn to…hearts and voices raised in words of hope, supplication and love…whether worship occurs with the “canned prayers” and “ritual gestures” or with voices raised in praise in song…or in expectant silence…God still inhabits the praise of His people.

If we cannot worship the way others worship…we must worship in the ways that are meaningful to us…God is not nearly as concerned I don’t believe with the “order of service” or “order of liturgy” as we are…True Worship takes place in the heart…which only God sees.
 
About the music, sometimes it is loud and, like a concert, the words cannot be
understood. Sometimes the songs are written out (like on a screen) but not always.
The band is the center of attention as well, not off to the side.
 
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