What do Protestant denominations do well that Catholics could learn from?

[JustaServant]

Not theological, but practicalities.

 

[Wannano]

Not theological, but practicalities.

I imagine that every community is somewhat different from the next, but the experience that I have in my local area would involve two Catholic parishes that are just as willing to cooperate in joint community worship services on special occasions as any of the Protestant churches. The feeling we have here is one of love and acceptance in spite of doctrinal differences. I can’t think of any one thing in my locality that the Catholics need to learn from the area Protestant churches in terms of practicalities.

 

[Tommy999]

Not theological, but practicalities.

Good question, but I think it would be best answered by Catholics who come from Protestant backgrounds or Catholics who have visited Protestant churches or have Protestant friends because they might be able to do a better job of comparing the two.

For an evangelical like me who has only been to a couple of Catholic masses in my life, my guess is that one area where Catholics could learn from Protestants might be in the area of reaching out to visitors and giving them a warm welcome. In general, Protestant churches tend to do that pretty well.

I also think some Protestant praise music is first rate and very worshipful.

I know you didn’t ask for (name removed by moderator)ut on the other way around, but I will say that the reverence for the Lord was palpable in the Catholic mass I attended and it made a favorable impression on me. Some of the more modern Protestant churches who cater to the younger generation don’t tend to have the sense of reverence at church, but maybe that’s just me who thinks that.

 

[peter26]

I once went to a talk by an Anglican bishop who explained this very well. You need to be “fed” by two things - the word of God and the sacraments. Catholics (and Anglo-Catholics, high church Anglicans etc) focus on the sacraments and can neglect the word. Protestants tend to be the other way around - plenty of “word”, little attention to sacraments. What protestants do well is open up the word. This is not about how many readings are done at Mass, you could do a dozen readings and it would not address the problem. A good protestant preacher will talk for half an hour (without it dragging for a moment) on scripture. He’ll make the Bible speak to you. There are plenty of Catholic priests perfectly capable of doing this, whether at Mass or at a separate Bible study. If there is one thing I miss about my old evangelical church, its the preaching. As for music, that’s more of a matter of taste. Personally, I prefer old fashioned hymns and chant to praise and worship music.

The other issue is fellowship. When was the last time you went to your parish for something other than Mass or confession, or maybe something like Adoration. For a social event, Bible study, prayer group, something interactive outside of the liturgy that gets people taking?

 

[pianistclare]

Frankly, their programs for children.
As a DRE I am always saddened that when I seek volunteers for PSR, Faith Formation, youth groups, etc. that people literally RUN the other way. No one wants to work with our youth, but they have something negative to say about them.


Children seem to be a priority in other protestant denoms…and they put their money there.
I’m not talking about in worship…I’m talking about educational programs.

 

[Bonnie]

Practical advice. Many Protestant books on personal finance & relationships are excellent. I’ve seen very little of that from a Catholic point of view.

 

[benjohnson]

I have the tremendously good fortune of doing computer support for various Catholic parishes and here’s my one overriding thought:

The Catholic church needs more priests - at my Lutheran parish, I spend about ten hours a year in one-on-one conversation with my pastor. My children spend lots of time in small groups with either the pastor or the associate pastor.

Given the numbers of a typical Catholic parish, there simply isn’t enough time in a year for one priest to connect with each and every partitioner. The Catholic priests that I meet are rushed, tired, and always moving - they’re amazing people and the world needs more of them.

 

[ClearWater]

From what I’ve heard, Protestant churches have more outreach, that they see members in need and pull together to help them.

 

[Peter_J]

Wait, there are things that Protestants do well? :frighten:

 

[Shea96]

Dress like you are in the house of God! Growing up Catholic in a heavily Protestant southern city, I attended many churches with my friends. The one thing that always stood out to me, even as a teenager back then, was that people dressed really nice, in their “Sunday Best” whereas in my own parish people were in shorts and jeans and flip flops and whatever it seems could be found rummaging around in their laundry pile, as if they were headed to the beach or a picnic or going to some athletic event!

 

[AggieCatholic86]

Music and preaching, in spades. Almost embarrassing trying to sell baptist gf on the mass when so many parishes are terrible at both. Must have gone to 5-6 churches just to find a decent one when we moved to a new city.

 

[AKDee]

I once went to a talk by an Anglican bishop who explained this very well. You need to be “fed” by two things - the word of God and the sacraments. Catholics (and Anglo-Catholics, high church Anglicans etc) focus on the sacraments and can neglect the word. Protestants tend to be the other way around - plenty of “word”, little attention to sacraments. What protestants do well is open up the word.

As a former protestant I would tend to agree with this. I am often surprised at how some Catholics seem to not read their Holy Bible on their own. But as a new Catholic, I must say I am so grateful for the sacraments!

And while I know many people don’t consider Mormon’s to be Christian, there are two things they are amazing about- missionary work (and the expectation for all males to do 1 year of it, and encourage females to do so as well, after high school) and seminary for high school youths. They have four years of seminary for high school youths - an hour every morning before school- to teach them their scriptures (1 year for OT, 1 year for NT, 1 year for BoM, unsure what the fourth year is). Can you imagine if every Catholic child was catechized like that?

 

[Casilda]

I agree with Peter26, Catholics need to crack open the word. Our Catholic friends are resistent to this, saying its a Protestant ‘thing’. No its the Word of God. The reason I am at a small parish is that the priest does have time to talk with and shepherd his flock. He also leads an adult study once a week. Our parish has greeters. With only one Liturgy on Sunday you quickly distinguish between parishioner and a new face who needs to be welcomed. I think parishes with 4000-6000 families are unwelcoming, the priests are overworked, the volunteers are overworked and they have lost the focus of saving souls. That is my experience.

 

[pianistclare]

From what I’ve heard, Protestant churches have more outreach, that they see members in need and pull together to help them.

That depends.
Our parish and the surrounding parishes have loads of outreach.
there isn’t a day of the week where some group isn’t out ministering to the homeless, hungry, crisis pregnancy centers, home bounds, etc. Ii’s much more a thing these days.

 

[pianistclare]

Dress like you are in the house of God! Growing up Catholic in a heavily Protestant southern city, I attended many churches with my friends. The one thing that always stood out to me, even as a teenager back then, was that people dressed really nice, in their “Sunday Best” whereas in my own parish people were in shorts and jeans and flip flops and whatever it seems could be found rummaging around in their laundry pile, as if they were headed to the beach or a picnic or going to some athletic event!

Except for in many places, people go to be seen. In the Catholic church everyone is welcome, no matter their class or station in life. I would hate to see the pressure be on appearances.
:twocents:

 

[Biggin]

Coming from a Southern Baptist background, I would say, nothing. But, I have only been going for 8 mo, and will finish RCIA this Easter Vigil. It’s a small parish, but an active parish. With a good Priest.
If this question would have been asked of me say, 7mo ago, I would’ve said, “Evangelization”, but, again that would’ve been me looking at things from SBC angle.

 

[LaughingBoy1503]

Not theological, but practicalities.

I am a convert from protestantism. The non-denominational type mostly but I had Pentecostal leanings, I went to Calvary Chapel for a long time and even attended a Lutheran church for about a year before becoming Catholic

I attended a non-denomination church a few times when I was a teenager. It meant nothing to me at the time but this denomination had singles events! I wish my parish or any neighboring parish has something even close to a singles event specifically for single people to meet. What do we have at my parish? “Married’s and Singles for Christ”… Great, another place I can look at all the nice families while I am all by myself. I can do that at Mass.

Other than that, in general, there is normally a friendlier feeling atmosphere in their praise and worship services. You have to really be involved in a ministry or two to get this feel in The Catholic church, in my personal experience and opinion. Other peoples experiences may vary. However, I would gladly sacrifice small talk before the service starts with some quiet time in prayer before Mass starts any day. I do not know how Catholics can emulate the same friendly feeling atmosphere as protestants do without making Mass someone less reverent though. There is a big difference between liturgical worship and non-liturgical. But I am sure some parishes have found a way.

That is all I can think of. Oh yeah and protestants seem to know their interpretations of scripture better than Catholics know theirs. This is a shame. Protestant denominations encourage people to know their Bibles better.

Those things I just mentioned for sure I would love to see cross over to The Catholic Church.

 

[mjwise]

Honestly? Music. I’ve been in some large, seemingly well-heeled Catholic churches that barely field an organist and cantor. Then half of the people around you are stone cold silent and it’s all awkward.

The outreach is an issue too. The point upthread about Catholic priests seeming stretched very thin is true. It’s hard to have a personal touch when you are responsible for many masses and thousands of people.

 

[MiserableSinner]

They are the product of a heretical rebellion against God’s Church. We should not learn anything from them.

We should only be trying to convert them. We don’t want them to lose their souls. Ecumenism gets dangerous when people start compromising and letting Satan have ground in the Church for the sake of not offending people who have been lied to.

We already have a big problem with heresy in the Church. Souls are in danger, and it does appear that many will be lost, although I try not to despair because God’s Love is Infinite.

I know you said theologically, but think about it - we don’t want to blur the line at all. We want a distinction, a clear distinction, between Christ’s Church and the products of the rebellion against it. If you start blurring the line, heresy is going to come in more and more.

2 aspects of eternity are at stake here. If someone believes a heresy unintentionally and falls into sin, they will lose some of their glory in Heaven at the least. It will effect their eternity even if they are not damned. That’s if they are not damned. But if they believe a heresy and spread it, it can lead to their damnation and the damnation of others. With stakes like that - do you want to blur the line AT ALL? Forever and ever is at stake.

 

[powerofk]

Here in Albuquerque, the big thing that I’ve seen Protestants do better than Catholics is spreading the news about their events. They go door to door advertising their worship services and their “special events” (e.g., Haunted House trek through Hell for Halloween, food pantry truck dispersal of food, etc.). Others post billboards about their “Son-rise services” for Easter, Other Protestant congregations even give people without transportation a ride to their services, or give free breakfast to any children who come to their services. Most, if not all, advertising for events at Catholic parishes is found in the parish bulletins and over the Catholic Radio station. Otherwise, the only way to find out is by word of mouth. It just always seems like most Catholic parishes are more worried about not losing their current parishioners than actively encouraging outsiders to Church events (including, but not limited to, Mass). Now, I know the Catholic faith is centered on the Mass, but we need to do a much better job of inviting people to come. And it can’t be just individual effort - it has to be a concerted, organized effort at the parish level.