What are Catholic parishes like?

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When my husband and I discussed going to a Catholic Church in the future, we both wondered what it’s like to be a member of one.
For example, our current church has many activities available every day of the week. Is the community aspect similar or different? I expect each parish to be different but was just looking for feedback as to what others have experienced. From what I have learned, Mass is about the Eucarist and worshipping God. Catholics go to Mass for that, not for the community and how it makes them feel or how involved they should be.
 
If your coming to Catholicism, don’t expect the same environment as the likes of Evangelicalism etc
We are more sombre and at the moment are going through a crisis, the joy has left many parishes.
But what it does offer is the sacraments that lead to eternal life and an inner joy and peace for those that Love the Lord. Our history is rich and our care and duty to the poor is second to none.
if you join our Church you will become a full member of the Body of Christ but your social life may dwindle, all depends on the community you get involved in.
Catholicism is more centred on prayer and devotion to the Lord and if you can see the beauty I see you will not regret joining .
God bless you and your Family I hope you find the Love of Christ in his Holy Sacraments.
As always I highly recommend watching EWTN and the Journey home episodes on you tube
 
Kellypat18 said:
For example, our current church has many activities available every day of the week. Is the community aspect similar or different?
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Most Catholic parishes have plenty enough activities- different liturgical ministries, religious education classes for the kids, often a parish elementary school and/or high school, different prayer groups and social outfits like the KofC etc., as well as RCIA which is the Catholic new member classes and initiation.
 
Kellypat18 said:
Is the community aspect similar or different? I expect each parish to be different
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You will find parishes with a lot of activities, but GENERALLY speaking, the community aspect is quite a bit less pronounced than in many Protestant groups. It’s no secret that young Catholics often gripe about the lack of activities directed toward them, and frankly, I have to admit that they do have a point.

Exceptions tend to be where young, particularly single, Catholics are to be found in significant numbers, namely near universities and in growing communities in the Sunbelt.

So these congregations exist, but you have to search them out.
 
It really depends on the parish. Some large parishes do have community events going on every day of the week, but the parish is so big that many people do not know each other. Other parishes are small and the people all know each other, but they don’t have a lot of activities going on, or the activities are all for one particular age group that’s the most prevalent in the parish.

I think in most parishes there are a lot of people who basically just go to Mass on Sunday and don’t want to get involved in anything else. There’s also going to be a group of people who are involved in just about everything and you see them every place you go. At a parish I attend, there is one guy who isn’t even from that parish (he’s from the parish about 5 miles up the road) but he’s gotten so involved in a particular set of activities, he’s around more than most parishioners. There are a lot of people involved in pro-life or Flame of Love who just go around to all different parishes doing those activities .

If you want to get involved in things, be prepared to go out and take the initiative yourself, which might mean making repeated efforts. Sometimes people are not the greatest at reaching out to newbies or even updating the calendar to show that a particular activity is taking place on day X. I have constantly had problems with stuff not being posted on website calendars for the parish, or the hours change and it doesn’t get passed along any way except word of mouth. I’ve found stuff going on by happening to show up when it’s occurring. The volunteers who update the calendar and bulletin and so forth are really hit or miss.
 
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AndrewAxland said:
Exceptions tend to be where young, particularly single, Catholics are to be found in significant numbers, namely near universities and in growing communities in the Sunbelt.
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I’d say the other exception is where there’s a Catholic elementary school connected to the parish, and the parents are involved in a lot of school activities. They get to know each other that way and many of the parish activities revolve around school kids and their families. At those parishes, if you don’t have a kid in the school you’ll likely feel left out.
 
As far as the social side is concerned ours is a small parish in the countryside and mostly elderly parishioners but we have quite a few social gatherings for sales, quiz nights, pilgrimages and seasonal dinner evenings and a summer barbecue.
We also have a St Vincent De Paul group who visit isolated people and the elderly in nursing homes.
We also get together to do maintenance work, gardening etc.

It’s nice.
 
Kellypat18 said:
For example, our current church has many activities available every day of the week. Is the community aspect similar or different?
Click to expand...
It really does depend on the parish, and the size of the parish.

My parish I used to go to when I lived in a city was very large, several thousand families, and had robust social, spiritual, and service organizations. Men;s group, women’s group, young adults, young mother’s group, religious ed, food pantry, community garden, prayer group, bible study groups, RCIA, adult education programs, several choirs, a Hispanic group, a free medical clinic once a month staffed by parishioners who were nurses and doctors, etc.

My current parish is very small and out in the country. We have mass on Sundays and Thursdays and religious education on Wednesday nights. We have coffee and donuts once a month. I tried getting an adult bible study going, but we are a farming community and people are busy with chores on their farm and we have a lot of old timers who don’t want to be out at night. The ladies group is active with different dinners, festivals, etc. There’s a Knights in town (not our parish, a neighboring parish). Many of our parishioners are in the Lion’s Club and do their charity through that avenue.

So-- it really varies.
 
Yes that does seem great. I think what I struggled with before was being too busy with church activities. Though it is nice, I found myself praying less from being so tired or overwhelmed by my busyness with the church. Thanks!
 
This is an opinion. Every parish is not in a position to do this, I know you are in a country parish and so am I. Our pastor is divided between three parishes, and two of the three have adoration, the third one does not.
 
I was talking to my Methodist MIL. She wanted the grandkids to come over on Sunday, and we were coordinating schedules. We went to 8:30 Mass, but I knew she went to Bible Study at 9:00, and then her service afterwards, and they didn’t let out until noon.

“The kids will be available after 10:00, but I wasn’t sure if you were going to be busy until noon?”

“I already told you, I’m skipping Bible Study that day.”

“Right. I knew you were skipping Bible Study, but I didn’t know if you were going to attend your church service? And that doesn’t let out until noon.”

“No, I’m not doing that, either.”

So it was interesting, because it reminded me that her #1 priority was Bible Study. Because the Bible’s the Word of God, right? She can listen to a preacher if she feels like it, but what That Guy Over There thinks, and he’s been to Seminary and all that, but ultimately, he ranks below her study group.

And contrasting that to the Catholic default perspective-- which is where gathering for the Mass is the #1 reason for a parish’s existence, and the next greatest priorities are closely related to it-- like educating our kids to be solid in their faith. Things like fellowship for the sake of fellowship are nice, but are more often an afterthought, and are generally a luxury reserved for big parishes.

But in general, suppose you have one person out of 10 who’s an active, contributing member to your parish. If you’ve got a parish of 1,000 people, you’ve got a core of 100 parishoners who can build and lead and organize and Make Stuff Happen, and you’ve got a group of about 1,000 people whose interest might get perked up by this idea or that. But if you’ve got a parish of 100 people, you’re lucky to have 10 people who can build and lead and organize and Make Stuff Happen, and whether or not the things they come up with (a) appeal to anyone else and (b) make them want to make the time commitment-- it becomes a much less certain proposition.

So if you have the capacity to view yourself as a member of the Common Priesthood, and see the people around you as all gathering in community to worship God and offer Christ’s sacrifice and participate in something mysterious and ancient and sacred— then “just” Sunday Mass is going to be active and fulfilling, and community activities beyond it will be the cherry on top. But there are a lot of Catholics who see Mass as more as a passive activity, who just do the actions and say the words, but don’t quite grasp what’s supposed to be going on at different stages— then “just” Sunday Mass is going to be very unfulfilling.
 
The OP can certainly get an idea of what a particular Catholic parish is like, by looking at their web presence and bulletins online. Some parishes have multiple priests and schools, golf outings, bingos, pierogi sales, etc., others not so much. But the information is available confidentially.
 
Lots of good answers to this question. I am one of those who is in a big, bustling parish. It is also a fairly wealthy parish. (I’m not one of the wealthy ones.) There is just about always somebody there. I think they have some classes for very young kids, although we aren’t attached to a school.

Anyway, I joined primarily for the worship and the Eucharist. But once I was in the church, I was automatically a woman of St. Blank. I went to a meeting of Women of St. Blank and got on the official list and got a name tag, so now I’m really in the club that I was sort of de facto a member of by joining the church and being a woman. There are probably about 80 active members in this.

But without really trying, you can get into lots of things. Last year was my first as a fish breader for the Lenten Fish Fry evenings. I have made cookies for a few fund raisers and receptions. I have sorted through contributions for the Giant Flea Market and helped arrange things for the sale. Tomorrow I’ll be helping to set up for a reception for our outgoing parochial priest. And some of us are this month acting in concert with our “sister church” to fill shoe boxes with little gifts, these to be sent to Appalachia for Christmas. This is happening at the sister church, and our priest hopes that we are being friendly, chatty and welcoming, as there is some angst at that church about being wedded to our over-sized, wealthy parish. So while we are working, we are hoping to spread some goodwill.

Course, there were events we attended that I was not involved in the setting up. Couple of concerts, couple of talks, a Bible study class. And after the first and second Mass every Sunday, there is coffee and donuts in our activity center, a chance for everybody to meet and greet others.

Most of the people working to bring about events in the church are middle-aged and older women, with a few husbands conscripted for the lifting and moving of the heavy items.

There are also a number of hands-on community charity things, and there’s the gardening group, and the many activities that are currently slipping my mind. There are activities for kids, too. Just, I don’t pay much attention to what they all are.

I think most any Catholic church would be happy if you were to join, Kelly, and if you gave the least hint of wanting to participate in other things would be deliriously happy about it.
 
Well you dont say what country you are in for one. So different countries vary. Rural and city vary too. My parish is in a small city in England near the coast. We have mass every day. It is well attended and surprisingly not only by the grey hair brigade 😉 . During the week, every week we have Scripture class on Friday at midday and prayer class on Thursday evening. Pilates and thai chi during the week at soem point. We clean the church after Friday morning mass which people would love new people to help with. Once a month there is Mediation, Lectio devino in the evenings and an Endow woman’s group starting at a nearby parish. We coffee after the family mass on Sundays for all. Now and again we have parish parties and film shows (spiritual films) and we have so many volunteering opportunities I can’t remember them all. I have probably missed out things because I am too tired to do everything!

So it really does depend on what you want to do where you are and how much you get involved. I’d suggest volunteering if you have the time. It depends a bit on country and culture though, in UK it takes a time to fit in as they are very reserved so I’d say if you are here then take your time and get to know people and keep an eye on your parish newsletter for opportunities to join in. Good luck
 
All of these are good responses. A parish is also like a family, often harmonious, and just as often, dysfunctional to a degree. It’s life. It can be beautiful and messy all at the same time.
 
Yes, CajunJoy. You are right about Adoration. I forgot about that in my post. Our church does one full day and evening of Adoration each month, which I have sat in on. This past month, I have signed up for an hour–my hour each month. I get a lot out of adoration, just sitting and meditating. “Were you not able to keep watch with me for one hour?” Jesus asks the disciples. An hour doesn’t seem like too much, does it?
 
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Kellypat18 said:
For example, our current church has many activities available every day of the week. Is the community aspect similar or different?
Click to expand...
Every parish is different, but from what I’ve noticed at the two parishes that my wife and kids are members (I’m not Catholic, so I’m not viewed as a member) the community aspect is MUCH different than that at my church.

Her church has stuff here and there…but doesn’t seem too often, and when they do participation tends to be low.

They done some “forced fellowship” stuff there but it’s just awkward. Nobody really knows each other so most people and families try to stay to themselves while the cliques mingle. I think they have some men’s and women’s groups that might meet here or there, maybe once a month

From my experience: It seems as a non-Catholic you wouldn’t be viewed as part of the community they have anyway, unless/until you convert, so some (many?) activities you may not be welcome to be a part of. I know at one parish I was overlooked as a volunteer for parish festival preparations (not a Catholic, so not a member) more than once.

I’m sure YMMV though.
 
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