Is it okay to go to a christian church and a catholic church?

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You’re not expanding your faith, you’re exposing yourself to false doctrines.
If you trully want to expand your faith go and read some good Catholic book, there are hundreds of them out there. I would recommend those written by St. Francis de Sales and by St. Alphonsus Liguori.
The Cathechism would also help you on this.
 
I think I understand where you are coming from. You go to church, there’s a 10 minute homily, and you want more! You want more scripture, more teaching, more insight on how the word of God impacts our daily life.

I think you would really appreciate EWTN which is a Catholic tv station. Look into adding it to your what you have right now. I am in Canada and even I can get it added to my tv package for cheap. Please consider this option.

I really enjoyed Our Father’s Plan by Scott Hahn. I had found it on line on EWTN for free and they were sectioned as 1 hour programs. I think if you sat and listened on a Saturday or Sunday night for an hour, you’d enjoy it. Solid Catholic teaching. Perhaps this link works, have a look…


May our precious lord guide and help you today.
 
As a complete outsider (being Jewish), I would say that if you go only once to explore, this may be all right. I would certainly not make it a habit, however. (Remember what Voltaire said: “Once a philosopher, twice a pervert.”) Also, the mere fact you differentiate Catholic from Christian instead of using the word “Protestant,” may be a red flag regarding your steadfastness in the Catholic faith. Or maybe not.
 
I think as long as you understand your Sunday and Holy day obligations and the other churches arent anti Catholic I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world.

I was part of an ecumenical community when younger and I learned a lot about my faith and Catholic teachings by comparing and contrasting with respectful members of other denominations.
 
My husband and I were Evangelical Protestant for the first 47 years of our lives.

I continue to attend Protestant worship services because I play piano and organ and am hired by these churches to provide their instrumental music.

I have no intention of renouncing the Catholic Church. My husband and I spent two years studying Catholicism before we joined RCIA (taught extremely well at our parish by ex-Evangelical Protestant pastors!), and we are convinced that the Catholic Church is the Church that Jesus founded.

For me, going to a Protestant service does nothing to hurt my faith in the Catholic Church.

What is DOES do it give me Christian friends who have the same “lifestyle” as me and my husband and do the same types of fellowship activities that we grew up with and miss terribly. For me and my husband, that means alcohol-free. We have been Catholic since 2004, and we have never become accustomed to alcohol at social gatherings, especially those gatherings in the church building itself. It’s so fun to go to a potluck or a concert that is alcohol free.

It’s not just the alcohol. There’s a READINESS among Protestants to sit down and talk about God, the Bible, current events, timely issues, struggles in our faith walk, etc. We don’t get this in the Catholic churches. What we see are people who already have friends that they’ve had since they were students and parents in the parish schools, and they on’t seem to have room for us in their lives.

Catholics admire my husband and me because we are very knowledgeable about the Bible (we can cite verses, find passages that are apropos for the situation being discussed, know the Bible stories and characters, including the Old Testament characters, and are quite fluent in Catholic apologetics. Also I play piano and organ in our Catholic parishes, and people like the “Gospel” feel that I bring to the music. (Sorry, all you Latin chant devotees!), but they also like the classical Bach that I play on the organ.

However, we don’t really have Catholic friends. We ask people out and no one is interested. I attend the Catholic Bible study and everyone is nice, but when I suggest meeting for supper before hand, or going out for dessert (not drinks) afterwards, no one is interested. My husband attend the parish Mens’ Group, and when he asks if people from his table would like to go out for coffee or lunch, no one is interested.

So for me, the Protestant churches that I play for provide that very necessary “Christian Fellowship” that so many Catholics do not understand. There is a “Catholic fellowship” of sorts, but it’s hard–I would say at this point–pretty nigh impossible–to enter into.

OP, if this is why you are attending, I understand. But if you are young, then I suggest that you immerse yourself in the activities at your Catholic parish and try very hard to learn how to make friends with Catholics. We can’t seem to do it. That’s the main reason I joined CAF–so I would have someone Catholic to talk to. My husband and I are very lonely Catholics who, after 14 years, still don’t really feel like we belong.
 
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It is sad that you have found such.

If you two and my husband and I went out for dinner and I ordered a glass of wine, would you get up and leave? Would you chalk me off your list of potential friends?

A bit of protestant prohibition thinking comes through in your post. I respect anyone’s decision to have a drink or to not have a drink, however, it seems that you wish to separate from anyone who dares touch alcohol, that they are somehow doing something evil. That may not be your actual feelings, but, that may be the vibe that people pick up on.
 
This is a very good post because it shows the importance of context, that is, WHY one is going to Protestant churches if one is Catholic. In your case, there seems to be a good reason. Pay attention to this, OP, and ask yourself why you want to go to Protestant churches.
 
I totally agree with your post but please do me a favor do not ever refer to your self as an out sider again because you are a very important part of this catholic answers forum and I always learn something from your posts and the fact that you said something about there being a red flag in the op post proves that you know more about the Catholic faith than alot of us Catholics.
 
No, we don’t think they are doing something evil. And of course we don’t separate from people who drink. Almost everyone drinks. We would have to move to a commune to not be around alcohol. We don’t mind if dinner guests order wine or beer. Our kids do it. We even pay for it if we are the ones who invite people out.

It’s just really nice to be in a social setting where there is no alcohol. It’s more fun for us. We feel more comfortable.

And no one judges us.
 
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“You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18)

I guess He had.
 
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You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my thing that is not my Church.
 
Jesus tells Peter he is the rock of the Church. He affirms His disciple Peter’s faith and character, and says that he will be the foundation of the community as it grows.

Jesus isn’t hiring Peter—a fisherman by trade—as a subcontractor to erect a building with a steeple. He only notes Peter’s devotion, and tells him to continue the Kingdom work he’d already begun. He is to steward the people of God: no building campaign, no weekly services.
 
There is no such thing like a " perfect Church " ,we all got flaws and are all striving towards perfection .
 
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