kalt, before we converted to Catholicism in 2004, my husband and I were evangelical Protestants.
So I’ll try to answer your question the way we would have answered back then.
No, we did not feel comfortable at Mass.
The first Masses we attended in 2002 were OF Masses, with contemporary (Haugen, Hass, etc.) hymns, in a clamshell nave, with a pastor who wears a Chicago Bears jersey under his vestments.
But in spite of all these innovations which many on CAF would derisively call “Protestant,” my husband and I felt extremely uncomfortable at the Mass.
We found it ancient, ritualistic, formal, and…well, uncomfortable is a good word.
We had no idea what was happening, although we did understand (because of some old Catholic elementary school story books that I had at home) that the Communion was the time when Jesus became Truly Present on the altar.
To us, the use of any type of liturgy was very strange, as evangelical churches never use a liturgy because it is “a work of man.”
We didn’t know any of the liturgical responses except for the Lord’s Prayer, and even that was different because they added the “ending” (Thine is the Kingdom, Power, and Glory) after a lot of “man-made” words. (We thought that “Thine is the Kingdom, Power, and Glory” were in the Bible, therefore not man-made! Joke’s on us!)
We didn’t know ANY of the hymns, in spite of their 20th century authorship (and in spite of the fact that many on CAF call these hymns “Protestant”. I don’t get that at all.) We found these Jesuit hymns extremely old-fashioned and quaint and poetical and very deep spiritually compared to the rock music and repetitious, simplistic lyrics that we were used to in the praise and worship songs. I really liked the use of 6/8 time in so many of the Catholic (yes, Catholic, even though Marty Haugen is a Protestant) hymns–it seemed more ancient to me than the 4/4 that we were used to with so many comtemporary praise and worship songs.
We weren’t used to kneeling, although in my husband’s Assemblies of God church where he grew up, the people often knelt (facing the back of their pews).
Also, people wore their coats–we still find that strange (does anyone remember the infamous “coat rack” thread that I started a few years ago on this board?! And the inglorious closing of the thread due to the terrific fight that erupted?!)
And people didn’t speak to each other, except during the few seconds of the Sign of Peace. That was very strange to us–it felt terribly uncomfortable to just sit in silence. We were used to meeting and greeting people before and after worship services. (We have since learned that our parish is actually very noisy compared to the “TLM” Mass that is held in our city, and we are considered “irreverent” because people do whisper greetings to each other.)
The vestments that the priest wore were strange. The decorations (statues, even though our parish only has a few), pictures, candles, etc. were all strange.
We had no idea when to stand, sit, kneel, sing, etc.
I could go on and on, kalt, but in short, yes, we were extremely uncomfortable. Even though a lot of people call the OF Mass “Protestantized,” absolutely never, ever in a million years would most evangelical Protestants feel comfortable in even the most contemporary of OF settings (which ours was, even though we didn’t know it at the time).
My husband and I actually made an appointment with one of the priests after the first few Masses we attended, and asked him to explain everything in the Mass to us so that we wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable.
Our parish now has a very nice tract rack in the narthex, and one of the tracts explains the Mass to newcomers. This tract disappears quickly every week. I think a lot of Catholics, not just Protestant visitors, take it home!
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