Social justice focused Catholic church for families?

[Anonymous]

I am a very devout Catholic but social justice values and an open and welcoming church community is my biggest thing. Anyone go to Our Lady Queen of Peace in Arlington (Hauk neighborhood off Glebe Rd. by Army Navy CC) or Holy Trinity in Georgetown? Any others you recommend?

I am a family of four. My husband grew up in a very conservative Presbyterian denomination but one thing they did "right" was have a wonderful social justice component and were very community and family focused. Tons of social events, things oriented to get kids and families involved in community, volunteering, helping others. I grew up in a very devout Catholic family in a heavily Catholic part of the country. Our social life revolved around the church, which was fun and welcoming. I remember the priests, nuns, brothers and sisters coming to our house for dinner, to play soccer or flag football, or to go swimming. We'd have the clergy over for bbqs. The priest married my sister and her husband and are still our family friends. The church had beer gardens, bingo nights, youth dances, great rec sports programs for kids, teens and adults, a fun youth group, a big parish picnic with rides and games, lots of fun social events for parents. Was very diverse, racially, ethnically, and economically. I am still friends with most of my besties from CCD.

My kids and I have been members of a parish since we moved from DC. At first we stayed at St. Matthew's, but it is more geared for younger people or singles. The parish we are at is nice-ish. Lots of great social events but there is a big divide between the parish school and CCD families. I get the distinct impression that families like mine, who are liberal, progressive, social justice oriented are not welcome. I am an active volunteer but my kids and husband hate it. My husband is more moderate but he finds the church super contrary to our values. It is also pretty white and the families who are not white are very conservative. Would love a church where my kids are welcome even if they have soccer or flag football or aren't perfect attendance at CCD. Would love a parish where I can be open about my politics or that my husband is welcome as a non-Catholic. I appreciate that maybe a non-Catholic church is better for us, but my kids and I would like to stay in the Catholic church. A lot of our friends go to Holy Trinity but it seems pretty rich and well off and not sure if it's diverse. Also wondering about Our Lady Queen of Peace in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Please stay home. Why do you think you need to "be open about your politics"? The Church preaches so you don't have to.

[Anonymous]

It's Nauck, not Hauk, and historically it was always super progressive but we haven't been in years. We used to attend Mass there regularly and really enjoyed it. They are good about non-Catholics as well -- or were when we were there.

I don't know anything about their CCD, because our kids went elsewhere. But it's pretty odd for a so-called "devout Catholic" to want a parish that allows members to prioritize kiddie sports over CCD. How "devout" can you be? If your kids aren't in Catholic school CCD is pretty much the exclusive way that the parish will prepare them for the Sacraments. Even progressive parishes will expect regular attendance. I assume that includes Queen of Peace, but I don't know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's Nauck, not Hauk, and historically it was always super progressive but we haven't been in years. We used to attend Mass there regularly and really enjoyed it. They are good about non-Catholics as well -- or were when we were there.

I don't know anything about their CCD, because our kids went elsewhere. But it's pretty odd for a so-called "devout Catholic" to want a parish that allows members to prioritize kiddie sports over CCD. How "devout" can you be? If your kids aren't in Catholic school CCD is pretty much the exclusive way that the parish will prepare them for the Sacraments. Even progressive parishes will expect regular attendance. I assume that includes Queen of Peace, but I don't know that.

Sounds like you want a church that also reflects your political stance. Shouldn't be hard to find around here.

I think , but don't really know, that Queen of Peace is progressive. I know strong progressively inclined person who goes there. I've been there for concerts, and while it's very catholic, I don't get the sense that it's politically conservative.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you might want to try St. Peter’s on Capitol Hill.

[Anonymous]

Pull up the Sunday bulletins for those within a reasonable commute and see what activities they have going on. Those are usually availalbe on line.

[Anonymous]

Our Lady Queen of Peace sounds like it fits the bill but we are zoned there and couldn’t get into CCD because it was full of kids from North Arlington. We happily landed at Our Lady of Lourdes CCD which has been an amazing, welcoming community. I did have to get a letter from OLQP for OLoL because the Arlington Diocese requested it.

[Anonymous]

It’s been years since I’ve been to Holy Trinity, but it used to be well known for its social justice programs. I think Nativity in Burke too?

[Anonymous]

Who still uses the term CCD?

That’s been out of fashion for decades, at least officially. And I can’t recall hearing the term in a Catholic church in at least 15 years.

[Anonymous]

You can’t have social justice without women’s rights and women’s leadership, and without protecting children from abuse, so this is a non-starter.

[Anonymous]

Not sure I have any specific advice but you are in Northern Virginia, most people lean left. However, the diocese of Arlington is known for being conservative. I am a member of one of the conservative parishes within this very conservative diocese. The majority of prisoners still lean left politically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a very devout Catholic but social justice values and an open and welcoming church community is my biggest thing. Anyone go to Our Lady Queen of Peace in Arlington (Hauk neighborhood off Glebe Rd. by Army Navy CC) or Holy Trinity in Georgetown? Any others you recommend?

I am a family of four. My husband grew up in a very conservative Presbyterian denomination but one thing they did "right" was have a wonderful social justice component and were very community and family focused. Tons of social events, things oriented to get kids and families involved in community, volunteering, helping others. I grew up in a very devout Catholic family in a heavily Catholic part of the country. Our social life revolved around the church, which was fun and welcoming. I remember the priests, nuns, brothers and sisters coming to our house for dinner, to play soccer or flag football, or to go swimming. We'd have the clergy over for bbqs. The priest married my sister and her husband and are still our family friends. The church had beer gardens, bingo nights, youth dances, great rec sports programs for kids, teens and adults, a fun youth group, a big parish picnic with rides and games, lots of fun social events for parents. Was very diverse, racially, ethnically, and economically. I am still friends with most of my besties from CCD.

My kids and I have been members of a parish since we moved from DC. At first we stayed at St. Matthew's, but it is more geared for younger people or singles. The parish we are at is nice-ish. Lots of great social events but there is a big divide between the parish school and CCD families. I get the distinct impression that families like mine, who are liberal, progressive, social justice oriented are not welcome. I am an active volunteer but my kids and husband hate it. My husband is more moderate but he finds the church super contrary to our values. It is also pretty white and the families who are not white are very conservative. Would love a church where my kids are welcome even if they have soccer or flag football or aren't perfect attendance at CCD. Would love a parish where I can be open about my politics or that my husband is welcome as a non-Catholic. I appreciate that maybe a non-Catholic church is better for us, but my kids and I would like to stay in the Catholic church. A lot of our friends go to Holy Trinity but it seems pretty rich and well off and not sure if it's diverse. Also wondering about Our Lady Queen of Peace in Arlington.

Which parish are you with now, OP?

[Anonymous]

I'm in one of the inner suburbs of Northern Virginia at an Alexandria church. My kids go to religious education every week and our parish still calls in CCD. I grew up calling it PSR (parish school of religion). But both in DC and Northern VA diocese, they have called it CCD. Our religious education is on Sundays so it sometimes conflicts with my children's travel soccer. Yes, I am devout. But I also don't want my kids to be turned off by religion. When you were in your teens and elementary, did you want to go to mass or soccer? We always go to mass, even when we travel out of town or abroad. I am active in our parish ministries and volunteer at a local Catholic organization in our neighborhood. My son is an altar server and my daughter would love to be one but we only have male servers. Both of my kids are in choir and I am a lector and Eucharistic minister. My husband volunteers on the parish finance community. Thanks for the information that was helpful. I don't need to be political at mass. But I want a church that is reflective of social justice values and shows my children how to live our Catholic values. I'm looking at Holy Trinity in Georgetown and Our Lady Queen of Peace in Arlington. I want my kids to be involved in parish life and CCD and it sounds like the one at Our Lady Queen of Peace is overcrowded with out of bounds parishioners. Part of me wants to stay at my in-bounds church. We definitely don't have an overenrolled religious education program! My husband is going through RCIA and will be confirmed and receive Eucharist this Easter.

[Anonymous]

As far as faith formation, yes, my children go to public school but they get a good home based faith formation. I also teach the adult classes for my parish and am involved in a Catholic ministry as a speaker and facilitator for a Catholic Bible study program. I have a master's in theology and am getting my Ph.D. in theology at CUA. I have taught adult and children's faith formation for the past 20 years so my children' get a lot of faith formation at home. We have a home altar. We do daily Bible readings and novenas. We listen to the Hallow app in the car and practice liturgical living. We visit Catholic shrines, have devotions to saints, and study the Old Testament and New Testament as a family. I go to daily mass and I grew up doing perpetual adoration. My grandfather was a Catholic priest before leaving to have a family and my grandmother taught theology at a local Catholic college in my hometown. We are far from perfect, but I do feel my kids have a great base from our home theology. My husband is very knowledgeable about scripture and we try to relate it to current events.

[Anonymous]

We are members of OLQP and changed from our locally assigned parish (St. Michael) in 1997.

OLQP does not have CCD - their program is called faith Foundation

https://www.ourladyqueenofpeace.org/foundations--family-circles.html