Best Catholic church in Arlington for a young, single person?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to go to the Saturday evening service at St. Charles when I was single - it's great! Most people that go to that service are single. You see a lot of the same faces each week.

Unfortunately St Charles has changed a lot in the last few years under the current pastor and most of those changes have not been for the better. As a result, the vast majority of the lay people who worked there left, many of the various ministries that parishioners volunteered with and made the parish special no longer exist, the music is much more uniform and those musicians who made the 6 pm mass attractive to young singles could no longer perform as in the past, and many many many families and young couples have left for St Anne's or Our Lady Queen of Peace. My family have been parishioners for almost 20 years and frankly I don't know why we haven't switched to either of those yet, though we have started attending St Anne's a few times. The 6 pm mass still attracts a decent amount of young people but that no longer has anything to do with St Charles as a community and everything to do with its location. St Charles is now just like every bland, uninspiring, non descript Catholic church out there and a shell of the great parish it once was. Very sad.

I love the shallowness of this reply. You don't get to perform your acoustic guitar St. Louis Jesuits "Bread of Life" ditties anymore. Instead Fr. Planty has installed liturgically pure compositions, namely Gregorian chant and organ music. Now you don't fit in.

Or, you want to join your "VOICE" friends to support some affordable housing project. You ask for help, and Father rightfully asks what on Earth housing finance has to do with salvation!? Again, you don't fit in.

Or you want to teach in the religious education program, but you married a divorced Protestant. Well, of COURSE Father told you that you can't appear before the children. Yet again, you don't fit in.

St. Charles was a haven of secularism before Father became pastor. There was no spiritual and theological core. To purify the Parish, some dirt and mud needed to be washed away. PP, you're some of that mud.

As long as Father is happy driving people away. Good luck with clinging to conservatism in Clarendon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to go to the Saturday evening service at St. Charles when I was single - it's great! Most people that go to that service are single. You see a lot of the same faces each week.

Unfortunately St Charles has changed a lot in the last few years under the current pastor and most of those changes have not been for the better. As a result, the vast majority of the lay people who worked there left, many of the various ministries that parishioners volunteered with and made the parish special no longer exist, the music is much more uniform and those musicians who made the 6 pm mass attractive to young singles could no longer perform as in the past, and many many many families and young couples have left for St Anne's or Our Lady Queen of Peace. My family have been parishioners for almost 20 years and frankly I don't know why we haven't switched to either of those yet, though we have started attending St Anne's a few times. The 6 pm mass still attracts a decent amount of young people but that no longer has anything to do with St Charles as a community and everything to do with its location. St Charles is now just like every bland, uninspiring, non descript Catholic church out there and a shell of the great parish it once was. Very sad.

THe land it's on must be worth at least 40 million. I'm sure this has not gone unnoticed.

[Anonymous]

The preschool at St Charles.is great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I love the shallowness of this reply. You don't get to perform your acoustic guitar St. Louis Jesuits "Bread of Life" ditties anymore. Instead Fr. Planty has installed liturgically pure compositions, namely Gregorian chant and organ music. Now you don't fit in.

Or, you want to join your "VOICE" friends to support some affordable housing project. You ask for help, and Father rightfully asks what on Earth housing finance has to do with salvation!? Again, you don't fit in.

Or you want to teach in the religious education program, but you married a divorced Protestant. Well, of COURSE Father told you that you can't appear before the children. Yet again, you don't fit in.

St. Charles was a haven of secularism before Father became pastor. There was no spiritual and theological core. To purify the Parish, some dirt and mud needed to be washed away. PP, you're some of that mud.

Genuinely curious: which part of the above response are you proudest of? When you were composing your thoughts, which part would you say was most influenced by Christ and all you have learned as a Catholic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I love the shallowness of this reply. You don't get to perform your acoustic guitar St. Louis Jesuits "Bread of Life" ditties anymore. Instead Fr. Planty has installed liturgically pure compositions, namely Gregorian chant and organ music. Now you don't fit in.

Or, you want to join your "VOICE" friends to support some affordable housing project. You ask for help, and Father rightfully asks what on Earth housing finance has to do with salvation!? Again, you don't fit in.

Or you want to teach in the religious education program, but you married a divorced Protestant. Well, of COURSE Father told you that you can't appear before the children. Yet again, you don't fit in.

St. Charles was a haven of secularism before Father became pastor. There was no spiritual and theological core. To purify the Parish, some dirt and mud needed to be washed away. PP, you're some of that mud.

Genuinely curious: which part of the above response are you proudest of? When you were composing your thoughts, which part would you say was most influenced by Christ and all you have learned as a Catholic?

That's what I was thinking too. Is this how you show your Lenten Charity and Grace? I enjoyed St. Charles before Fr. Planty, enjoyed the community under Fr. Tuck and under Fr. Gerry Creedon. I do miss Fr. Clement and Fr. Creedon especially. I certainly felt there was a spiritual core and a welcoming community. I'm not sure how welcoming or Christian it is if you are an indication of this new pure sect. Thankfully I don't think you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I love the shallowness of this reply. You don't get to perform your acoustic guitar St. Louis Jesuits "Bread of Life" ditties anymore. Instead Fr. Planty has installed liturgically pure compositions, namely Gregorian chant and organ music. Now you don't fit in.

Or, you want to join your "VOICE" friends to support some affordable housing project. You ask for help, and Father rightfully asks what on Earth housing finance has to do with salvation!? Again, you don't fit in.

Or you want to teach in the religious education program, but you married a divorced Protestant. Well, of COURSE Father told you that you can't appear before the children. Yet again, you don't fit in.

St. Charles was a haven of secularism before Father became pastor. There was no spiritual and theological core. To purify the Parish, some dirt and mud needed to be washed away. PP, you're some of that mud.

Genuinely curious: which part of the above response are you proudest of? When you were composing your thoughts, which part would you say was most influenced by Christ and all you have learned as a Catholic?

That's what I was thinking too. Is this how you show your Lenten Charity and Grace? I enjoyed St. Charles before Fr. Planty, enjoyed the community under Fr. Tuck and under Fr. Gerry Creedon. I do miss Fr. Clement and Fr. Creedon especially. I certainly felt there was a spiritual core and a welcoming community. I'm not sure how welcoming or Christian it is if you are an indication of this new pure sect. Thankfully I don't think you are.

+1. If the values the "new management" is teaching at St. Charles truly do involve sweeping out fellow humans like they are "dirt" and "mud" and telling people that charitable works to ensure that other people have safe homes will not get you salvation, then I really don't see the need for us to ever set foot in there again. There seems to have been a de-emphasis on joy and celebration there in recent times. We attended a sacramental preparation class for what is supposed to be a happy occasion and the priest made the whole process seem about as happy as planning for a funeral. I would like to think that there are Catholic churches in the area that provide a warm, welcoming community better than St. Charles.

[Anonymous]

OP here: regarding the 6 PM saturday st. Charles service, do lots of people go alone or is it lots of young adults in groups?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here: regarding the 6 PM saturday st. Charles service, do lots of people go alone or is it lots of young adults in groups?

Both. There is also something called P3 (prayer, penance, pub) started by a young priest who is no longer at St Charles, sadly, for young adults, I think in Weds. Evenings but if you check the website, it will tell you.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the Holy Trinity recommendation. There are lots of VA folks in the Young Adult Community there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been attending a parish near my apartment and the people are nice enough, but I want to get involved with a young adult type ministry and this church does not have much going for it in that department. Anyone have any suggestions?

to your question: "Best Catholic church in Arlington for a young, single person?"

I think something is wrong with the way you phrased it because technically
there should be the same amount of Jesus and God per church? Or is it like everything
else in DC.. location... location.. location..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ha i was going to say our lady queen of peace, but yes it is very progressive

"progressive church?" hm.. interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ha i was going to say our lady queen of peace, but yes it is very progressive

"progressive church?" hm.. interesting.

What a goofy church. You walk in and over the choir there's a painting of some African woman holding a baby. Would be nice to have a Madonna, but no. Then they had this Haitian "pere" talk about his SJW project in Haiti. A project that has its own helipad, natch. What, flatscreens and PlayStations aren't good enough anymore? Now you gotta have a helipad? Bling bling.

You sit there and hear about stone soup and a thrift store and a credit union as the "gospel choir" blasts away. It's Community Organizer Obama's dream church, that is if he could be bothered to drag himself away from the golf courses of Hawaii or Kenya or Iran.

No darkness until the Celebrant enters. No incense. No organ. No Gregorian chant. Not one mention of the unborn.

I don't know what that was I attended Sunday, but it certainly wasn't much of a Mass. They're all proud of the families who left the rafters of the Cathedral to start this "parish". Maybe they need to head back up there and cleanse their souls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ha i was going to say our lady queen of peace, but yes it is very progressive

"progressive church?" hm.. interesting.

What a goofy church. You walk in and over the choir there's a painting of some African woman holding a baby. Would be nice to have a Madonna, but no. Then they had this Haitian "pere" talk about his SJW project in Haiti. A project that has its own helipad, natch. What, flatscreens and PlayStations aren't good enough anymore? Now you gotta have a helipad? Bling bling.

You sit there and hear about stone soup and a thrift store and a credit union as the "gospel choir" blasts away. It's Community Organizer Obama's dream church, that is if he could be bothered to drag himself away from the golf courses of Hawaii or Kenya or Iran.

No darkness until the Celebrant enters. No incense. No organ. No Gregorian chant. Not one mention of the unborn.

I don't know what that was I attended Sunday, but it certainly wasn't much of a Mass. They're all proud of the families who left the rafters of the Cathedral to start this "parish". Maybe they need to head back up there and cleanse their souls.

umm what kind of church has darkness, incense, organs, and Gregorian chants before mass anymore? Are you sure that you are attending Mass in the right century? And OLQP does have pro life fliers and meetings and signs up around the church. But perhaps they are following Pope Francis who has said that there is more to following Christ than being anti-abortion.

And Mary probably looked a heck of a lot more like the young African woman than the white version you see in other churches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to go to the Saturday evening service at St. Charles when I was single - it's great! Most people that go to that service are single. You see a lot of the same faces each week.

Unfortunately St Charles has changed a lot in the last few years under the current pastor and most of those changes have not been for the better. As a result, the vast majority of the lay people who worked there left, many of the various ministries that parishioners volunteered with and made the parish special no longer exist, the music is much more uniform and those musicians who made the 6 pm mass attractive to young singles could no longer perform as in the past, and many many many families and young couples have left for St Anne's or Our Lady Queen of Peace. My family have been parishioners for almost 20 years and frankly I don't know why we haven't switched to either of those yet, though we have started attending St Anne's a few times. The 6 pm mass still attracts a decent amount of young people but that no longer has anything to do with St Charles as a community and everything to do with its location. St Charles is now just like every bland, uninspiring, non descript Catholic church out there and a shell of the great parish it once was. Very sad.

I love the shallowness of this reply. You don't get to perform your acoustic guitar St. Louis Jesuits "Bread of Life" ditties anymore. Instead Fr. Planty has installed liturgically pure compositions, namely Gregorian chant and organ music. Now you don't fit in.

Or, you want to join your "VOICE" friends to support some affordable housing project. You ask for help, and Father rightfully asks what on Earth housing finance has to do with salvation!? Again, you don't fit in.

Or you want to teach in the religious education program, but you married a divorced Protestant. Well, of COURSE Father told you that you can't appear before the children. Yet again, you don't fit in.

St. Charles was a haven of secularism before Father became pastor. There was no spiritual and theological core. To purify the Parish, some dirt and mud needed to be washed away. PP, you're some of that mud.

WOW. :shock:

What the hell is wrong with you? Catholics like you are the reason why people leave the faith. You should be ashamed of that response.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I love the shallowness of this reply. You don't get to perform your acoustic guitar St. Louis Jesuits "Bread of Life" ditties anymore. Instead Fr. Planty has installed liturgically pure compositions, namely Gregorian chant and organ music. Now you don't fit in.

Or, you want to join your "VOICE" friends to support some affordable housing project. You ask for help, and Father rightfully asks what on Earth housing finance has to do with salvation!? Again, you don't fit in.

Or you want to teach in the religious education program, but you married a divorced Protestant. Well, of COURSE Father told you that you can't appear before the children. Yet again, you don't fit in.

St. Charles was a haven of secularism before Father became pastor. There was no spiritual and theological core. To purify the Parish, some dirt and mud needed to be washed away. PP, you're some of that mud.

Genuinely curious: which part of the above response are you proudest of? When you were composing your thoughts, which part would you say was most influenced by Christ and all you have learned as a Catholic?

That's what I was thinking too. Is this how you show your Lenten Charity and Grace? I enjoyed St. Charles before Fr. Planty, enjoyed the community under Fr. Tuck and under Fr. Gerry Creedon. I do miss Fr. Clement and Fr. Creedon especially. I certainly felt there was a spiritual core and a welcoming community. I'm not sure how welcoming or Christian it is if you are an indication of this new pure sect. Thankfully I don't think you are.

+1. If the values the "new management" is teaching at St. Charles truly do involve sweeping out fellow humans like they are "dirt" and "mud" and telling people that charitable works to ensure that other people have safe homes will not get you salvation, then I really don't see the need for us to ever set foot in there again. There seems to have been a de-emphasis on joy and celebration there in recent times. We attended a sacramental preparation class for what is supposed to be a happy occasion and the priest made the whole process seem about as happy as planning for a funeral. I would like to think that there are Catholic churches in the area that provide a warm, welcoming community better than St. Charles.

This is why people make the trek to HT in Georgetown.