Wishing to be Protestant again...

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Martyr225 said:
Hi, I chose that title to be somewhat provocative to hopefully garner people who could reply to this thread. I converted from Protestantism more than 10 years ago and I am happy to be Catholic. However, having said that I do miss much of the social aspects of a Protestant church. There were programs and bible studies for every age group; there were many ways of connecting to different people in your church–I had lots of friends in church and we would call each other up and do things together. There would be family picnics and other outings the church would sponsor.

In my 10 years of being Catholic my knowledge of truth has increased but at the cost of fellowship. I’ve been around 4 different Catholic churches in 10 years and all of them seem to be not much more than ‘Eucharist factories’ where you shuffle the people in, give them a boring homily, the Eucharist and shuffle them out until next week when you can do it again. The earliest youth group starts at high school.

I have brought some of my brothers and sisters in to the Church, but we all are beginning to pine for the days when going to church was enjoyable.

It does really appear to me that the Catholic Church, as an institution, does not foster fellowship anywhere near as much as the Protestant churches do. Am I wrong?

And before you say to me, “Well then, you get something started at your church!”, I’m trying to make the point that as an institution the Catholic church does not foster fellowship. I don’t want to be one person trying to roll a rock up hill, I want to be part of a Church that encourages fellowship.

As I mentioned before, I helped bring others to the Catholic Church, but now I’ve got a dilemma. My two kids, ages 12 and 13 are really complaining about going to our ‘boring church’ when their Protestant friends do all these really fun activities their churches sponsor. And I have an older son who may be considering becoming Catholic, but he has 4 children ages 1-6. I wince at the prospect of telling him he can’t put his children in Sunday School while he and his wife go to mass, but instead he has to keep four children under control for an hour while having to listen to a boring sermon. These are not show stoppers, but they really detract from giving incentives to joining the Church.

Any thought are welcome. But does anyone else see this lack of fellowship problem?
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Dear Martyr - I understand what you are saying. I am a cradle Catholic but spent several years attending Bible study and other faith-building events at a large Protestant church. I even spent some time with the Mormons because I liked their idea of the ward system where they all got to know each other very well. This was especially attractive to me because I was away from my extended family.

I have been a parishioner at several parishes in several states over the years and can tell you they vary widely. However, they do have one thing in common - the parishioners (for the most part) are not looking for fellowship. The ones that are get involved in Knights of Columbus (very big here in Utah), Council of Catholic Women, Scouts, Bible study, youth group…

Over the years, I have often thought about why Catholics are this way. Believe it or not, I have actually come to LIKE it. I like to dedicate my time/money/talent to causes of my own choice and have found that the one’s God has led me to are not at our parish. I have also seen that most people are very busy with family obligations and financial burdens that do not leave them much free time for fellowship activities.

I know friends from other faiths that suffer from “church involvement overload” and are very bitter. I know Protestants that alienated friends because their couples-groups only allowed for x amount of couples and it caused lots of problems. Honestly, I think the gossiping that went on hurt a lot of people.

Maybe we are meant to go out and feed the hungry, teach the illiterate to read, start a schools supply drive for underprivileged children, bring dinners to a family where the mother has cancer…and not worry so much about ourselves? I don’t know, but that is what I think.

I don’t want to say that fellowship is not important and that your feelings are invalid. They are. I just think it falls under the idea of “dying to oneself.”
 
It must just be your parish, Martyr; the parish I attend has loads of people I know. We have many programs for people of all ages, fellowship groups, bible studies, youth groups, choir and bell choir, etc… Please rest assured that the Catholic Church is not just an institution of “Eucharist factories” or anything of the sort.

Perhaps you yourself can suggest some things like youth groups for the younger age brackets, bible study groups, etc? Don’t be afraid to take a shot at trying to enrich the faith for you and your fellow parishioners! 🙂
 
gurneyhalleck1 said:
No need for a provocative thread title, just be honest. The thread is fine without it.

I completely hear you, OP. My wife and I were reverts to the Catholic Church from the Anglican Church back in 2002. In the last 8 years we’ve struggled with not only the theology of the Church, NFP, indulgences, purgatory, and papal supremacy, but we’ve really hated the way the congregation is treated by the pastor, music ministry leader, and generally the culture of the entire parish stinks. Our town had two Catholic parishes. One of them had a priest come out and admit that he’s openly gay now and fought for gay rights and he left the priesthood. After that debacle, that northside ghetto/barrio church is now part of our church, so now our priests are over there as well. Then they also took on a parish outside of town and other mission parish that only speaks Spanish. So now in our entire city has not only the two in town but two outside of town and our pastor runs them ALL. So if you aren’t a fan of the pastor or the music ministry head honcho who likes to cuss-out his musicians with profanity and literally throw punches at them (I kid you not), and if you’re burned out on no fellowship, being lectured on how inadequate we all are each week, lots of crying babies, no Bible studies, and retreats that are so expensive Donald Trump wouldn’t want to sign on, then you have no recourse.

My wife and I missed our old Anglican parish. It had a priest who not only was definitely not gay or an odd ball, but he was pastoral, caring, active, and very conservative. The bulletins and signs and everything at our old parish weren’t in Spanish, no pandering. Coffee hour was great, the people ultra friendly, reverent worship with much better liturgical language than the Novus Ordo stuff, mid-week Wonderful Wednesdays with dinner fellowship, Mass, and book studies as well as kids activities, etc. Childcare at every Mass, wonderful music ministry with a guy who is just great (doesn’t throw punches or cuss like a long-shorman either!), and generally just a great place to be.

You are not weird for feeling the way you do. Prepare in this thread to get a million guilt trips about how you’re making it all about YOU and not God and the typical low expectations that “it is what it is” type arguments. You’ll also get replies that say things like, “if you want more fellowship, why don’t YOU make it happen!?” when in reality one needs to ask, why after 100 years of being a parish in my town has nobody else thought of childcare, fellowship, Bible study, greeters, or overall friendliness? Are you really the first person to want fellowship at that parish? It’s institutionalized the whole lack of fellowship and it shouldn’t be up to just you to organize.
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gurneyhalleck - Sorry to hear of your troubles at your parish. There must be parishes nearby that offer more of what you are looking for?
I have very rarely attended the church closest to me for various reasons, some that you have mentioned.
You sound like someone who would really appreciate St. Francis of Assisi and his struggles with his local church. Have you ever read about him?
I hope you continue to look around for a parish that better suits you and your wife. I know friends who drive a little ways to get to Latin mass and are enjoying fellowship with like-minded Catholics.
Well, I wish you all the best! I really enjoy your humorous and intelligent posts. People like you are not satisfied with mediocrity, nor should you be, and can contribute much to all of us.
 
lax16 said:
gurneyhalleck -
Well, I wish you all the best! I really enjoy your humorous and intelligent posts. People like you are not satisfied with mediocrity, nor should you be, and can contribute much to all of us.
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Amen…
 
gurneyhalleck1 said:
No need for a provocative thread title, just be honest. The thread is fine without it.

I completely hear you, OP. My wife and I were reverts to the Catholic Church from the Anglican Church back in 2002. In the last 8 years we’ve struggled with not only the theology of the Church, NFP, indulgences, purgatory, and papal supremacy, but we’ve really hated the way the congregation is treated by the pastor, music ministry leader, and generally the culture of the entire parish stinks. Our town had two Catholic parishes. One of them had a priest come out and admit that he’s openly gay now and fought for gay rights and he left the priesthood. After that debacle, that northside ghetto/barrio church is now part of our church, so now our priests are over there as well. Then they also took on a parish outside of town and other mission parish that only speaks Spanish. So now in our entire city has not only the two in town but two outside of town and our pastor runs them ALL. So if you aren’t a fan of the pastor or the music ministry head honcho who likes to cuss-out his musicians with profanity and literally throw punches at them (I kid you not), and if you’re burned out on no fellowship, being lectured on how inadequate we all are each week, lots of crying babies, no Bible studies, and retreats that are so expensive Donald Trump wouldn’t want to sign on, then you have no recourse.

My wife and I missed our old Anglican parish. It had a priest who not only was definitely not gay or an odd ball, but he was pastoral, caring, active, and very conservative. The bulletins and signs and everything at our old parish weren’t in Spanish, no pandering. Coffee hour was great, the people ultra friendly, reverent worship with much better liturgical language than the Novus Ordo stuff, mid-week Wonderful Wednesdays with dinner fellowship, Mass, and book studies as well as kids activities, etc. Childcare at every Mass, wonderful music ministry with a guy who is just great (doesn’t throw punches or cuss like a long-shorman either!), and generally just a great place to be.

You are not weird for feeling the way you do. Prepare in this thread to get a million guilt trips about how you’re making it all about YOU and not God and the typical low expectations that “it is what it is” type arguments. You’ll also get replies that say things like, “if you want more fellowship, why don’t YOU make it happen!?” when in reality one needs to ask, why after 100 years of being a parish in my town has nobody else thought of childcare, fellowship, Bible study, greeters, or overall friendliness? Are you really the first person to want fellowship at that parish? It’s institutionalized the whole lack of fellowship and it shouldn’t be up to just you to organize.
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I don’t think anyone is intending to give anyone a guilt trip. It’s about putting things in perspective. Do I prefer to be in a church that has great fellowship but does not believe in the Real Presence or does not have a valid Eucharist, or a church in which Christ is truly present in the Eucharist and has lousy fellowship? I take option # 2 because I go to church for Jesus, not to make friends. The ideal is to have both and you can work to make that ideal a reality. There may be seemingly insurmountable barriers, but if you adopt a defeatist attitude, then it will never happen. Imagine if people like Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Theresa of Avila, Saint John of the Cross, Saint Joseph Calasanz and other saints had adopted a defeatist attitude? Or do you think they had it easy, that they did not have seemingly insurmountable barriers to face? Some of these saints even got in trouble with the Inquisition! But they persevered and did not give up hope. If you’re unhappy about the situation in your parish, than be an agent of change and renewal! Pray to God for wisdom and strength.

God Bless,
Michael
 
May be it would also be good to read the lives of the saints just mentioned…St. Francis, St. Catherine, St. Therese of Avila and St. John of the Cross, St. Vincent de Paul…I spent a time in my life where I read the lives of the saints in alot of solitude and they helped me immensely as to what to focus on…and the friends eventually came who shared the same…
 
I understand the provocative title of your post and see it as a sincere frustration that you need more from your church on a social level than on a theological level. The comparison you make between your present church/religion and previous church/religion seems analogous to businesses I’ve worked for. One was a multi-national corporation with more than 400,000 employees worldwide and the other was a small business with fewer than 50 employees who lived within a 25 mile radius. In some ways they were not unlike various churches I’ve attended.

The corporation kept me busy pretty much 24/7. It was expected that after the 8-12 hour work day, not including business travel, employees would attend professional courses and social events, take work home, receive calls after hours, and pretty much say yes to whatever might further the corporation–the Team. Employees were mostly involved with those similar to themselves in profession or area of expertise inside and outside of work, often to the exclusion of someone not within the business.

The small company was intense in spurts when meeting customer orders, but much less so when not driven by a somewhat seasonal schedule. Because of the nature of the business, it would be unusual for an employee to take work home. There were few professional meetings, events, or social activities scheduled outside of normal work hours, except for an ocassional dinner or get together. Socialization was friendly, but individually selective, more personality centered than business centered. At the end of most days the employees’ lives were somewhere other than the business.

Both businesses had goals that were similar, although on a hugely different scale. One had a more all encompassing view of its employees, while the other was more laissez faire. I find my own expectations were very different while I worked for each business. One WAS my lilfe and the other was PART of my life. One wasn’t necessarily better or worse than the other, but was what I needed or maybe what I wanted for myself at that time in my life. It would have been unrealistic to expect either business to meet all of my personal needs.

As you said, your subject is very provocative, but do you really wish to be Protestant again? Do you really wish to abandon your Catholic faith to fulfill needs that are, by your own description, current and changing?
 
To the OP, I have yet to enter the Church, but I will tell you this. The parish I attend is fantastic, but I’m sure this varies from parish to parish. I have about 8 parishes within 20 minutes of me and I’m sure if I went to all of them, I would get the atmosphere you descibe at one of them, if not more. But despite liking the priest, the parish, the solid homilies, knowing some of the others that attend there, etc., I’m there because I know this is His Church. When I started looking around after re-examining my spirituality, I pondered the Anglican and Lutheran churches briefly. But when I really started studying and praying and looking at things from an unbiased perspective, I could not go anywhere else in good conscience. I know fellowship is something attractive to all of us to some degree or another, but for me, ultimately I wanted to be where Christ wanted me to be. I want to commune with Him. I want all of Him. I cannot find that anywhere else outside the Catholic/Orthodox Church. Hang in there, and pray, as I’m sure all of us will do the same for you. I agree with yellowbird. Great post!
 
Thanks so much for the very kind words, lax. God bless you! 🙂
lax16 said:
gurneyhalleck - Sorry to hear of your troubles at your parish. There must be parishes nearby that offer more of what you are looking for?
I have very rarely attended the church closest to me for various reasons, some that you have mentioned.
You sound like someone who would really appreciate St. Francis of Assisi and his struggles with his local church. Have you ever read about him?
I hope you continue to look around for a parish that better suits you and your wife. I know friends who drive a little ways to get to Latin mass and are enjoying fellowship with like-minded Catholics.
Well, I wish you all the best! I really enjoy your humorous and intelligent posts. People like you are not satisfied with mediocrity, nor should you be, and can contribute much to all of us.
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Many Anglicans and Orthodox already feel they have both. From a Catholic perspective the Eucharist is invalid in the AC, but Anglicans feel quite different. The Old Catholic Utrecht “Dutch Touch” consecrations reinfused valid apostolic lines into the Anglican apostolic succession; Anglicans believe they have a valid Eucharist. So do the Orthodox. They both have outstanding fellowship and usually great pastoral care as well. They don’t see it as an either-or.
mikeledes said:
I don’t think anyone is intending to give anyone a guilt trip. It’s about putting things in perspective. Do I prefer to be in a church that has great fellowship but does not believe in the Real Presence or does not have a valid Eucharist, or a church in which Christ is truly present in the Eucharist and has lousy fellowship? I take option # 2 because I go to church for Jesus, not to make friends. The ideal is to have both and you can work to make that ideal a reality. There may be seemingly insurmountable barriers, but if you adopt a defeatist attitude, then it will never happen. Imagine if people like Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Theresa of Avila, Saint John of the Cross, Saint Joseph Calasanz and other saints had adopted a defeatist attitude? Or do you think they had it easy, that they did not have seemingly insurmountable barriers to face? Some of these saints even got in trouble with the Inquisition! But they persevered and did not give up hope. If you’re unhappy about the situation in your parish, than be an agent of change and renewal! Pray to God for wisdom and strength.

God Bless,
Michael
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.

**Hi, I chose that title to be somewhat provocative to hopefully garner people who could reply to this thread. I converted from Protestantism more than 10 years ago and I am happy to be Catholic. However, having said that I do miss much of the social aspects of a Protestant church. There were programs and bible studies for every age group; there were many ways of connecting to different people in your church–I had lots of friends in church and we would call each other up and do things together. There would be family picnics and other outings the church would sponsor. **

No offense,but I may come across as harsh,simply because I hear this quite a bit as a Director of Catechesis.Fellowship and worship are two different things. Perhaps a new parish which offers small faith communities is what you need.

In my 10 years of being Catholic my knowledge of truth has increased but at the cost of fellowship. I’ve been around 4 different Catholic churches in 10 years and all of them seem to be not much more than ‘Eucharist factories’ where you shuffle the people in, give them a boring homily, the Eucharist and shuffle them out until next week when you can do it again. The earliest youth group starts at high school.

May I ask you something? Why is fellowship more important than worship?

**I have brought some of my brothers and sisters in to the Church, but we all are beginning to pine for the days when going to church was enjoyable.

It does really appear to me that the Catholic Church, as an institution, does not foster fellowship anywhere near as much as the Protestant churches do. Am I wrong?

And before you say to me, “Well then, you get something started at your church!”, I’m trying to make the point that as an institution the Catholic church does not foster fellowship. I don’t want to be one person trying to roll a rock up hill, I want to be part of a Church that encourages fellowship.**

Exactly! It fosters Eucharist worship which is communal and social fellowship is second. That is one the problems I see with many Protestant sects,first it is about socializing (having fun),then worship.

As I mentioned before, I helped bring others to the Catholic Church, but now I’ve got a dilemma. My two kids, ages 12 and 13 are really complaining about going to our ‘boring church’ when their Protestant friends do all these really fun activities their churches sponsor. And I have an older son who may be considering becoming Catholic, but he has 4 children ages 1-6. I wince at the prospect of telling him he can’t put his children in Sunday School while he and his wife go to mass, but instead he has to keep four children under control for an hour while having to listen to a boring sermon. These are not show stoppers, but they really detract from giving incentives to joining the Church.

I hear that a lot…‘fun’ activities.Why do people today,especially young children need to be constantly entertained,including their faith? At times I view it as a sales pitch simply to bring people in. I have also been told by ex-Protestants who tell me those so-called ‘fun’ churches really do a lot of ‘fun’ stuff,but lack any form of liturgical worship or catechesis for children.Fun is one thing and worship is another.

**Any thought are welcome. But does anyone else see this lack of fellowship problem? **

No,I do not. Every parish is a reflection of its community.Some are more dry than others and some are more alive. The problem I see with many Catholics today is the belief that church needs to be entertaining them or else there is something wrong. Secondly, instead of people placing blame or crticising the church,why not do something? People are so prone to give their two-cents about everything,but no one wants to do anything about it.

The old cliche: If one is not part of the solution,then one is part of the problem

Sorry
 
The church that I attend (St Marys Delaware, Ohio) while being a rather large church has plenty of groups for fellowship. I have been to the respect life committee, the small group Bible study and I have heard of many other activities for us (the only problem is as a student I either reading the text for class or writing papers so I don’t have as much time as I would like to get involved. Plus those who attend daily mass get to know each other pretty fast.
 
Nicea325 said:
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I’ve never seen any indication of this in any Protestant churches I’ve been to. I think this is unfair to say Protestants don’t take worship seriously and that all of them are there to have fun first, worship second. How do you know this? Just because the Nazarene church in my town is gimmicky and full of a bunch of goofy family fun boloney to get people in the door doesn’t mean the Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterians, etc. are doing the same? The Anglican parish in my town has coffee hour after the service and the worship is the priority. There is nothing wrong with socializing and being friendly afterward. I don’t see why coffee hour equates to worship being secondary? Can’t we walk and chew gum? worship AND enjoy each other’s company?
**I have brought some of my brothers and sisters in to the Church, but we all are
Exactly! It fosters Eucharist worship which is communal and social fellowship is second. That is one the problems I see with many Protestant sects,first it is about socializing (having fun),then worship.

**If the pastor of the Catholic parish is stubborn and wants to keep things mundane, boring, expensive, and cold, and the bishop’s his buddy, you can try and try and do all you want but he’s the boss, pure and simple. Any fellowship you’d want wouldn’t be in the bulletin, it’d be at your house, and it’d be pretty dang unofficial. ****
The old cliche: If one is not part of the solution,then one is part of the problem

Sorry
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Hello to the OP and I am sorry you have this experience in your parish.I do understand what you are saying and some parishes I guess, could be accused of not encouraging a socialising side of things,but certainly most parishes I have ever attended have had lots of social things going on.My current parish of 2yrs I have lots fo friends and much is going on.Our Parish Priest is friendly and encourages a lot of activity and socialising.Here are some of the opportunities we have where you could make friends.I also regularly go to daily Mass…this is a very good way to make friends.

SVP- anyone can join to make friends
Soup lunches
Coach trips to the cathedral
boat trips
parish quiz evenings
parish annual BBQ
childrens paint & cake sessions
Churches together
Lenten programmes - with various opportunities to socialise…walk of witness with hot cross buns & hot drinks & chat!! etc
daily Mass
Evening events on St.Paul/Mark with guest speakers
Carol concerts with mince pies & hot drinks
Coffee & tea after every Mass to chat & befriend each other
Pastoral council members can be approached to represent your views at meetings
Lunches for the elderly twice a week.
Comfirmation & First Holy Communion preparation allows lots fo opportunity for socialising
Confirmation evening-bishop comes big party for all the parish to attend
Lectio Devina groups meet in each others homes & pray & socialise
Youth club
Choir & Music groups
To name a few!!
You have had some very good responses I think either suggest starting a group of some sort
or try another parish.God bless
 
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gurneyhalleck1:
I’ve never seen any indication of this in any Protestant churches I’ve been to.

And you are aware there are tons and tons of different churches,right? Perhaps none that you have been to,but does not mean it does not exist.

I think this is unfair to say Protestants don’t take worship seriously and that all of them are there to have fun first, worship second.

I said MANY,not ALL Protestant sects.

How do you know this?

And how do you know the opposite?

Just because the Nazarene church in my town is gimmicky and full of a bunch of goofy family fun boloney to get people in the door doesn’t mean the Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterians, etc. are doing the same? The Anglican parish in my town has coffee hour after the service and the worship is the priority. There is nothing wrong with socializing and being friendly afterward. I don’t see why coffee hour equates to worship being secondary? Can’t we walk and chew gum? worship AND enjoy each other’s company?

Where did I say one can’t walk and chew gum at the same time? I never said socializing was wrong or bad. Precisely why I mentioned small faith communities.But why do many Catholics today feel the RCC needs to entertain them on a regular basis or else church is boring?
 
Martyr225 said:
Hi, I chose that title to be somewhat provocative to hopefully garner people who could reply to this thread. I converted from Protestantism more than 10 years ago and I am happy to be Catholic. However, having said that I do miss much of the social aspects of a Protestant church. There were programs and bible studies for every age group; there were many ways of connecting to different people in your church–I had lots of friends in church and we would call each other up and do things together. There would be family picnics and other outings the church would sponsor.

In my 10 years of being Catholic my knowledge of truth has increased but at the cost of fellowship. I’ve been around 4 different Catholic churches in 10 years and all of them seem to be not much more than ‘Eucharist factories’ where you shuffle the people in, give them a boring homily, the Eucharist and shuffle them out until next week when you can do it again. The earliest youth group starts at high school.

I have brought some of my brothers and sisters in to the Church, but we all are beginning to pine for the days when going to church was enjoyable.

It does really appear to me that the Catholic Church, as an institution, does not foster fellowship anywhere near as much as the Protestant churches do. Am I wrong?

And before you say to me, “Well then, you get something started at your church!”, I’m trying to make the point that as an institution the Catholic church does not foster fellowship. I don’t want to be one person trying to roll a rock up hill, I want to be part of a Church that encourages fellowship.

As I mentioned before, I helped bring others to the Catholic Church, but now I’ve got a dilemma. My two kids, ages 12 and 13 are really complaining about going to our ‘boring church’ when their Protestant friends do all these really fun activities their churches sponsor. And I have an older son who may be considering becoming Catholic, but he has 4 children ages 1-6. I wince at the prospect of telling him he can’t put his children in Sunday School while he and his wife go to mass, but instead he has to keep four children under control for an hour while having to listen to a boring sermon. These are not show stoppers, but they really detract from giving incentives to joining the Church.

Any thought are welcome. But does anyone else see this lack of fellowship problem?
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I can not help but has to reply because it seems you are not really into the role of the Church into our lives. Your desire to have the Church fit to your way of life seems odd to me because I see the Church differently from my point of view. Perhaps you need people around you, a wife and kids perhaps, or even friends to socialize with.

Fellowship is nice in the Church but that is depending on the kind of people who are in your Parish. Most Catholics believe that we should serve the Church and not the other way around. This is why we are very focused on the central part of the Mass which is the Eucharist to have communion with the body of Christ. This is what we need. We can always or join to form a group of our own aside from the central role of the Church where you may able to socialize with other people.

There are many groups out there but you may find them to be devoutional group whose primary wish is to pray most of the time during their sessions. For myself, I have a family and taking part with the Eucharist is just enough. Some readings from the Bible sometimes during my free time. No two people are alike, and your free will can set you free, and I know you can always think about how to decide on what role the Church can do for you, or what you can do to your Church.
 
Fellowship is indeed important. Way back in the old days, life was centered around the church and parish school, but that’s frequently no longer true. Sooo… as others have said, start one yourself.

If your parish priest is amendable (ie not the grump described above), you could suggest a once a month coffee hour after one of the Masses. Or the above mentioned potluck. Or a Scripture study using one of Scott Hahn’s or Steve Ray’s materials. Or see if your public library has an oldie such as The Scarlet and the Black, A Man for All Seasons, etc then schedule a night at the parish meeting room to to show it with discussion following.

Parishioners (and your priest) will be glad you took the initiative.
 
I can not help but has to reply because it seems you are not really into the role of the Church into our lives. Your desire to have the Church fit to your way of life seems odd to me because I see the Church differently from my point of view. Perhaps you need people around you, a wife and kids perhaps, or even friends to socialize with.

I agree wholeheartedly.Many people want the church to fit into their life styles and not vice versa.

Fellowship is nice in the Church but that is depending on the kind of people who are in your Parish. Most Catholics believe that we should serve the Church and not the other way around. This is why we are very focused on the central part of the Mass which is the Eucharist to have communion with the body of Christ. This is what we need. We can always or join to form a group of our own aside from the central role of the Church where you may able to socialize with other people.

Amen! Ministry from the latin:ministra meaning to serve.

**There are many groups out there but you may find them to be devoutional group whose primary wish is to pray most of the time during their sessions. For myself, I have a family and taking part with the Eucharist is just enough. Some readings from the Bible sometimes during my free time. No two people are alike, and your free will can set you free, and I know you can always think about how to decide on what role the Church can do for you, or what you can do to your Church. **

Amen again
 
Well, in my Church at St. Mary’s Parish in Greenville, SC, we have ALOT of programs. We have programs for virtually every age group or interest…not including the Knights of Columbus Chapter here at the Church. What I would suggest is you do what they did in our church several years ago to get where we are today…talk to the parish priest or whoever has the authority at your church to found a class or group and give him your ideas…find people of like mind in your parish who would like to start a similar group or other groups and band together and work to get the classes or groups founded. The main reason classes and groups aren’t being founded in Churches nowadays is that people are not trying to get them started. The Church is made of members, you are (in a sense) the Church Herself, The Church is the people, so how does one expect to get things started in the Church if the people of the Church do nothing to get them started? Don’t worry if you put alot of work and prayer into a project, God will bless that…who knows…maybe because of your hard work and prayer and people of like mind praying and working with you, your Parish with Grow and Flourish as a Fruit of your Labor? Press forward under the Cross of Christ and do His Will. Now as to your view of the Mass…it all depends (same as receiving any of the sacraments) on your disposition upon going to mass. If you go seeking the Truth and go to meet in a personal way with God Himself, then you will find Him. As to the Homily being boring…in order for one to appreciate the Homily one must know what it is in the first place. It is the Priest giving the Church’s interpretation of the Scriptures read…and also on His part relateing it to the daily lives of the people of his Parish…now not every priest is a very good speaker…some speak in monotone voices and get off track all throughout the service…but if one listens with pure intent, one can always find in the homily and accompanying Scripture a flame that can ignite your Spirit for the rest of the Week and one can Hear the Voice of God speaking to them through Scripture. You are in my prayers on your quest to make your Parish more active. 😉
 
Martyr225 said:
Hi, I chose that title to be somewhat provocative to hopefully garner people who could reply to this thread. I converted from Protestantism more than 10 years ago and I am happy to be Catholic. However, having said that I do miss much of the social aspects of a Protestant church. There were programs and bible studies for every age group; there were many ways of connecting to different people in your church–I had lots of friends in church and we would call each other up and do things together. There would be family picnics and other outings the church would sponsor.

In my 10 years of being Catholic my knowledge of truth has increased but at the cost of fellowship. I’ve been around 4 different Catholic churches in 10 years and all of them seem to be not much more than ‘Eucharist factories’ where you shuffle the people in, give them a boring homily, the Eucharist and shuffle them out until next week when you can do it again. The earliest youth group starts at high school.

I have brought some of my brothers and sisters in to the Church, but we all are beginning to pine for the days when going to church was enjoyable.

It does really appear to me that the Catholic Church, as an institution, does not foster fellowship anywhere near as much as the Protestant churches do. Am I wrong?

And before you say to me, “Well then, you get something started at your church!”, I’m trying to make the point that as an institution the Catholic church does not foster fellowship. I don’t want to be one person trying to roll a rock up hill, I want to be part of a Church that encourages fellowship.

As I mentioned before, I helped bring others to the Catholic Church, but now I’ve got a dilemma. My two kids, ages 12 and 13 are really complaining about going to our ‘boring church’ when their Protestant friends do all these really fun activities their churches sponsor. And I have an older son who may be considering becoming Catholic, but he has 4 children ages 1-6. I wince at the prospect of telling him he can’t put his children in Sunday School while he and his wife go to mass, but instead he has to keep four children under control for an hour while having to listen to a boring sermon. These are not show stoppers, but they really detract from giving incentives to joining the Church.

Any thought are welcome. But does anyone else see this lack of fellowship problem?
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I hope this does not get me in trouble with the site authorities.

I most certainly will not encourage you to cease to be Catholic.

I am going to make an add suggestion to you: have some of both.

I am 100% committed to the Christian Church/Disciples of Christ for our stance on unity of Christians. From early 2007 to the end of 2008, I attended a congregation that had only morning services. However, I missed the strong, expository, `dig deep into the Bible’ approach of many Baptists and the Churches of Christ. Getting both was no problem: the Disciples congregation met only in the mornings, and the Church of Christ congregation I chose met in the evenings and in the middle of the week.

It was a wonderful arrangement. I was right in the middle of children’s ministry at the Disciples congregation, and the Church of Christ congregation also involved me in congregational life as a `second home.’

Fact is, many Catholic congregations have services on Saturday evening, and/or late Sunday morning. What if you attended a congregation of another church group in the evenings, or early mornings? Find you a nice congregation that will not try to `steal’ you; I bet you would not have too much difficulty with that.

I really think that with some creativity, you can probably have both.
 
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