Visiting other churchs

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I have found time spent with my separated brothers and sisters in Christ to be a wonderful means of disabusing them of misconceptions they may have of Catholics and what the Catholic Church teaches.
We, as Catholics, may in indeed attend services with our separated brothers and sisters in Christ. Having said that there are certain things that we must first keep in mind. Protestant services in no way take the place of our Sunday Obligation. We must first attend Mass. Just as non-Catholics are prohibited from receiving the Eucharist when we invite them to Mass with us, we are to refrain from receiving during any Communion service.
Attending services, whether as a participant or mere observer, is an excellent way to learn about each other. Yes, I have been encouraged by my parish priest to continue to attend services with my separated brothers and sisters in Christ. Contrary to the fears expressed by some members on CAF, doing so has strengthened my faith rather than weakened it.
 
DebChris said:
I have found time spent with my separated brothers and sisters in Christ to be a wonderful means of disabusing them of misconceptions they may have of Catholics and what the Catholic Church teaches.
We, as Catholics, may in indeed attend services with our separated brothers and sisters in Christ. Having said that there are certain things that we must first keep in mind. Protestant services in no way take the place of our Sunday Obligation. We must first attend Mass. Just as non-Catholics are prohibited from receiving the Eucharist when we invite them to Mass with us, we are to refrain from receiving during any Communion service.
Attending services, whether as a participant or mere observer, is an excellent way to learn about each other. Yes, I have been encouraged by my parish priest to continue to attend services with my separated brothers and sisters in Christ. Contrary to the fears expressed by some members on CAF, doing so has strengthened my faith rather than weakened it.
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It’s trusting in God. He is in control. Be not afraid of the evil one, devil, boogy man, or something or someone out there taking you from God.
 
DebChris said:
I have found time spent with my separated brothers and sisters in Christ to be a wonderful means of disabusing them of misconceptions they may have of Catholics and what the Catholic Church teaches.
We, as Catholics, may in indeed attend services with our separated brothers and sisters in Christ. Having said that there are certain things that we must first keep in mind. Protestant services in no way take the place of our Sunday Obligation. We must first attend Mass. Just as non-Catholics are prohibited from receiving the Eucharist when we invite them to Mass with us, we are to refrain from receiving during any Communion service.
Attending services, whether as a participant or mere observer, is an excellent way to learn about each other. Yes, I have been encouraged by my parish priest to continue to attend services with my separated brothers and sisters in Christ. Contrary to the fears expressed by some members on CAF, doing so has strengthened my faith rather than weakened it.
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I feel the same way. Every time I go to an Evangelical Church I feel so sorry for them and so sad. Their theology is razor thin and they have so little - no sacraments, no prayers other than a 30 second prayer at the end. Even Methodist services stop short of what it really could be. Many Churches struggle to figure out what they want to be. Every time I go it makes me proud to be Catholic and and so grateful for the gift of the Church.

-Tim-
 
billcu1 said:
I would be very careful lay person or ecclesiastic with the “I’m right so everyone else is wrong” mentality. So the JW say Jesus is Michael that rings something. Hum. Perhaps that was in a previous creation. And as far as the Mormons go. Who says Peter, James and John didn’t appear to John Smith. God does what he wants and appears to whom he chooses. His ways are not our ways. What we are given is not the same as what others are. And there’s a reason for that I won’t get into. I’m just a sinner. But as Jesus said “He who seeks will find and reign over the entirety”. So someone isn’t going too.

Pax
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The Church says that the “revelation” of Joseph Smith is false. Same with the JWs.
 
Yes, you can certainly go and visit other churches.

I most recently used to go with my Methodist cousin to her church.

I mentioned in my “Meet and Greet” post that I am a “Cradle Catholic,” but I come from a Protestant family background. My parents were Catholic converts.

So, it was not unusual for me to attend different Protestant churches while growing up, and also as an adult, too. I would fulfill my Sunday obligation as usual, and then would go to my family member’s church as a guest.

I was always invited out of love, so that is how I went. I never participated in communion while I was there, either.
 
JamesTheJust said:
The Church says that the “revelation” of Joseph Smith is false. Same with the JWs.
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Based on what? Then we DO have a monopoly on God the church is teaching right? What do you mean false? There are things the church isn’t to know. I know that for a fact. From what I’ve seen so far about the church’s Judgment’s concerning other sheep I am a little weary. But willing to listen. The Judgment usually is based on church belief. A decision about others can’t be made based on that. That’s human judgment. God’s revelation to us. Not all. Private revelations are really all that matter anyway. We are all spoken to differently.
 
billcu1 said:
Based on what? Then we DO have a monopoly on God the church is teaching right? What do you mean false? There are things the church isn’t to know. I know that for a fact. From what I’ve seen so far about the church’s Judgment’s concerning other sheep I am a little weary. But willing to listen. The Judgment usually is based on church belief. A decision about others can’t be made based on that. That’s human judgment. God’s revelation to us. Not all. Private revelations are really all that matter anyway. We are all spoken to differently.
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  1. We do not “control” God, but the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, is able to pronounce on what He has done.
  2. Yes, there are things upon which the Church cannot pronounce (such as who is in Hell) but this is not one of them.
  3. If you are a Catholic, you believe that the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit to never teach error.
  4. So private revelations “outrank” public revelation? So anyone, like Joseph Smith and Charles Taze Russell, can contradict Scripture and Tradition (which they do), and still be correct?
 
billcu1 said:
Based on what? Then we DO have a monopoly on God the church is teaching right? What do you mean false? There are things the church isn’t to know. I know that for a fact. From what I’ve seen so far about the church’s Judgment’s concerning other sheep I am a little weary. But willing to listen. The Judgment usually is based on church belief. A decision about others can’t be made based on that. That’s human judgment. God’s revelation to us. Not all. Private revelations are really all that matter anyway. We are all spoken to differently.
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The Church condemns the teachings of the LDS and JW for different reasons. The reason the Church condemns the teachings of the JW is because the JW deny the divinity of Christ (among other things). The reason why the Church condemns the teachings of the LDS is because it claims that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are, in actuality three separate gods, not One God in Three Persons (among other things). In other words, the JW and LDS preach doctrines which have been decried as heretical in the past by the Church by different ecumenical councils. The JW’s preaching is close to Arianism, and the LDS preaching is close to Gnosticism. Furthermore, the JW revised the Bible to be more acceptable to their teachings (which has been condemned since the beginnings of the Church - see the last verses of the Book of Revalation). The LDS’s holy book is not the Bible, it’s the Book of Mormon (though they use the Bible to convince people that they are a Christian sect). Of course, even though most other Christian denominations do not recognize the JW and LDS as Christians, they are included in the umbrella of Christian denominations (usually as Christian - other) when secular organizations collect demographic data on religions.
 
powerofk said:
The Church condemns the teachings of the LDS and JW for different reasons. The reason the Church condemns the teachings of the JW is because the JW deny the divinity of Christ (among other things). The reason why the Church condemns the teachings of the LDS is because it claims that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are, in actuality three separate gods, not One God in Three Persons (among other things). In other words, the JW and LDS preach doctrines which have been decried as heretical in the past by the Church by different ecumenical councils. The JW’s preaching is close to Arianism, and the LDS preaching is close to Gnosticism. Furthermore, the JW revised the Bible to be more acceptable to their teachings (which has been condemned since the beginnings of the Church - see the last verses of the Book of Revalation). The LDS’s holy book is not the Bible, it’s the Book of Mormon (though they use the Bible to convince people that they are a Christian sect). Of course, even though most other Christian denominations do not recognize the JW and LDS as Christians, they are included in the umbrella of Christian denominations (usually as Christian - other) when secular organizations collect demographic data on religions.
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Well 3 separate Gods I’m not quite sure what that means. But a 3 fold God? That’s what I believe we call “modalism”. Gnosticism I believe the church said there techniques they didn’t believe needed grace. What? They didn’t believe that. My biggest complaint here is that we should be careful. Look at how the press has destroyed the holy father’s words the past couple of months. I don’t see how others can judge us and I believe it works the same for us of others. We are all working on private revelations. I am a faithful adherent of mariology which the church teaches is optional. Like believing in tradition. The gnosticism I’ve seen makes perfect sense to me. Just look at the likes of Hildegard of Bidgen, Teresa of Avila, Ignatius of Loyola John of the cross I could go on. We believe in mysticism. There are “secrets” as the gnostics believed. That’s what initiation is about. Michael was one of Jesus’s “Guardian Angels”. I know this from my own observations. As far as the JWs saying he was Michael well am I Azartuke? One of my angels? Yes and no. Jesus was human and had angels to minister to him. I does sound like the JWs don’t understand the trinity. And the “secrets” of the gnostics, well they’re for anyone God chooses. I think we’ll all get there.

pax
 
JamesTheJust said:
  1. We do not “control” God, but the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, is able to pronounce on what He has done.
  2. Yes, there are things upon which the Church cannot pronounce (such as who is in Hell) but this is not one of them.
  3. If you are a Catholic, you believe that the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit to never teach error.
  4. So private revelations “outrank” public revelation? So anyone, like Joseph Smith and Charles Taze Russell, can contradict Scripture and Tradition (which they do), and still be correct?
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Number 1 you say the church can pronounce on what the Holy Spirit has done? If the Holy Spirit wants. He will not reveal what he doesn’t want to to the church. And if he so chooses, can deal with any vessel that is willing.

Number 4. As far as you understand as according to church teachings they are wrong. The church teaching given so far. Do you think that maybe God is not revealing certain things in the scriptures to certain folk? For example the law of sin. Sin leads to death and is very real. We can rise above the law of sin and work with the law of love that trumps it.
So in a way there is no such thing as sin. But we’re not there yet. We need a redeemer and savior. 🙂
 
billcu1 said:
Well 3 separate Gods I’m not quite sure what that means. But a 3 fold God? That’s what I believe we call “modalism”. Gnosticism I believe the church said there techniques they didn’t believe needed grace. What? They didn’t believe that. My biggest complaint here is that we should be careful. Look at how the press has destroyed the holy father’s words the past couple of months. I don’t see how others can judge us and I believe it works the same for us of others. We are all working on private revelations. I am a faithful adherent of mariology which the church teaches is optional. Like believing in tradition. The gnosticism I’ve seen makes perfect sense to me. Just look at the likes of Hildegard of Bidgen, Teresa of Avila, Ignatius of Loyola John of the cross I could go on. We believe in mysticism. There are “secrets” as the gnostics believed. That’s what initiation is about. Michael was one of Jesus’s “Guardian Angels”. I know this from my own observations. As far as the JWs saying he was Michael well am I Azartuke? One of my angels? Yes and no. Jesus was human and had angels to minister to him. I does sound like the JWs don’t understand the trinity. And the “secrets” of the gnostics, well they’re for anyone God chooses. I think we’ll all get there.

pax
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Well, even Modalism was denounced as a heresy - though, understandably, it did come from an attempt to understand the Trinity (as One God Three Persons is quite impossible for us to fully grasp). Modalism pretty much said that God just appears in three different ways. Until we get to Heaven, we’ll never truly understand the Trinity, the hypostatic union, or transsubstantiation. They’re just concepts that the human mind cannot comprehend. Regardless, though, St. Paul states in his letters to the Corithians (and actually, in most of his letters) the importance of orthodoxy. “If one comes to your town and preaches a gospel other than the one I have taught you (if it could be called such a thing), do not accept him.” In other words, keep the Gospel as it has been handed down since the apostles. Anything else is false teaching.
 
billcu1 said:
Number 1 you say the church can pronounce on what the Holy Spirit has done? If the Holy Spirit wants. He will not reveal what he doesn’t want to to the church. And if he so chooses, can deal with any vessel that is willing.

Number 4. As far as you understand as according to church teachings they are wrong. The church teaching given so far. Do you think that maybe God is not revealing certain things in the scriptures to certain folk? For example the law of sin. Sin leads to death and is very real. We can rise above the law of sin and work with the law of love that trumps it.
So in a way there is no such thing as sin. But we’re not there yet. We need a redeemer and savior. 🙂
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  1. John 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. (Emphasis mine).
  2. The Church has condemned Mormonism and JW-ism. They cannot reverse that teaching, or else the Holy Spirit would have been lying, which He does not (Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18).
 
What does a catholic do when attending a wedding at a Lutheran or Episcopalian church? When they have mass, they stand, they sit, and I think they also kneel.
Can a catholic do this with them? Is this participating in their mass?

And suppose they have a hymn which is also a catholic hymn, can the catholic sing the hymn with them? Or say the Our Father with them?
 
JamesTheJust said:
  1. John 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. (Emphasis mine).
  2. The Church has condemned Mormonism and JW-ism. They cannot reverse that teaching, or else the Holy Spirit would have been lying, which He does not (Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18).
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Maybe not necessarily lying but testing maybe. Revealing what he wants. I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion of lying necessarily. He wants us to seek.
 
billcu1 said:
Maybe not necessarily lying but testing maybe. Revealing what he wants. I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion of lying necessarily. He wants us to seek.
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The Church declared JW-ism and Mormonism to be heresies. The Church didn’t say, “Oh, they’re probably wrong,” or something like that. Thus, if either Mormonism or JW-ism were true, the Holy Spirit would have been lying, not just revealing a limited amount of information (which also contradicts John 16:13; it says, “lead you unto all truth,” not, “lead you unto the truth which He chooses”.)
 
I have a lot of respect for those of other faith traditions. They’re believing what they think is right, and I don’t judge them.

But, I wouldn’t go visiting their churches, for a different reason. Even if I’m strong in my Catholic faith, my showing up might make them think I’m interested in joining their church. And I don’t think that would be fair to them, to create that impression.
 
signit said:
I have a lot of respect for those of other faith traditions. They’re believing what they think is right, and I don’t judge them.

But, I wouldn’t go visiting their churches, for a different reason. Even if I’m strong in my Catholic faith, my showing up might make them think I’m interested in joining their church. And I don’t think that would be fair to them, to create that impression.
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There are many misconceptions about the Catholic Faith. The best way to learn what others actual believe is to hear it directly from them rather than to judge what they think.
There has always been an understanding with the churches that I visited that I had no intention of converting. That doesn’t mean that my faith has never been challenged. It simply means that both members of the churches that I have visited have learned about the Catholic Faith, and I have learned from my separated brothers and sisters. Other Christian churches, however, lack the richness of the Catholic Church.
 
DebChris said:
There are many misconceptions about the Catholic Faith. The best way to learn what others actual believe is to hear it directly from them rather than to judge what they think.
There has always been an understanding with the churches that I visited that I had no intention of converting. That doesn’t mean that my faith has never been challenged. It simply means that both members of the churches that I have visited have learned about the Catholic Faith, and I have learned from my separated brothers and sisters. Other Christian churches, however, lack the richness of the Catholic Church.
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Well we are the ones with the apostolic succession.
 
signit said:
I have a lot of respect for those of other faith traditions. They’re believing what they think is right, and I don’t judge them.

But, I wouldn’t go visiting their churches, for a different reason. Even if I’m strong in my Catholic faith, my showing up might make them think I’m interested in joining their church. And I don’t think that would be fair to them, to create that impression.
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I think that’s overly scrupulous and also paints with too broad a brush. If you go to a church and the people seem interested in converting you, you can always just not go back.

In fact, many non-Catholic Christians would be happy if a Catholic showed up and said, “I just want to understand what other Christians believe and I want to testify to the fact that we are all one in Jesus, even if there are things that divide us.”

If you refuse to have fellowship with other Christians, you will create the impression that you think they aren’t Christians and that their faith has no value. I know for a fact that that’s what many non-Catholics think Catholics believe about them. My own priest, who ought to know better, has sometimes said that “Roman Catholics” think they are the only Christians (though now, being a very fair-minded person and respecting my opinion perhaps more than I deserve, he always adds that I disagree with him–my alternative formulation is “Roman Catholics think they are the only Catholics”!).

I wish orthodox Catholics were more worried about that misunderstanding, and less worried about misleading those poor Protestants into thinking that they are OK (which they will believe anyway, whether you visit their churches or not).
 
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