ND Church I’ve Been Considering

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There was a speaker came to our local ND church recently and my friend went she said the speaker said ‘Jesus mentions money more times than anything else in the gospels ‘ and intends to bless us financially etc etc. Wasn’t there myself so am hearing it second hand but this church also does ministry that is very close to gay conversion therapy from what I’ve heard. I am finding out what I can.
 
That’s fair. I think in larger cities there are more options for Catholic schooling and more programming in general. Many smaller town parishes could be doing more outreach than they are, especially for youth.

We have an elementary school on our parish grounds and a regional Catholic high school right next door to the parish. I’ve never heard a pitch during Mass for either.
 
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Thing is, non-denominational churches are just that: non-denominational. The beliefs can vary dramatically from one church to the next.
 
Yep, agreed…now that you mention it, I think our closest religion based high school (about 20-25 min away) is Evangelical. The school is “fairly” new, it was built in the past 5 years.
 
halogirl said:
The parishioners are told that if you give you receive it opens up a tide of financial blessings etc etc . Well let’s just say those items don’t come cheap do they? As you have said they pass the bucket around and bam new gym. I would rather see the money go to the poor. There are gyms in the community already
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They’re soon going to build another, entire building. I assume they will have services in one or the other and the church won’t double as a gym.
 
Exactly - at first when I became Catholic I was like ‘this is the same every week’ . I really wasn’t used to it. Miss a lot of my old hymns tho but again real presence … no comparison
 
Are you seriously thinking of converting though may I ask ? And are you cradle catholic ?
 
halogirl said:
And a masters degree doesn’t mean he is validly ordained. He is an educated motivational speaker who is a Christian but he’s not a priest. I don’t mean by a course, that he has a college degree I mean I have experienced ND churches where you just have to complete a church run course and when you are done you are a pastor
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I guess he’s validly ordained because he, along with four elders in the church, had an addition to the service one day where he ordained his son who is also going into ministry.

Now, I’ve never been to a priestly ordination, but the ordination I did go to, at the ND church, left me wondering (as I sometime do after services), ”that’s it?” I really expected more to it than a brief talk held by the pastor and each elder, then putting their hands on his shoulder/back and saying a prayer.
 
Hope1960 said:
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halogirl:
And a masters degree doesn’t mean he is validly ordained. He is an educated motivational speaker who is a Christian but he’s not a priest. I don’t mean by a course, that he has a college degree I mean I have experienced ND churches where you just have to complete a church run course and when you are done you are a pastor
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I guess he’s validly ordained because he, along with four elders in the church, had an addition to the service one day where he ordained his son who is also going into ministry.

Now, I’ve never been to a priestly ordination, but the ordination I did go to, at the ND church, left me wondering (as I sometime do after services), ”that’s it?” I really expected more to it than a brief talk held by the pastor and each elder, then putting their hands on his shoulder/back and saying a prayer.
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Holding an “ordination” in their church in no way indicates that he was validly ordained.
 
halogirl said:
Wasn’t there myself so am hearing it second hand but this church also does ministry that is very close to gay conversion therapy from what I’ve heard. I am finding out what I can.
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Speaking of gay conversion therapy, the way this pastor kept saying the word f**, I can see them believing in conversion therapy. And from the little I know about it, it doesn’t work.
 
halogirl said:
Are you seriously thinking of converting though may I ask ? And are you cradle catholic ?
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Yes, I’m a cradle Catholic who left the Church for many years,and returned almost 13 years ago.

I was considering converting, but after the class I took, I doubt I will. I think this pastor and I would butt heads and I’d end up having a lot of problems with him. I lost much respect for him when he was talking Sunday during class. I hold priests and ministers to a higher standard than those who aren’t priests and ministers.
 
TNMan said:
I can’t believe a pastor would use such language.
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To be clear, it was a derogatory word for “gay.” And he said it a number of times.
Then he used a crass word for “sex” that rhymes with the word “blue.”

I’ve never heard a priest or minister talk that way and people think that the Catholic Church is against gays. At least we accept them and just ask that the remain celibate.
 
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He sounds like a bigot quite honestly. I can see why a new way of doing church might seem attractive to you if you’ve only known one way and are having a wobble in your faith but I can honestly say that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Mass is way less flashy than the Protestant church but it doesn’t need to be an event it’s what we need to live out the church in the world. I was Methodist and have Over the years attended many ND services too. All of them that follow a liturgical structure are basically a watered down version of mass and it’s not the mass. The others are like gigs/shows and have people weeping, falling over and singing and honestly you don’t always know if it’s real or not. I can tell you as someone who crossed over that the RCC is the right place for you
 
halogirl said:
He sounds like a bigot quite honestly. I can see why a new way of doing church might seem attractive to you if you’ve only known one way and are having a wobble in your faith but I can honestly say that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Mass is way less flashy than the Protestant church but it doesn’t need to be an event it’s what we need to live out the church in the world. I was Methodist and have Over the years attended many ND services too. All of them that follow a liturgical structure are basically a watered down version of mass and it’s not the mass. The others are like gigs/shows and have people weeping, falling over and singing and honestly you don’t always know if it’s real or not. I can tell you as someone who crossed over that the RCC is the right place for you
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Thanks for the food for thought. I never saw anybody crying or falling over though.
A typical service begins with announcements by the Guest Services Director, then a band who play lots of loud rock/pop Christian music accompanied by flashing lights and yes, the fog machine.
Then communion, then the pastor talks for about a half hour or 40 minutes. Then it just ends abruptly with a prayer by the pastor.
 
Your more refined pastors don’t. This one may have been trying to show those present that he was “with it,” “on the same level” as them. Or he may use that kind of language all the time. I’d have walked out right then.
 
Hope1960 said:
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halogirl:
He sounds like a bigot quite honestly. I can see why a new way of doing church might seem attractive to you if you’ve only known one way and are having a wobble in your faith but I can honestly say that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Mass is way less flashy than the Protestant church but it doesn’t need to be an event it’s what we need to live out the church in the world. I was Methodist and have Over the years attended many ND services too. All of them that follow a liturgical structure are basically a watered down version of mass and it’s not the mass. The others are like gigs/shows and have people weeping, falling over and singing and honestly you don’t always know if it’s real or not. I can tell you as someone who crossed over that the RCC is the right place for you
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Thanks for the food for thought. I never saw anybody crying or falling over though.
A typical service begins with announcements by the Guest Services Director, then a band who play lots of loud rock/pop Christian music accompanied by flashing lights and yes, the fog machine.
Then communion, then the pastor talks for about a half hour or 40 minutes. Then it just ends abruptly with a prayer by the pastor.
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Where’s the meat? Sounds like all dessert.
 
Thankfully, not all ND pastors are like him. Many are very warm, polite and truly love the Lord.
 
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