Leaving the Catholic Church and Family Reaction

[Austin83]

There are 4 pastors at my church including his wife, I have thoroughly enjoyed sermons from all of them. Pastor Rodgers is simply the senior pastor, something tells me I’ll be just fine if he ever did pass away. My Evangel faith will carry me through all hurddles, and my faith is just not because of one pastor.

 

[awfulthings9]

Austin83,

Like you, I also left the Catholic Church for EXACTLY the same reasons. I felt the Mass was empty. I felt that Catholic teachings were unscriptural. I felt the Pope was trying to replace God. The area Evangelical Churches, like the Solid Rock Family Church down the street, were so energetic.

Then something happened … in my search for the church that most represents that which Christ set up, I began studying the early Church. After all, these individuals, who learned from the apostles and early disciples, would have lived Christianity at its purest.

What I found was that the early Church was Catholic. The early Christians believed in the true presence, the authority of the Pope, the intercession of the saints, etc. AND once my eyes were opened, I reread Scripture - all of it - and saw the Catholic Church. I realized that my pull to Evangelical Christianity had been because it “felt” good. But worship isn’t about God making us feel good - it is about serving him in the way he designed.

If you have truly researched BOTH sides, as you say you have, then consider these questions. Your answers will reveal something about whether you truly understand the faith you are leaving:

How long after Christ’s death was it before the early Christians had a COMPLETE New Testament written and compiled?

Until that time, without a complete Bible, how did they learn the fundamentals of the faith?

What was the criteria for deciding which books go into the New Testament?

How do we know Scripture is inspired?

Are we supposed to base our religious beliefs on the Bible alone?

If so, where does the Bible tell us this?

What is the pillar and foundation of the truth?

What did Christ mean when he gave Peter the power to bind and loosen in Matthew 16:18?

Your Evangelical Church will claim that communion is merely a symble. What does Paul say about people who don’t recognize it for the body and blood of Christ in 1 Cor. 11:27? Is this a choice you’re willing to make?

Everytime someone is put in charge of a church in the Bible, it is after being appointed by someone in authority and after a “laying on of hands”. Who appointed Pastor Rodgers and layed hands on him?

I went to a friend’s sermon (he is a Protestant minister) recently. He blew the congregation away and had everyone excited. Everyone was singing and waving their hands. They had donuts and coffee afterward. It was very powerful. However, Jesus’ sermon on the mount was rather simple. It wasn’t nearly as hyped up. Scripture doesn’t tell us anything about donuts and coffee. If Jesus began preaching today, should I chose my friend’s more exciting service over his? Or is there something besides “emotion” that should guide us?

If you discovered that the Catholic Mass is closer to that of the early Christians than the exciting Protestant services, many of which didn’t get their start until within the last hundred years, would you still choose the Protestant service? Or the Mass as the early Christians worshiped?

Lastly, know you are in my prayers. If you still believe that the Catholic Church is different from what Scripture teaches, please visit www.scripturecatholic.com. See if you can find a single Catholic doctrine that isn’t supported by a ton of verses.

God bless.

 

[Balance]

5-Decades-a-Day:

And God forbid, what happens if Mr. Rodgers drops dead tomorrow, and you don’t like his replacement half as much? What then?

I agree - I used to be part of a Charismatic covenant community who held the founding elder in just as high regard… until it all turned to custard and the truth came that he was saying one thing and doing another. Shook the community to its core.

Austin -

don’t pin all your hopes, all your faith, on your pastor! you might think the Pope’s not infallible - neither is the Pastor!

 

[Balance]

awfulthings9:

Austin83,

Until that time, without a complete Bible, how did they learn the fundamentals of the faith?

What was the criteria for deciding which books go into the New Testament?

.

Austin, I really encourage you to look for the answers to these questions.

If the Twelve were teaching about Christ and about Christian life before there was the Bible as we know it today… what does that mean for us? it must mean that there were certain Christian leaders who had the authority to pass on oral tradition to the faithful, without recourse to Scripture.

The Church, given that authority by Christ himself, has that authority still.

 

[Austin83]

Well I must say this has been a great conversation but I’m going to have to go for now at least. I must say it is good to see that some people out there are passionate about the Catholic faith, keep doing what you’re doing. You all are the people who need to re-energize the Catholic faith and get it back to the level it was. I still stand by my firmness though, I won’t be one of those to re-energize it. God has spoken to me in a very personal way and I truly believe God wants me in the Evangelical church, and I will be where God wants me to be. I feel closer to God than I ever have, and it is an exciting feel, I feel I can communicate with him and truly do his will and show my passion for him. The Evangel church saved me and I am forever grateful for that, for giving me a relationship with God again. But like I said, it’s great to see Catholics who are actually passionate and care about their faith, Catholicism needs you right now. I’ll be around hopefully, I hope you all have a great day, and Praise God!

 

[Austin83]

Well I must say this has been a great conversation but I’m going to have to go for now at least. I must say it is good to see that some people out there are passionate about the Catholic faith, keep doing what you’re doing. You all are the people who need to re-energize the Catholic faith and get it back to the level it was. I still stand by my firmness though, I won’t be one of those to re-energize it. God has spoken to me in a very personal way and I truly believe God wants me in the Evangelical church, and I will be where God wants me to be. I feel closer to God than I ever have, and it is an exciting feel, I feel I can communicate with him and truly do his will and show my passion for him. The Evangel church saved me and I am forever grateful for that, for giving me a relationship with God again. But like I said, it’s great to see Catholics who are actually passionate and care about their faith, Catholicism needs you right now. I’ll be around hopefully, I hope you all have a great day, and Praise God!

 

[awfulthings9]

Austin83:

Well I must say this has been a great conversation but I’m going to have to go for now at least. I must say it is good to see that some people out there are passionate about the Catholic faith, keep doing what you’re doing. You all are the people who need to re-energize the Catholic faith and get it back to the level it was. I still stand by my firmness though, I won’t be one of those to re-energize it. God has spoken to me in a very personal way and I truly believe God wants me in the Evangelical church, and I will be where God wants me to be. I feel closer to God than I ever have, and it is an exciting feel, I feel I can communicate with him and truly do his will and show my passion for him. The Evangel church saved me and I am forever grateful for that, for giving me a relationship with God again. But like I said, it’s great to see Catholics who are actually passionate and care about their faith, Catholicism needs you right now. I’ll be around hopefully, I hope you all have a great day, and Praise God!

Hmmm. The tough questions are asked and …
Well, he’s in God’s hands now, so we increase our prayer for him.

 

[Austin83]

You act like I said I was a religious expert, I’ll admit I’m no religion expert, I don’t know every scripture quote or every policy of the Catholic, Evangel, or any other faith. If that is the way you are trying to save me that’s not a good tactic, in fact it’s how too many Catholics behave. The whole “we were founded earlier, so we are better than everyone else and everyone else is going to hell.” If that’s the case, then a lot of good people are going to hell and a lot of bad people are going to heaven. With that said, I just truly believe God wants me in the Evangelical religion just like he wants you in the Catholic religion. Who are we to challenge God’s will?

 

[Toni]

Austin83:

You act like I said I was a religious expert, I’ll admit I’m no religion expert, I don’t know every scripture quote or every policy of the Catholic, Evangel, or any other faith. I just truly believe God wants me in the Evangelical religion just like he wants you in the Catholic religion. Who are we to challenge God’s will?

Because I for one do not believe that it is God’s will that you leave the church, because a minister makes you feel good. That is why I mentioned in an earlier post about feelings. Faith is not about feelings. It is about Christ. You have been taught the faith and because you do not want to read more about the faith you have you walk away to learn about another faith. Scott Hahn was a protestant read some of his material. He pretty much paints the picture of whats out there. As another poster stated I wonder where you will go when you get tired of that minister. What will you do when those warm fuzzy feelings go away. We as Catholic’s always have the Eucharist and the other sacraments. Whats on the plate over in the new church besides warm fuzzy feelings?

 

[awfulthings9]

Austin83:

You act like I said I was a religious expert, I’ll admit I’m no religion expert, I don’t know every scripture quote or every policy of the Catholic, Evangel, or any other faith. If that is the way you are trying to save me that’s not a good tactic, in fact it’s how too many Catholics behave. The whole “we were founded earlier, so we are better than everyone else and everyone else is going to hell.” If that’s the case, then a lot of good people are going to hell and a lot of bad people are going to heaven. With that said, I just truly believe God wants me in the Evangelical religion just like he wants you in the Catholic religion. Who are we to challenge God’s will?

Austin,
The Heaven’s Gate Cult members “believed” it was “God’s will” to commit suicide some years ago. This was the point of my post. Your posts are filled with your emotional decision. Scripture nowhere tells us that God will reveal his will for us through emotion. The whole “we were founded earlier” part is very important because Jesus promised that the Church he established would never be defeated (Matt. 16:19). Either Jesus was telling the truth, and his true Church is the one that was “founded earlier” or Jesus was lying. Do you think he was lying? By telling him that you believe a church made by men over one-thousand and five hundred years after he started his is EQUAL to his, you are telling Christ that you know better than he does. If he established a Church to be the Catholic Church (and history shows he did), then you are leaving what Jesus set up.

If you are no religious expert - as you admit - then perhaps you need to become one. Now. Before you make a life-changing decision. I don’t post to show you I’m better than you, but because many of us have been down your road and finally actually started doing the research instead of doing what some pastor was telling us. If you can’t answer the questions I posted earlier, your decision is based on what you “feel” is right, and not what true Christian scholarship shows. Don’t argue this with “a lot of people are going to Hell”. We’re talking about you, here. A lot of people are obese in our country, but popularity isn’t the measure. The gate is narrow and the way is hard. Christ never promised his church would be exciting. Don’t give up on this fight so easily.

 

[gardenswithkids]

Austin83:

…The Evangel church saved me and I am forever grateful for that…

It is Jesus who saves us. He is the One Who deserves your gratitude.

 

[awfulthings9]

Austin,

Christ prayed that we would all be one (John 17).

Except for a few heretic schisms, the Church was one until Martin Luther and the reformation.

Now there are thousands of Protestant churches, all arguing over doctrine and practices.

When you die, when Christ asks if you belonged to the Church he established with an earthly shepherd (the Pope) in order to achieve unity (“Catholic” means universal) or if you joined one of the churches that divided into a thousand parts because of some man’s decision to rebel, what will your answer be?

If Christ prayed we would all be one, are you really doing his “will” by joining a church that broke from that unity?

Remember that ignorance is no excuse. When you die, if Jesus asks why you didn’t become a religious expert before leaving the church he created (as history shows, the Catholic church was here all along), what will you tell him? Are you rejecting salvation by rejecting a search for the truth over your emotions? I once did. I’m so glad God called me to research and study and read Scripture in light of what I found.

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

Austin83:

The whole “we were founded earlier, so we are better than everyone else and everyone else is going to hell.”

eh, we don’t believe that, never have. we do believe we are the Church Jesus Christ founded, which can be attested to by the early church fathers… (www.ccel.org [protestant site ran by calvin college] and www.earlychristianwritings.com). which writings of the early church fathers point to the protestant faith? (sola scriptura, sola fide, etc. etc.)?

 

[Balance]

“we were founded earlier, so we are better than everyone else and everyone else is going to hell.” If that’s the case, then a lot of good people are going to hell and a lot of bad people are going to heaven. With that said, I just truly believe God wants me in the Evangelical religion just like he wants you in the Catholic religion. Who are we to challenge God’s will?

just one little point - Catholics don’t believe “every one else is going to Hell”, although it might seem that way. again, if you believe that’s what the Church teaches, well, with all due respect, you haven’t done your homework!

Christ prayed that “they all might be one”. ‘they’ meaning his followers - us. what does it mean for us to “be one?” - you in one church, me in another, people in all the (how many?) 30000 other Christian churches?

You’ll be in my prayers.
Seek Christ first. Not a church, or a sermon, or a pastor, or a group, or a Bible verse, or a feeling, or an experience, or an ideology, but Christ. If you’re honestly doing that, he’ll lead you back to where he wants you - the Church we call Catholic, your home. (And you’ll look back at these posts and chuckle!)

 

[LegionofMary]

"I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him… . On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” … From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?”

Love, Jesus Christ

 

[Church_Militant]

Austin83:

Well I must say this has been a great conversation but I’m going to have to go for now at least. I must say it is good to see that some people out there are passionate about the Catholic faith, keep doing what you’re doing. You all are the people who need to re-energize the Catholic faith and get it back to the level it was. I still stand by my firmness though, I won’t be one of those to re-energize it. God has spoken to me in a very personal way and I truly believe God wants me in the Evangelical church, and I will be where God wants me to be. I feel closer to God than I ever have, and it is an exciting feel, I feel I can communicate with him and truly do his will and show my passion for him. The Evangel church saved me and I am forever grateful for that, for giving me a relationship with God again. But like I said, it’s great to see Catholics who are actually passionate and care about their faith, Catholicism needs you right now. I’ll be around hopefully, I hope you all have a great day, and Praise God!

Don’t cop out like that… the fact is that you do not really know that what Evangel is teaching is really in line with the truths taught by the apostles to the early church, and if you don’t take the time to check that out then you will regret that for all eternity, because even if you make it to heaven, you will know that you did not obey Christ and remain in His church. (Just because they tell you they are a New Testament church doesn’t make it so…)

You say you’re not an expert…no kidding? I’m not either, but I knew that I had to be 100% sure of what was true, and it was my digging into that that led me home to the Catholic Church. What does the Word of God say? 2nd Timothy 2:
“15 Carefully study to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

 

[NotWorthy]

Austin83:

With that said, I just truly believe God wants me in the Evangelical religion just like he wants you in the Catholic religion. Who are we to challenge God’s will?

“one Lord, one faith, one baptism”
Who’s will are you following?

Good Luck!

Notworthy

 

[awfulthings9]

Austin,

When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, their sin came in that they suddenly began deciding what was right and what was wrong for themselves.

The commandment to not eat of that tree was an intellectual decision.

As children of Adam and Eve, we inherit their desire to chose our own right and wrong based on our emotions, just as they did by hiding from God and covering their nakedness. It suddenly “felt” wrong to live as God had designed.

Your post tell us that, for you, it “feels” wrong to be Catholic. By leaving the church, are you doing it based on an emotional reaction, as did Adam and Eve in the first sin? I did. But, by coming back, I followed the intellectual path that God layed out, just as he layed out an intellectual path for our first parents. We don’t have the ability to decide what God’s will is based on what “feels” right because that ability was destroyed in Eden. You must study this further. We are so persistant here, yet we get nothing out of this. We are just worried about your soul because, as you admit, you are making a decision without researching it COMPLETELY.

Beyond this, there is nothing more we can do. Please don’t toss God’s gift of his Church away so quickly.

 

[NotWorthy]

Austin, you may have left the building but,

if I considered leaving the church that is 2000 years old, looking at all the things that are wrong, I would want to know what it actually teaches.

I mean, if an institution could last for 2000 years (and there is only one), it has to be doing something right, or getting some “supernatural” help, wouldn’t it?

I would admit that I’m ignorant of its teachings, but still be an expert enough to leave. Does that makes any sense?

Notworthy

 

[NonDenom]

Austin83:

Okay I just joined this forum and first I’ll introduce myself a little bit. I’m Austin, 22 years old, and I was baptized as a baby in the Catholic Church. My whole family is Catholic, I went to Catholic grade and high school, was raised to be a good Catholic guy. However I have never really felt at home in the Catholic faith, and as I have gotten older I have noticed many of the inaccuracies between what the scripture teaches us and what the Catholic church teaches us. I stopped attending mass regularly when I was about 20 years old because it felt more like a chore and a requirement than something I wanted to do. The Catholic faith to me felt so hollow and empty, I didn’t feel I had a connection with God at all. I would leave every mass empty, I just didn’t get anything out of it, it was just saying some prayers from memory every Sunday. About 6 months ago I started looking at other religions and asking friends about their religions. Finally, I went to a non-denominational Christian church. I knew the minute the pastor started talking that I had found God and had been born again. I was energized with the surmon and left knowing I had truly experienced God’s presense and his love, and it was an incredible experience. I had a very personal experience with the pastor who helped me communicate with God to release me of my sins, it was the most powerful moment of my life, and I truly felt that I had been saved.

I have been back several times since then and it just keeps getting better. I now plan on joining and becoming and attending weekly. Unlike the Catholic mass, I not only do not consider it a chore to attend mass, but I want to attend it. There is no doubt that I have found my church and the people I want to share my faith with.

This leads though to the difficult part of the process. First of all, while my friends and most of my family will probably accept my decision, I know my mom and dad will have a very difficult time accepting my decision. I know they might even try to convince me not to do it (that’s why I’m waiting until after I have officially left) but I know what I am doing is right. I am looking for some advice from others who have left their faith for another, how did you break the news and how did you comfort them? What did you say to them? Also, I am unsure of how to officially leave the Catholic church. Do I have to write in somewhere denouncing the faith or do I have to talk with a priest? I know if I talk to a priest about it he will try to do the fear tactics that most Catholics do. Statements like “you are turning away from God’s church” and “you will live in hell for betraying God’s intention”. But back to the point, if anybody here knows the process I have to go through, I really want to start the process as soon as possible just to get the process over with and start my new life with God. I appreciate any help that anybody here can offer.

Austin

Hi Austin
My wife went through the same thing with her parents. After much prayer we sat them down and told why, we then invited them to attend church with us. That has not happend yet but we are hopefull that it will. It is obvious that you love your parents, so inviting them to your church so that they can also experience God in the same way that you have is a must. I will be praying for you and your family.
In Him and Only Him