Protestant Clergy

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Sean_W

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Ok, so I am not sure if this is the right place to put this question, but I trust it will get to where it needs to go.

As some I have been in contact with on here I grew up in the Nazarene Church felt a call to pastoral ministry and have a degree from a Nazarene school in that area. Recently however we left the church due to something that affected one of my family members, won’t go into detail here, but as a result I started attending Catholic Church in my town because it is what I was most familiar with at the time. I got in contact with the Deacon at the parish and wanted to learn more about the Catholic faith and if I could attend some of the RCIA stuff and this past Sunday I was told that I had the option to enter into full communion with the church if I wanted too.

My question I guess though is can I still become Catholic? I have a possible opportunity to join the pastoral staff at a local non-denom church where I live, but have really come to enjoy the atmosphere of the Catholic Mass and just the devotion to God and living Christlike and all that as many Catholics know. I guess that the only real matter would be that if I got the position how I would meet service requirements and all that, but as long as I am serving God and obeying that call on my life I’m ok with that.

Any thoughts or helpful advice in this matter would be helpful.
 
You can’t be in communion with the Catholic Church while you are a leader in a group that denies Catholic teaching.
 
i would advise against this a la carte style of religion. if you feel drawn to the Catholic Church, by all means, explore further, and delve into it. but that means not talking a position at a non catholic church. praying for you!
 
It’s absolutely great to hear that you’re becoming more and more interested to the Catholic Faith. By all means, keep exploring. While attending the other church at the same time for purposes of let’s say “examples: further explanations christian themes accepted by both, attempting to understand their content view, friends/groups you’re deeply involved with” is completely fine while coming into full communion with the catholic church and after due to the loose interpretation/invisible church style of defining truth that protestant churches hold. However, to become part of protestant clergy would be to accept the beliefs and doctrine of said church as your own - which would be openly denying teachings,doctrine,dogma,etc. of Catholicism which would defeat the purpose of accepting the infallibility of the church, and being a direct contradiction in what you would be professing to believe when coming into communion. I really hope that this is helpful in your journey. And seriously, good luck to you and God bless!!
 
Like the others said you can’t pastor at a “non-denominational” church and be Catholic. The good news is that since you were called to ministry before coming to the Catholic church you can be a priest even if you are married(with permission of the bishop). I suggest you attend some RCIA classes and learn more before making your decision. There is a reason you are being called into the church.
 
Sean, the best place to begin is to learn what the Catholic Church actually teaches and believes. One of the easiest ways to learn that is through a copy of Catholicism for Dummies. It is an excellent resource that you will be able to refer to for years to come. Before becoming Catholic, one must give assent to the sum total of Catholic teachings - not that you understand them, but that you believe them to be true, even if you do not currently understand them.

The second thing is to spend time in the physical presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. You may do that at any Catholic parish (before the Tabernacle), but it is an especially powerful experience when the consecrated Eucharist is exposed for worship at adoration, or “holy hour.” Many hearts have converted from simply spending time in Christ’s presence. It is, by far, the best-kept secret in the faith.

Christ’s peace be with you.
 
I’m a former Nazarene (youth pastor, childrens minister, board member, musician) who has been in the Catholic Church for about 6 months. I don’t know if this was your experience or not, but my Nazarene church was becoming very a la carte. My pastor believed in the Real Presence (but that it happened whenever we had communion), said that baptism was allowable for infants at the parents request (even though I had never seen an infant baptized in the Nazarene church),that baptism was an effectual sacrament rather than symbolic, instituted Lenten practices and will be doing a Jesse tree (Catholic Advent tradition) with the kids. My old pastor even started liturgical responses to scripture readings and said I could pray the rosary if I wanted to because it was a good spiritual practice.
All of this was fine for me- but not outside of apostolic authority. Outside of the teachings of the Catholic Church, it was all just one person’s opinion. I don’t know all the answers but I do know that I don’t want to play Pope. It was completely freeing to me to accept Church authority. Otherwise, every pastor becomes a pope with their own interpretation and I don’t think God designed the Church for that kind of chaos. I was reminded of this again when reading Acts 15 with my son today. When doctrinal issues came up, the early. Christians went to Jerusalem to ask Peter and the Apostles what to do. We all have a role in the body, but we are not all called to be apostles and interpret all the teachings of scripture and tradition for ourselves.
I don’t think you want to be Catholic just because mass feels good. I think something in you acknowledges that at mass, The Lord of the universe physically comes to join with His own. You see Catholics kneel and hear the scripture that at the name of Jesus every knee will now ringing in your head. You can almost hear angels sing holy, holy,holy with the faithful. The Holy Spirit is calling you.
Remember Jesus’ prayer that we would be one? Remember the exhortations throughout scripture to be unified? I think there are a lot of Christians like you that God is calling.
Becoming Catholic was a complete rebirth of my faith. If you feel called, come in all the way. We need scripture experts and teachers in the Catholic Church and if God calls, He will provide.
I’ll pray for you- seek first His kingdom. Before jobs, before your own ideas. Seek first Him.
 
Welcome home!
AT_Cross said:
I was reminded of this again when reading Acts 15 with my son today. When doctrinal issues came up, the early. Christians went to Jerusalem to ask Peter and the Apostles what to do.
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Paul went to the Church in Acts 15. Paul! Can you believe that? The very same Paul who wrote “All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, That the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work” trusted the Church over and above the scriptures, which said that circumcision was necessary. This has to be very uncomfortable for “bible Christians” (bible as sole rule/supreme authority) to contemplate. If the scriptures were the “supreme authority”, then Paul would have followed them and mandated circumcision. Wisely, He chose to listen to the Church.
 
Sean_W said:
Ok, so I am not sure if this is the right place to put this question, but I trust it will get to where it needs to go.

My question I guess though is can I still become Catholic? I have a possible opportunity to join the pastoral staff at a local non-denom church where I live, but have really come to enjoy the atmosphere of the Catholic Mass and just the devotion to God and living Christlike and all that as many Catholics know. I guess that the only real matter would be that if I got the position how I would meet service requirements and all that, but as long as I am serving God and obeying that call on my life I’m ok with that.

Any thoughts or helpful advice in this matter would be helpful.
Click to expand...
AT_Cross said:
I’m a former Nazarene (youth pastor, childrens minister, board member, musician) who has been in the Catholic Church for about 6 months. I don’t know if . The Holy Spirit is calling you.
Remember Jesus’ prayer that we would be one? Remember the exhortations throughout scripture to be unified? I think there are a lot of Christians like you that God is calling.
Becoming Catholic was a complete rebirth of my faith. If you feel called, come in all the way. We need scripture experts and teachers in the Catholic Church and if God calls, He will provide.
I’ll pray for you- seek first His kingdom. Before jobs, before your own ideas. Seek first Him.
Click to expand...
I will echo AT’s response to you…seek Him first…and He will tell you what to do.

There are avenues of service in the CC too…you could explore the diaconate…there are ministries in the CC that will need your talents…just explore them…and let the Holy Spirit guide you.

As this passage says…obedience is more important:

1 Samuel 15:22-23
22 But Samuel replied:
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.”
 
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