Where is the "Worship" in Non denominational Services

[pjlang]

Actually for me it’s been the opposite… I was non denom Protestant before I was Catholic, and whenever I go to a Protestant church now, it feels empty to me without the Eucharist. I find the Mass much more fulfilling spiritually. Protestant services are emotionally-driven, but they don’t really affect me spiritually as much.

It is also the same for me or I wouldn’t be a Catholic today. I do feel more fulfilled spiritually while attending Mass than Protestant services. However, my most spiritually fulfilling religious experience to date was at a non-denominational gathering with the elderly at a trailer park without communion or good music. My entire point was about not putting down other people’s faithful attempts at worship. It seems to have been completely missed.

Peace be with you.

ACT 17:11

 

[George_Everson]

If I may just add a word of personal history here, like pjlang I spent many years in a fundamentalist church. Unfortunately, I soon realized that I was simply “going through the motions” of being a fundamentalist. I believed what was said regarding the basics of the faith, but my problem was with a lack of depth I perceived in the worship. After several years of trying and failing to fit in I left the church I was then in and joined a more traditional but still evangelical church where the liturgy was practiced. I have not regretted it for the last 27 years I have been a part of that congregation.

I was raised in a predominately Catholic community and as a result had considerable exposure to Catholicism by the time I was in my early adult years. I learned to have a respect for different worship styles and types, even if some of those styles didn’t allow me to “worship in spirit and in truth.”

True worship should be that which truly moves our hearts toward God. If we are not able to worship God with our whole beings in the churches we are in the question must be asked “am I in the right place that God wants me?” I have also been reminded recently that worship is not just what we do on Sunday but what we ideally should be doing 24/7. Our corporate worship should not be something we just go thorugh the motions of or grit our teeth as we sit thorugh it, if that is the case something is radically wrong.

There is a place for both the ND service and the high Mass. C.S. Lewis in the Screwtape Letters commented that true Christian charity would be reached when someone from a liturgical church refuses to make the sign of the cross in a non-liturgical church for sake of his weeker brother and someone from a non liturgical church makes the sign of the cross in a liturgical congregation for the sake of his weeker brother.

George Everson

 

[Todd520]

Great point, what I should have written is “if Jesus were posting in this forum right now (instead of if Jesus were here) would he belittle and mock other people for putting their whole heart and faith into worshiping God but just not in full communion with the Church?” I think not. He would teach and correct with compassion and chairty. He saved the mocking and belittlement for hypocrites.

Peace be with you.

I second this observation

 

[George_Everson]

By the way, my earlier post should not be construed as a sign of a laissez faire attitude toward worship. I am very strongly liturgical in my preferences.

My major point is that Catholic and Evangelical can both learn something from each other in worship. I have met Catholics whom left their churches because they saw their services as nothing but formalism. I have met Evangelicals whom left their churches because they didn’t show popular reverence.

However, I remember with delight a few years ago when I met a couple whom happily called themselves Baplics . He was Baptist she was Catholic so they would attend Catholic Mass in the morning and the Baptist evening service that night.

In Christ,

George Everson

 

[4thelamb]

I belong to a Calvary Chapel in Houston. I tell you i have learned more about God’s Word in the first 6 months at Calvary than the 33yrs that I was Catholic. Learned about salvation which was never talked about at my old church. We do go from book to book. On Wednesday’s we are studying the book of Daniel and right now on Sunday’s the 10 commandments. I also love to listen to Greg laurie and James Mcdonald.

As you read this post just above, if it sounds anything other than uplifting to you…might be time to re-evaluate if you’re serving the Lord, or serving your church’s preferred methods… It should always strengthen and encourage us all to hear stories of believers who are drawn closer to the Lord through his Word. No matter which denomination/orthodoxy they happen to belong to. The point of EVERYTHING we do…EVERYTHING…is to draw closer to Him, and Him crucified. Amen!!! We must make certain we don’t abandon this Principal! There is no better way to be close to the Lord than to be in His Word. In the end we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, one body of believers in the Holy Spirit, and someday will be united with Christ in Heaven!

Thanks for sharing Freedomwriter

 

[SalesianSDB]

True worship should be that which truly moves our hearts toward God.

I couldn’t agree with George anymore on this! I don’t believe that the Mass is the ONLY place to worship. If it were, then our Protestant brothers and sisters don’t worship God, which is ridiculous! Of course they do!

I spent a week with my school running a summer camp for poor migrant children. I cannot describe how much closer this experience brought me closer to God. I do consider that week a week full of worship.

And now to the matter at hand, I have a friend of mine at school who is a converted to Protestantism from Catholicism. We have very interesting discussions and walk away learning more and more. I believe that their form of worship is a valid form of worship, although the Catholic Mass is the highest form of worship. Why does it have to be one or the other? If it weren’t for the Eucharist, believe me, I’d be in a protestant pew in a heart beat because of their worship. I must confess, I occasionally watch protestant services online (from Harvest Christian Fellowship) and worship with them through a computer. And I’d love to attend a protestant service one day to experience it.

Why is it our way or no way? Can’t we learn from each other.

Mitt Romney said it perfectly in his “Faith in America” speech:

I believe that every faith I have encountered draws its adherents closer to God. And in every faith I have come to know, there are features I wish were in my own: I love the profound ceremony of the Catholic Mass, the approachability of God in the prayers of the Evangelicals, the tenderness of spirit among the Pentecostals, the confident independence of the Lutherans, the ancient traditions of the Jews, unchanged through the ages, and the commitment to frequent prayer of the Muslims. As I travel across the country and see our towns and cities, I am always moved by the many houses of worship with their steeples, all pointing to heaven, reminding us of the source of life’s blessings.

 

[Gabriel_of_12]

Thank you Gabriel for demonstrating so succinctly what I was describing in my post. You didn’t ask for clarification on my statements you simply implied (declared at the bottom of your post) that what I posited was universalist, secularist or relativist.