What is my second step?

[GoDawgs]

Hey yall,

I am a protestant Christian interested in the Catholic church. Recently, I have been troubled with a great deal of stress and have been turning to Jesus more and more to help me through this. I was raised protestant and attended a Southern Baptist church as a child. Currently, my wife and I are members of the Methodist Church in my hometown. As I look to God and read what I can find including the Bible, I feel pulled to Catholicism. Naturally, as anyone with my background, I have a few few personal/theological and famialial hurdles before me before I seriously consider becoming RC.

My question is: With whom should I discuss these matters? A friend of mine (a Baptist) said I should find a priest to speak with. However, I really do not want to bother a priest with my questions as I know that a priest will likely have many obligations to members of his own church. Is it better that I pose these questions here or should I seek a priest to talk with?

 

[Pug]

Welcome to CAF (our forum)!

I think it depends on your style. If you want some distance, just ask here. There are some great people here to answer your questions, but like any forum, things can get rowdy. So maybe you’d be happier in a one-on-one format. You could find a buddy here who seems like the right fit for you, or you could try the nearest parish. They might have someone besides the priest available to answer questions about the faith. In my parish, the deacon would be happy to answer your questions, as well as one of the priests. Some places will have a layperson (an ordinary Catholic) who has volunteered to answer inquiries. There may even be a series of classes for people who want to inquire about the faith. It will depend on the manpower at the parishes near you. At our parish, we only have the manpower to run classes at certain times of the year. Our next one won’t start for quite awhile. All classes carry no obligation to continue coming, and they will probably give you a free bible unless you refuse it.

To help you find a parish near you, if you have no idea how, is a website that Catholics use to find a mass if they are traveling cross country. It will find places by zipcode.

I’d tell you to PM me if you want, but I think you can’t do that until you have posted here more to establish your presence. I don’t remember the forum rules well enough. I grew up United Methodist, but I never was a very good one.

Pug

 

[GoDawgs]

Maybe the Catholic student center at my university would be the best place to start as I would probably feel more comfortable talking with someone one on one. I am a little wear of posting my concerns on here as I do not want to insult yall or have my questions come out wrong. Thank you for your help.

 

[Pug]

Maybe the Catholic student center at my university would be the best place to start as I would probably feel more comfortable talking with someone one on one. I am a little wear of posting my concerns on here as I do not want to insult yall or have my questions come out wrong. Thank you for your help.

We’re pretty tough around here, so don’t worry about your question being less than perfect. The student center, probably a Newman Center?, will have someone to ask, no doubt. Feel free to come by whenever and sit a spell.

 

[GoDawgs]

I am not sure what a Newman Center is but I dont think they call themselves that. It is called the Catholic Center @ UGA. LINK. What is a Newman Center and how might this differ? Thank you again.

 

[Church_Militant]

Hey yall,

Nothin’ like a fine Southern drawl…

I am a protestant Christian interested in the Catholic church. Recently, I have been troubled with a great deal of stress and have been turning to Jesus more and more to help me through this. I was raised protestant and attended a Southern Baptist church as a child. Currently, my wife and I are members of the Methodist Church in my hometown. As I look to God and read what I can find including the Bible, I feel pulled to Catholicism. Naturally, as anyone with my background, I have a few few personal/theological and famialial hurdles before me before I seriously consider becoming RC.

Nothing new there. If you call the Catholic parish closest to you and ask to talk to the pastor/make an appointment to meet him, or have him call you they will be happy to help. We really don’t bite.

My question is: With whom should I discuss these matters? A friend of mine (a Baptist) said I should find a priest to speak with. However, I really do not want to bother a priest with my questions as I know that a priest will likely have many obligations to members of his own church. Is it better that I pose these questions here or should I seek a priest to talk with?

That’s what they get the big bucks for. (Just kidding). Truth is that most priests would LOVE to get a call from someone like you.

Maybe the Catholic student center at my university would be the best place to start as I would probably feel more comfortable talking with someone one on one. I am a little wear of posting my concerns on here as I do not want to insult y’all or have my questions come out wrong. Thank you for your help.

You’re kiddin’ right? A guy who is that considerate will get a lot of slack cut him around here. PM me if you don’t want to go public with something. My feelings are not easily hurt and I almost went into the ministry as a Southern Baptist, so I probably can help with anything you ask, and if I don’t know I promise I will find out for you.

I am not sure what a Newman Center is but I dont think they call themselves that. It is called the Catholic Center @ UGA. LINK.

What is a Newman Center and how might this differ? Thank you again.Newman Centers are college Catholic student places and are pretty good.

There are also free courses on our most holy faith that are offered by the Catholic Home Study Service that can help immensely.

You might also try searching the CA online Library which has a HOST of articles on virtually any topic you can come up with.

Let me know if I can be of any help and know that you are now in all my prayers.
The peace of the Lord be with you always.

 

[Pug]

I am not sure what a Newman Center is but I dont think they call themselves that. It is called the Catholic Center @ UGA. LINK. What is a Newman Center and how might this differ? Thank you again.

I checked out your link and it looks like a good place to find your priest to talk with. Your link seems pretty much like a Newman Center would be. Either one is for Catholics who are in a university environment. Bible studies, get togethers/fellowship, movie nights, mass, service projects, retreats, etc. A Newman Center often coordinates with the university that it is by to offer courses in theology for credit. That might be a difference between what yours is and a Newman Center. Newman Centers are named after Cardinal Newman, a convert to Catholicism who cared about the spiritual needs of students at universities. Since he was from England, I think the idea of Newman Centers started there.

Basically it is there to serve the needs of young people who are away from their home parishes and at university. So they can easily hang out with fellow Christians.

I tried looking up the PM rules. I couldn’t find anything that said you couldn’t use the private messaging system as a trial member. Just that you can’t have an avatar that you upload yet. So if you want to ask something but don’t want it on the public boards, send a private message to me or to CM (Church Militant, the other poster on this thread). You can do that by clicking on either of our names that appear right by each of our posts.

 

[Thomas63116]

Welcome! The Catholic Center on your campus would be a good place to start. Or a parish nearby. Or ask questions here. Or all of the above. I don’t think anyone else has mentioned this, but you might want to look into enrolling in an RCIA class (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) either at the student center or a nearby parish. RCIA is the typical process by which people who were not raised in the Catholic Church learn about the faith and decide whether they wish to join. For those who do wish to, the process continues with preparation for receiving the Sacraments.

 

[StrawberryJam]

Hey yall,

I am a protestant Christian interested in the Catholic church. Recently, I have been troubled with a great deal of stress and have been turning to Jesus more and more to help me through this. I was raised protestant and attended a Southern Baptist church as a child. Currently, my wife and I are members of the Methodist Church in my hometown. As I look to God and read what I can find including the Bible, I feel pulled to Catholicism. Naturally, as anyone with my background, I have a few few personal/theological and famialial hurdles before me before I seriously consider becoming RC.

My question is: With whom should I discuss these matters? A friend of mine (a Baptist) said I should find a priest to speak with. However, I really do not want to bother a priest with my questions as I know that a priest will likely have many obligations to members of his own church. Is it better that I pose these questions here or should I seek a priest to talk with?

I’m a heathen and I go to see a priest about questions I have about the catholic faith. You are a christian, all the more welcome you should be.

I never have problems meeting with the priest really. I schedule them in advance, we fine tune them if needed, and I learn twice as much in half the time talking to him than coming here.

 

[corsair]

I remember when I began the process of “coming home” to the church. I called a priest and he said come on over for a little “cracker barrel” brand of Catholicism. So I did. We decided to meet once a week for an hour. I brought pizza and he brought out a couple of beers. So began my journey to the church. It took me another four years but I made it.

God Bless