Recall the old joke about the Episcopal Church as Roman Catholic Lite?

[hedgehog]

"All the pageantry, half the guilt"

Well, I've been a very active Roman Catholic all my life, but I've had a harder and harder time watching Rome trying to turn back the clock. I've been waiting for a change in the anti-women/anti-gay attitudes. My Vatican II parish was closed in a perfect storm of lies and subterfuge. For a while, I drove 20 miles each way to be a member of the nearest Vatican II parish. But, Roman Catholics are a parochial people. It's hard to be member of a parish in another county. I was also concerned as to what would happen to that parish the day the wonderful pastor is gone ( he's 83 years old.) Would everything I liked about that parish be swept away by the next pastor? Then, last Advent, the new Mass translation came down. All the changes were presented as being closer to the Latin but I heard them as an imposition of clerical superiority and Vatican power. I kept coming home from Mass not having heard a word. Then came this summer's lurch to the Right by the American bishops.

So - for the last month I've been going to the nearby (walking distance!) Episcopal Church. I had to make the change if I wanted all the things I valued most about being a Roman Catholic. I feel like a weight has been lifted from me. I don't want to engage in a game of sour grapes, and I am dismayed at the destruction I see taking place. John XXIII pointed the way forward, but the hierarchs will see most Catholics leave before making any changes that they perceive as taking power from them.

Anyways, that old joke? For me, it's true!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. Welcome aboard!

Once you get acquainted in the parish, you may be surprised at how many other former Catholics (even former priests) there are.

[hedgehog]

2. I prefer to think of myself as still Catholic, but former Roman!

[hrmjustin]

6. Episcopalians/Anglicans are members of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

We are just not apart of the Roman church. Welcome to the fold my friend. We do not claim to be the true church, but we do claim to be God's favorite church.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

3. I keep thinking of doing exactly the same thing for the same reason

And the Episcopal parish is just a block away.

[wryter2000]

13. Our slogan

"The Episcopal church welcomes you." And we would.

[47of74]

4. I was formally received into the Episcopal Church today

Ever since the Cardinals gave us Benedict I had off and on thought of converting to the Episcopal Church. I had decided that if my job took me to a new city that I would join an Episcopal parish and not a Catholic one - but I made no further moves. I remained in the Catholic parish I was a member of right up until January of 2012.

Then came a couple weeks in a row where a trip out of town and work kept me from going to Mass for a few weeks. It was about that time that we had the Bishops start going on about religious freedom. I lost any desire to go back to a Catholic church. I went to the local Episcopal Church or the first time a few days later. Within a few weeks of going to Episcopal services there and another nearby Episcopal parish I knew I had found a new spiritual home. Services there just felt so right to me, and it feels so right to have women leading us in prayer. The Vatican taking aim at the LCRW and Bishops comparing our President to Hitler among other things a short time later strengthened my resolve to leave the Catholic Church.

I told the rector that I wanted to join the Episcopal Church and was told that I was quite welcome to be received when the Bishop came to town. She said I was still welcome at services and to receive communion regardless since their only requirement to receive communion is to be baptized. I still wanted to be recognized as a member of the church though. Normally they have inquirers classes but since I was the only person who was going to the classes I just met the rector a couple times. (The others either already had the classes and just needed the Bishop to make it official or had a special needs kid and were attending confirmation classes with him so he had the attention he needed).

It was a great weight off my shoulders to move beyond the Catholic church. It was a great weight off my shoulders to be free of all the baggage that came with the church. And today I made it official when I was formally received into the Episcopal Church. Felt DAMN good too.

[hedgehog]

5. You took the words out of my mouth:

" Services there just felt so right to me,....

It was a great weight off my shoulders to move beyond the Catholic church. It was a great weight off my shoulders to be free of all the baggage that came with the church."


Like I said, I don't want to engage in sour grapes, but I was in a spiritual desert.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. Welcome!

I became an Episcopalian for a different reason. I was brought up (E)LCA Lutheran, but over the years, the Lutherans have become so suburban, pop culture-y, and family-oriented (family as in "two parents, two kids, and preferably, a dog&quot that I no longer feel at home culturally. (I'm single and a confirmed city mouse who likes formal rituals.)

[47of74]

9. I considered two denominations

The Episcopal Church and the United Church of Christ mainly because that was my grandpa's denomination. Chose the Episcopal Church because it just felt right for me. I'm comfortable in my skin now - I don't have to hide my beliefs on things like abortion or gay marriage.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. So glad you have found a nice new spiritual home. :^D

[mykpart]

10. Once you mentally and emotionally

take the power away from the Bishops and give it back to Christ, the decision becomes easy. No pontiff or bishop or priest can condemn me to hell for ignoring their advice.

[47of74]

11. It was and is very liberating

I can be myself without worrying what priests, bishops, popes, and so on think.

[wryter2000]

12. Welcome

We love having you!

Unfortunately, we have parishes that are also anti-woman/anti-gay, but if you found a good Episcopal church,, please consider yourself at home.