Please help us find a Catholic Church in Arlington/Alexandria.

[Anonymous]

Another vote ... it's worth the drive to Holy Trinity in G'town. The Jesuits are great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another vote for St. Charles Borromeo:

http://www.stcharleschurch.org/

Didn't a whole lot of people depart St. Charles because of something about the way the school closing was handled?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a pretty liberal family but Our Lady Queen of Peace in South Arl (where we live) is too liberal and non-doctrinal for DH, who appreciates a more structured, traditional church. From what I've read, Arlington Catholic churches are conservative and I've heard St. Mary's in Alexandria is very conservative. But are there any that might be slightly more modern or liberal than the others? For additional context, I'm not catholic so we are looking for a welcoming community even though we weren't married in the church and our children, so far, haven't been baptized. I would like us to go to church regularly but DH won't go to a Protestant church and I'm personally not committed to converting (though I would be fine with our children being brought up catholic), so we need something in the middle.

Catholic churches must be getting pretty desperate if they "welcome" families with unbaptized children of non-Catholic mothers. Do you ever plan to baptize them? Be ready to be pressured to do so in any church that is not liberal or non-doctrinal.

Baptism is necessary for your children's souls to be saved, according to Catholic teachings. Any church that takes you without expecting baptism along the way is just taking your money and is not concerned about your eternal souls. Maybe your husband doesn't care either and is just going to church for a nostalgic feel-good experience. That's fine for this world, but not for the next.

Well, they don't have to welcome us. My family used to be Catholic a couple generations ago, but I was not raised in a church and haven't been baptized myself. I think it would be nice to raise my children in a church so am trying to find one. DH was raised Catholic and therefore will only go to a Catholic church. He was a weekly church-goer through childhood and does believe, but he's gotten well out of the habit so I will need to be the driving force, including with baptizing our kids. I don't have a problem with doing it though, so pressure on that would be fine.

I don't understand why you want to raise your children in the church if you aren't a Christian?

[Anonymous]

I honestly don't understand your DH's objection to Queen of Peace. It's obviously the same readings. I'm not a big fan of their music, but they are certainly welcoming, inclusive, and focused on the teachings of Christ. What specifically is he not comfortable with?

(My very traditional father was not comfortable there, frankly, because he was unused to so much cultural inclusivity and the fact that gay Catholics appeared to be welcome. And he thought the church was uncomfortably shabby, because he was used to a certain level of beauty and opulence at Church. But he had no objection to the content of the Mass.)

[Anonymous]

We attend St. Louis in Alexandria and love Fr. Z!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a pretty liberal family but Our Lady Queen of Peace in South Arl (where we live) is too liberal and non-doctrinal for DH, who appreciates a more structured, traditional church. From what I've read, Arlington Catholic churches are conservative and I've heard St. Mary's in Alexandria is very conservative. But are there any that might be slightly more modern or liberal than the others? For additional context, I'm not catholic so we are looking for a welcoming community even though we weren't married in the church and our children, so far, haven't been baptized. I would like us to go to church regularly but DH won't go to a Protestant church and I'm personally not committed to converting (though I would be fine with our children being brought up catholic), so we need something in the middle.

St. Mary of Sorrows on Sideburn Road in Fairfax 22030 has both liberal and conservative voices within its congregation. My information is dated < 2008.

Depending on how liberal you are, you might want to look at Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington while DH goes most Sundays to his more conservative Catholic church. There are many spiritually blended families within a UU congregation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly don't understand your DH's objection to Queen of Peace. It's obviously the same readings. I'm not a big fan of their music, but they are certainly welcoming, inclusive, and focused on the teachings of Christ. What specifically is he not comfortable with?

(My very traditional father was not comfortable there, frankly, because he was unused to so much cultural inclusivity and the fact that gay Catholics appeared to be welcome. And he thought the church was uncomfortably shabby, because he was used to a certain level of beauty and opulence at Church. But he had no objection to the content of the Mass.)

At Our Lady Queen of Peace there's a bending over backwards to serve the "non-many", in the hopes that somehow they will qualify when we are judged. They abdicated their religious education program to these "family circles" which are really potlucks in disguise. They have a de facto thrift store right in the Ministry Center there, while they are crowded for space for the people who actually not just celebrate Mass but provide financial stewardship. They also host non-theological events like a guided Meditation (which as we know can move toward Buddhism), and I've heard talk of yoga starting up there. What that has to do with salvation, I'd love to know.

I haven't heard anti-USA rantings like you do when the Catholic Workers show up at a church. But you get homilies that don't emphasize the high expectations God has for us. You get "Dignity" types serving you breakfast after Mass--while driving TO Mass you park next to Barb and Sue with their Honduran and Ghanaian adopted (natch) kids as they get out of their Subaru Outback and parade into the church.

You get the idea. Personally I'd recommend St. Charles Borromeo now that they have a new Pastor, or St. Agnes. St. James was wonderful under Fr. Cornelius O'Brien--who used to destroy liberals at Theology on Tap but I don't know how they are these days.

Actually, St. Thomas More Cathedral might be your best bet. DId you know Queen of Peace started from remnants at the Cathedral. Evidently a bunch of complainers and whiners sat upstairs during Mass at the Cathedral about 60 or 70 years ago. They moaned and whined and complained about how they were "disrespected" and how they were "mistreated" and how they were "ignored", as if any lay person has special status before the Lord. Finally the Cathedral said look, if you don't like it, go start your own parish. They got lucky and found some interloper priests to enable their whims, and Queen of Peace is the result.

If you deign to join the normal people downstairs in the Cathedral, though, in the actual Sanctuary, then I think you'll be just fine