Would it be okay for me to go to a Protestant church service, just to see our differences?

[batman1973]

What he said; plus, I’ve been to a few Protestant churches, Church of the Nazarene, Baptist, Episcopal… Episcopal is very close to Catholicism. Nazarene and Baptist are similar, and not at all like the Catholic Church. The last Baptist service I went to because I had no choice(the closest Catholic Mass was 30 minutes away and I have no car) and I missed my parish. It took the same amount of time as Mass, without any sort of sacrament, basically just preaching and greeting each other. So, I wouldn’t recommend it.

You must have not gone when the baptists had a potluck after service. IMHO, that’s the best time to go

 

[onenow1]

You must have not gone when the baptists had a potluck after service. IMHO, that’s the best time to go

HI Batman Good cheap meals, and there usually very good. They of course expect you to stay for bible study and actually they believe about 80% of what the CC teaches. The other 20% there is a vast difference.

God Bless

 

[LEMAITRE]

This man is renowned for his odd views. I think if the Pope agreed with him he would not have invited Westminster Abbey choir (and its Catholic music director) to sing at St Peter’s in June.

Why is it odd? Did you even listen to his entire answer? He said every now and then is okay, not regularly as in every month. He was the Prefect for the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, that means he knows what he is talking about. I don’t see what it has to do with the Pope visiting Westminster Abbey, after all he is not visiting this Abbey every month now is he?

 

[Indifferently]

From what I have seen, the Anglican ‘Use’ liturgy is not completely authentic, as the canon has been completely altered to conform more closely to Roman Catholic doctrine. Anyway, you’d be very welcome at one of the services in my little conservative, 1662 ghetto in the Church of England, where our preachers routinely say nicer things about Rome than they d9 about our own hierarchy!

 

[liturgyluver]

Why is it odd? Did you even listen to his entire answer? He said every now and then is okay, not regularly as in every month. He was the Prefect for the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, that means he knows what he is talking about. I don’t see what it has to do with the Pope visiting Westminster Abbey, after all he is not visiting this Abbey every month now is he?

Yes, I have heard it many times as it is often wheeled out on this forum (inappropriately) as evidence that Catholics should not attend protestant churches at all. Indeed, this is not what he said, so why did you quote it here as the OP only talked about visiting as a one-off?

The Westminster Abbey example is relevant, but clearly you did not read my post properly: The Pope invited the Abbey Choir to sing at St Peter’s Basillica in Rome. James O’Donnel, a Catholic, is the Abbey’s music director employed full time. Pope Benedict is aware of this, so clearly he does not have the same issue as the Cardinal about Catholics working in non-Catholic churches!

 

[mardukm]

I am a Catholic and I was just wondering if anyone has ever gone to a Protestant or other type of church service, just to see what goes on it and what the differences are. I have seen many movies with the church services in them, so I know there are definitely some differences, but would is it weird for me to want to know how their church works?

I’ve been to I think 5 Protestant services in my life. Of the magisterial Protestants, I went to a Lutheran service (don’t know if it is called a Mass), and it is pretty liturgical.

The thing I like about the radical Protestant services is their attempt to expose the Scriptures. It is a real exegetical exposition. What I found missing (aside from the obvious) was a sense of authority. It was always “my opinion.”

After I became Catholic, I did visit a radical Protestant service with another Catholic friend (at the invitation of a Protestant friend). I had to remind my Catholic friend not to participate in their communion, and when the plate of bread and container of cups of fruit juice came to us, we just passed it along to the person next to us.

Blessings,
Marduk

 

[MartinJordan]

I wouldn’t recommend it. I once did as my bro-in-law asked me to come to his Tabernacle church here. I felt like a fish out of water. It seemed all praise and not so much worship.

That said, they were awfully nice to me

MJ

 

[JonNC]

=mardukm;10062825]I’ve been to I think 5 Protestant services in my life. Of the magisterial Protestants, I went to a Lutheran service (don’t know if it is called a Mass), and it is pretty liturgical.

It can so be called, as that’s what the Lutheran Confessions call it. It (and they) also assumed both theliturgy of the word and the liturgy of the sacrament, something I’ve tried to convince the communion twice monthly crowd of.
Ordinarily, in LCMS settings, the term used is Divine Service.

The thing I like about the radical Protestant services is their attempt to expose the Scriptures. It is a real exegetical exposition. What I found missing (aside from the obvious) was a sense of authority. It was always “my opinion.”

After I became Catholic, I did visit a radical Protestant service with another Catholic friend (at the invitation of a Protestant friend). I had to remind my Catholic friend not to participate in their communion, and when the plate of bread and container of cups of fruit juice came to us, we just passed it along to the person next to us.

For a host (no pun intended) of reasons, I would too.

Jon

 

[LEMAITRE]

Yes, I have heard it many times as it is often wheeled out on this forum (inappropriately) as evidence that Catholics should not attend protestant churches at all. Indeed, this is not what he said, so why did you quote it here as the OP only talked about visiting as a one-off?

The Westminster Abbey example is relevant, but clearly you did not read my post properly: The Pope invited the Abbey Choir to sing at St Peter’s Basillica in Rome. James O’Donnel, a Catholic, is the Abbey’s music director employed full time. Pope Benedict is aware of this, so clearly he does not have the same issue as the Cardinal about Catholics working in non-Catholic churches!

You are clearly having difficulty understanding the Cardinals plain English. Cardinal Arinze has no problem with attending Protestant churches once in a while, he has a problem with regular attendance. Clearly the Pope doesn’t attend the Abbey on a regular basis which makes your argument, a non-argument and Cardinal Arinze right.

 

[liturgyluver]

You are clearly having difficulty understanding the Cardinals plain English. Cardinal Arinze has no problem with attending Protestant churches once in a while, he has a problem with regular attendance. Clearly the Pope doesn’t attend the Abbey on a regular basis which makes your argument, a non-argument and Cardinal Arinze right.

And you clearly have a problem with reading the messages you are responding to, as well as forgetting good maners!

I did not mention once in any of my posts, the Pope’s visit to the Abbey as that is not relevant to this discussion. You posted the Video in which the Cardinal talks about Catholic musicians not being able to perform regularly in non- Catholic churches. But the Master of Music at the Abbey is a Catholic and the Pope is aware of this and still invited the Abbey choir to sing in Rome. If he agreed with the Cardinal, he would not have done so.

I hope you are able.to read this carefully to prevent a further misunderstanding!

 

[oneofmany]

Well I have a different experience. When I started dating my future husband he had dropped away from the Catholic church and was going to a non-denominational church. I started to go to his church with him but also going to my parish church. So on Sat, I went to my church and Sunday morning to his church.

His church had a lot of music and singing, then the preacher would give a long sermon and then they would sing again. After church they would visit some, then leave. The single group would go out to eat. I guess they knew I was Catholic but I never made a big deal out of it. When I first went there they didn’t do communion, later they did and I did not go up to receive it. I guess then they knew more about me being Catholic but by that time I was friends with them.

I got my future husband to start attending the Catholic church again and when marriage was brought up, (we dated for 3 years) I told him I wanted a Catholic home, with statutes and the whole thing. We went to some counseling to his pastor as well as the Catholic counseling for marriage. His pastor knew I was not going to join his church. The church had a lot of fallen away Catholics going there anyway.

We got married in the Catholic church and my hubby came back to the church after his annulment and we started going to both churches because his son went to the Protestant church and we didn’t want to keep him from going to church, so for 5 years after we married we attended both churches each week. Even on Wed night, the Protestant church would have a prayer meeting and we went to that since the youth group got together. I also attended prayer groups that met in homes for prayer and socializing.

So I was involved in that Protestant church for quite sometime but never lost my religion, even though my mother worried about me. LOL I wasn’t even interested in joining, I just liked the man I met and wanted to be with him. God had plans for us and it turned out great. We now only go to the Catholic church and my hubby is more involved in our parish than I am. He is a very religious man. He just lost his way when his mother died and he dropped away from the Catholic church when he moved to a new city. He found some friendly people his age and followed them to the Protestant church.

So it never really affected me and I just looked at it like I was going to prayer services instead of “church” like the Mass. I always knew something profound was missing in their service. They never worked on me to stop going to my church, it was none of their business anyway and many were invited to our wedding. Some came and some did not. They did have a shower for us with our friends there. For the most part it was no big deal to me. I can’t say how it would affect others, maybe someone who is still searching may see it differently than I did. I went to Catholic schools when the nuns still taught the religion very well and it “took”. YEA

 

[Taurks]

To answer the OP’s question, there’s no restriction that would bar you to go to a Protestant church (the Pope himself goes to Lutheran / Anglican churches), but I would still wonder how good this is for a person who is on shaky ground in their faith. There are a lot of “wolves in sheep’s clothing” out there.