Why are so many Catholics attending non-denominational services?

[sailor28]

Seeker 1961, Your posts are right on the mark. I know hardly anyone really listened to you but you had a lot of wise words to say. It is foolish of us as Catholics not to take a hard look at our own weaknesses and why only 25-30% of Catholics even attend mass regularly. (It’s not because they are all lazy people who have not studied what the church teaches…)

I highly recommend the book, “Rebuilt” It tells about the transformation of a parish and the vision the pastor had to achieve that.

When I was in college I attended Mass and a ND service every Sunday. I needed the Eucharist but I also needed a loving christian community that actually talk and prayed with me. It was the evangelical christians that brought me back to my faith.

I’ve been Catholic all along. However, it is sad to hear the music at my parish. It is organ music that really no one can sing too. Unfortunately this is a common problem and we should be ashamed that our music is so poor. I would love to be able to sing at Mass. We have a lot to learn from our ND brothers and sisters in Christ. Humility is important.

 

[fontgoddess]

Community and children’s programs, both of which are sorely lacking in most Catholic parishes. I love the church and would never leave, regardless, but I have so many friends that have headed over to the local megachurch because they and their children were welcomed with open arms. They got tired of people ignoring them or giving them dirty looks if their kids were wiggly.

 

[mikekle]

Im surprised to hear so many people on here talk about ND services being accepting of any kind of lifestyle, the ND services I have been to in the past were anything but that! Actually I was quite impressed with their services as they talk about the entire bible. I went to catholic school for almost 8 years and there is much of the bible that I had never heard of before, my family, who are devout catholics, did not know much about these verses when I asked them about it either, this really surprised me, as my dad has been attending the same parish for close to 58 years.

I think the catholic church stresses the need to attend mass and be a part of a parish in order to be saved, most ND churches teach people they can have a personal relationship with God if they attend services or not, which I truly believe is correct, plus its clear to me catholic schools and churches only teach/ preach about some parts of the bible, and just leave out other parts entirely.

Another big difference which I do not understand, is the catholic church rarely, if ever discusses end times, comparing to our times versus what the bible says about what the end times will be like, most ND services will speak about this quite alot, as most of the warning signs the bible told people to look for, are happening or have happened, yet the catholic church says nothing about it…???

The overall impression I get of modern day catholic churches and schools, are they seem to be interested in secular world and obeying mans laws instead of following Gods laws. I truly truly believe,(hypothetical), if christianity would ever be criminalized in the US, or Govts forced people to get a microchip or other ‘mark’ I believe the catholic church would wholeheartedly accept this and encourage all the parish to receive this, even though God forbids such things. I just could not see the catholic church telling their parishes to dis-obey ANY law made my man, no matter what it was.

Watch the news on any given night, gay marriage is becoming widely accepted everywhere and will be legally protected before long, abortion is similar, our world is in bad shape…Does the church even have a plan to at least try to stop any of this? If they do, it doesnt seem to be working too well LOL What will the catholic church do when a law is created that says it must marry a gay couple? Will they resist, or fight? Id say they will do nothing more than protest and maybe hold a few rallies against it, but in the end, that is as far as they will be willing to go IMO…Maybe its time they bring back the crusaders and actively try to change society for the better?!!

 

[Sarabande]

I didn’t read past the 1st page, but my experience with knowing ND Christians (many of whom were Catholic) is that it is actually much more strict and black-and-white. They are often literal interpreters of the Bible, so what the Bible says is absolute truth. What the fallen-away Catholics have told me was that they didn’t like all the “extras” Catholicism has. ie. praying the rosary, contextual interpretations of the Bible, sacraments, saints, etc. They don’t like how Catholics do not usually read the Bible and rely more on Tradition and what the Church tells us rather than what the Bible tells us. What is a little easier, depending on the church you attend (at least from what I’ve been told), is that you are encouraged to interpret the Bible yourself and you can become your own expert on the Bible. They love Bible study and discussing ideas of what the text means. I used to attend Bible studies often at my uncle’s home who was a born again, non-denominational Christian. By the time I was a teen, I was turned off by them and my parents were too because all it became was a Catholic-bashing fest, so we stopped going. But as strict as that all is, it’s actually a lot easier, too. Some of the people I know have told me that we (the intellectual Catholics) think too much and question too much and all we need to know is right there in the Bible. It was “as easy as that”.

Besides that, many of them really love the fellowship and community work. I will admit that they are very good at doing that. It’s not my cup of tea, but for many, people do yearn for it. The music can be part of it. They have the bands and such which certain people like. That was something that really turned me off as a teen when my cousins took us to their youth events. I couldn’t stand it. If anything, it pushed me from ever thinking about leaving the Church for something like that. The pseudo-folk music they were playing at mass was bad enough, but rock bands and people acting like they were at a concert when the band played, was too much for me. It was awful. I know there are people who love it and are drawn to churches who do that kind of music, but not me.

 

[adawgj]

I’ve only been to that one. Maybe some of the others are like what you said. But every catholic church that I’ve been to has done two offerings ever since I was a kid

My parish does that too. But I think were trying to eliminate our financial debt.

 

[Gordon_Sims]

Among the Catholics I know who do this, the main reason is poor catechesis. I was talking to a friend a few months ago and after 5-10 minutes of her telling me about everything that was going on at the ND church she frequents, I asked her if she was also making sure to go to Mass each Sunday. She looked at me dumbfounded and asked, “Why would I do that?” I pointed out that she wasn’t meeting her Sunday obligation. She told me she absolutely was. After a bit of disagreement, she told me that the Church allows you to attend any house of worship on Sunday. She couldn’t tell me where she picked this up along the way, but she knew she was right and I was wrong. I’ve had pretty much the same conversation with a few other friends. They won’t take my word for it so I keep asking them to read the Catechism, Catholicism for Dummies, or something else that they’ll believe that might set them straight.

 

[Incomplete]

Im surprised to hear so many people on here talk about ND services being accepting of any kind of lifestyle, the ND services I have been to in the past were anything but that! Actually I was quite impressed with their services as they talk about the entire bible. I went to catholic school for almost 8 years and there is much of the bible that I had never heard of before, my family, who are devout catholics, did not know much about these verses when I asked them about it either, this really surprised me, as my dad has been attending the same parish for close to 58 years.

Catholics talk about the entire Bible too, including the books that aren’t even in Protestant bibles. We just don’t stress memorizing verses. Instead, we stress Scripture as a whole. It’s too easy to take things out of context otherwise. Why you went to Catholic school and didn’t hear much of Scripture and why your family hasn’t either is beyond me. If you go to Mass each Lord’s Day (and a devout family does) you hear all of Scripture in a 3 year time frame. If you go to daily Mass, you of course hear it sooner. You would have heard it in 8 years.

plus its clear to me catholic schools and churches only teach/ preach about some parts of the bible, and just leave out other parts entirely.

I’m not sure why this idea is so clear to you. We read from four books every Sunday, plus various other Scripture throughout Mass. Priests give homilies from those assigned readings, making it difficult to preach/teach only some parts. On the other hand, the nondenominational church in my area, the pastor decides what he wants to talk about and then finds Scripture that supports his position. Other times he does choose particular books to talk about, but it’s his choice which books. He can skip around all he wants, and leave out whatever he wants, as can any other nondenominational preacher. Catholic priests cannot do this.

Another big difference which I do not understand, is the catholic church rarely, if ever discusses end times, comparing to our times versus what the bible says about what the end times will be like, most ND services will speak about this quite alot, as most of the warning signs the bible told people to look for, are happening or have happened, yet the catholic church says nothing about it…???

Scripture says that none of us knows the hour. Still, it is obvious that a lot of people try to predict it. The important thing is to live a life of holiness, and that is what the Catholic church emphasizes. The earliest Christians thought that Jesus was coming back right away, but 2000 years later, it hasn’t happened. It is better to live a life of preparedness, a life of growing in holiness, than to be constantly talking about end times. Grow in holiness for love of God, not because you think end times are here.

The overall impression I get of modern day catholic churches and schools, are they seem to be interested in secular world and obeying mans laws instead of following Gods laws. I truly truly believe,(hypothetical), if christianity would ever be criminalized in the US, or Govts forced people to get a microchip or other ‘mark’ I believe the catholic church would wholeheartedly accept this and encourage all the parish to receive this, even though God forbids such things. I just could not see the catholic church telling their parishes to dis-obey ANY law made my man, no matter what it was.

Where did you ever get that idea? Have you not seen the fight against gay marriage? Have you not seen the fight against abortion? The Catholic church excommunicates folks who have an abortion; does your nondenominational church do that? Are you not at all aware of the fight against the Obamacare mandate forcing us to act against our deeply held beliefs on contraception? Our bishop told us that all the bishops have agreed that if need be, they will go to jail for this. So why would they be willing to go to jail while telling their people to obey any man-made law, even those that go against God?

Does the church even have a plan to at least try to stop any of this? If they do, it doesnt seem to be working too well LOL

What plan does the nondenominational church have, and how effective is it?

What will the catholic church do when a law is created that says it must marry a gay couple? Will they resist, or fight? Id say they will do nothing more than protest and maybe hold a few rallies against it, but in the end, that is as far as they will be willing to go IMO

They won’t comply with any law like that, just as they are not complying with the HHS mandate, and I have no idea how you could watch the news or read anything about today’s issues and think that.

 

[WildCatholic]

In all honesty, I think its because Protestants know how to evangelize and get people on fire. It’s not about it being easier, it’s about it being a clear message. The problem is that ND churches are often literal in the interpretation of the bible and simplify their message not so that its easier, but because they don’t have the tradition of catholicism. Also, at least in my opinion ND churches and a lot of evangelical protestantism is not very intellectual. It’s very simple and direct. Sure they are great on moral issues and such, but to me it’s more about heart and feeling, which is great, but they don’t use their minds. Are there any evangelical theologians who could be compared to Aquinas or Augustine? I don’t think so. Don’t get me wrong, catholicism can become stale and boring if we lack heart and feeling, but to me a lot of ND’s and evangelical groups are more based on heart and feeling than the mind.

 

[Country_Gal]

One of my best friends is a lapsed Catholic who attends a non-denominational church because it, “Just makes more sense and fills us spiritually. The Catholic church is too rule-oriented and doesn’t focus on a relationship with Christ.” Also, they have a good kids’ program and everyone has a relationship with the “pastor.”

We definitely have a CRISIS retaining our flock. I don’t know what the whole answer is.

That sums up many of my feelings

 

[Country_Gal]

It is also a fact that there is never just one side to any issue. Yet, what I continue to read here is that everything the Catholic Church does is just perfect and everyone who doesn’t see that is ignorant and lazy or just hates the Church. I don’t accept the premise of we’re all right and they’re all wrong. It’s too simplistic, and frankly it’s the easy way out, it lets us all off the hook so we don’t have to try harder, or even care about the people who either walk away, or never come near us in the first place.

I did read a lot of defensiveness and fingerpointing on this thread. Also some honest self reflection by some