What do Church of God members think of us?

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I have recently started RCIA with my husband. We’re very excited about the journey we’re taking our family on. A small back story: When I told a couple of my friends (whom belong to the Church of God in our community) that we were going to become Catholic, they stopped talking to me, completely dropped off my radar. We had discussed our faith many times before and my family’s struggles to find a church home, so I thought they would be happy for us. Also, a woman in our RCIA class came from the same church these “friends” attend, and when she told the pastor what her plans were, she recieved a very nasty letter from him regarding her decision. Is this typical behavior of Church of God members towards Catholics? Or is this just this ignorance of a few people speaking for their entire denomination? Thanks for any thoughts on this subject!
 
WartHamilton said:
I have recently started RCIA with my husband. We’re very excited about the journey we’re taking our family on. A small back story: When I told a couple of my friends (whom belong to the Church of God in our community) that we were going to become Catholic, they stopped talking to me, completely dropped off my radar. We had discussed our faith many times before and my family’s struggles to find a church home, so I thought they would be happy for us. Also, a woman in our RCIA class came from the same church these “friends” attend, and when she told the pastor what her plans were, she recieved a very nasty letter from him regarding her decision. Is this typical behavior of Church of God members towards Catholics? Or is this just this ignorance of a few people speaking for their entire denomination? Thanks for any thoughts on this subject!
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My aunt and uncle are Church of God. In fact, my uncle is a pastor.

In a nutshell? Catholics are not “saved”. 😛
 
When I was in College in North Florida, the most rabid anti-Catholics I met were Church of God members and clergy. I distinctly remember that when some neighbors found out I was Catholic, they avoided me like I had the plague. I also remember a pretty “Southern Belle” (who was a Church of Christ member) that I was dating, stopped seeing me when she found out I was Catholic, and told her friends how resentful she was that I tricked her into going out with me. Granted, this was 50 or so years ago, but I doubt seriously that things have changed much !
 
George_Stegmeir said:
When I was in College in North Florida, the most rabid anti-Catholics I met were Church of God members and clergy. I distinctly remember that when some neighbors found out I was Catholic, they avoided me like I had the plague. I also remember a pretty “Southern Belle” (who was a Church of Christ member) that I was dating, stopped seeing me when she found out I was Catholic, and told her friends how resentful she was that I tricked her into going out with me. Granted, this was 50 or so years ago, but I doubt seriously that things have changed much !
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Your mostly right, things haven’t changed much, especially among the Church of Christ/Church of God crowd. I’ve had a number of relationships end abruptly simply because i was a Catholic and this only happened with Church of Christ/Church of God women. Now I just introduce myself to women I want to date with “Hi, I’m Tyler and I’m a Catholic”
 
I grew up in the pentecostal Church of God and when I converted to Catholocism I got a letter telling me that I was disfellowshipped from the church and that no one was allowed to associate with me from that congregation however several from that congregation ended up coming home to the Catholic Church because they didn’t pay any attention to the pastors rule about not associating with me and I want to say that they did not convert because of me but because of guidance from the Holy Spirit.
 
It may depend on which “Church of God”…Cleveland Tenn or Anderson Indiana…the “Cleveland” type are Pentacostal Holiness and some members probably harbor some anit-Catholic sentiment…the group in Anderson Indiana is much more sedate in their beliefs…
 
WartHamilton said:
I have recently started RCIA with my husband. We’re very excited about the journey we’re taking our family on. A small back story: When I told a couple of my friends (whom belong to the Church of God in our community) that we were going to become Catholic, they stopped talking to me, completely dropped off my radar. We had discussed our faith many times before and my family’s struggles to find a church home, so I thought they would be happy for us. Also, a woman in our RCIA class came from the same church these “friends” attend, and when she told the pastor what her plans were, she recieved a very nasty letter from him regarding her decision. Is this typical behavior of Church of God members towards Catholics? Or is this just this ignorance of a few people speaking for their entire denomination? Thanks for any thoughts on this subject!
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Depends how fundamental the congregation is, but generally CoG members don’t have the best thoughts at Catholic

At Best we’re misguided Christian brethren
At Worst, we’re not saved, and probably damned unless we convert from the “whore of babylon”
 
As someone else has said, it depends on what Church of God group you are referring to.

The oldest denomination of this name is the holiness Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) established in 1881 by Daniel Sidney Warner.

In the Pentecostal movement there are several denominations with the name “Church of God” that all originate from splits within the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), established circa 1886:

Church of God (Chattanooga) (org. 1917)
Church of God with Signs Following (org. circa 1922)
Church of God of Prophecy (org. 1923)
Church of God, House of Prayer (org. 1939)
Church of God (Huntsville, Alabama) (org. 1943)
The Church of God (Jerusalem Acres) (org. 1957)
The Church of God for All Nations (org. 1981)
Church of God (Charleston, Tennessee) (org. 1993)

And of course this is only a few of the churches that go by the name “Church of God.”

One more note, I’m not aware of any relation between the Churches of Christ and any Church of God groups.
 
Thank you so much everyone for your answers! I really thought that in 2011 we would be past this sort of behavior. I have no intention on letting this bother or deter me from this process. I feel sorry for such close-minded people. I’m completely happy in our parish that welcomes anyone and everyone no matter who you are or who you know. I’m sure I’ll be posting more questions if I can’t get to my sponsor, those responses were quick!
 
I live one city over from Cleveland Tennessee and I can tell you from experience that they truly are VERY anti-Catholic. All ya can do is pray for them.
 
warthamilton said:
thank you so much everyone for your answers! I really thought that in 2011 we would be past this sort of behavior. I have no intention on letting this bother or deter me from this process. I feel sorry for such close-minded people. I’m completely happy in our parish that welcomes anyone and everyone no matter who you are or who you know. I’m sure i’ll be posting more questions if i can’t get to my sponsor, those responses were quick!
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welcome home!!!
 
WartHamilton said:
Thank you so much everyone for your answers! I really thought that in 2011 we would be past this sort of behavior. I have no intention on letting this bother or deter me from this process. I feel sorry for such close-minded people. I’m completely happy in our parish that welcomes anyone and everyone no matter who you are or who you know. I’m sure I’ll be posting more questions if I can’t get to my sponsor, those responses were quick!
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Welcome Home! Do not be disturb by this reaction; it took my mother-in-law about 10 years to start talking to my husband again after he converted, but she can live with it now.
 
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