Which Bethesda Area Church? Lapsed Catholic Here....

[Anonymous]

I need help finding a church that really resonates with me, and my family. one that makes me/us look forward to going to services on Sunday. This really hit me the other day when one of my kids knew absolutely nothing about our faith and religion and that's because we have not been regularly involved with any church.

-DH and I were born and raised Roman Catholic, but have always had a few issues with the RC church in general. Some of them superficial, some go a little deeper.

-We've tried a few different Catholic churches in our area but have been really underwhelmed. There is a total lack of excitement both within the congregation and with the priest. The sermons/homilies are boring and lack any kind of relevant meaning - to us at least.

-We feel stifled, and it just seems like a lot of "work" just to mentally attend to what the priest is talking about. again that goes back to the lack of personal relevance to what we hear at church.

-there are things in Catholicism that we just can't get with. Although we are both politically conservative, we are also pro-choice and pro-gay marriage.

-We are also for priests getting married, and against the notion of there being only male priests/preachers

-Are there any Catholic Churches in the Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Upper NW area that my family and I should try?

-Additionally, we are totally open to trying an Episcopalian or Presbyterian church. In the Bethesda area we are looking at Church of the Redeemer, St. Dustan, All Saints and Fourth Presbyterian.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I need help finding a church that really resonates with me, and my family. one that makes me/us look forward to going to services on Sunday. This really hit me the other day when one of my kids knew absolutely nothing about our faith and religion and that's because we have not been regularly involved with any church.

-DH and I were born and raised Roman Catholic, but have always had a few issues with the RC church in general. Some of them superficial, some go a little deeper.

-We've tried a few different Catholic churches in our area but have been really underwhelmed. There is a total lack of excitement both within the congregation and with the priest. The sermons/homilies are boring and lack any kind of relevant meaning - to us at least.

-We feel stifled, and it just seems like a lot of "work" just to mentally attend to what the priest is talking about. again that goes back to the lack of personal relevance to what we hear at church.

-there are things in Catholicism that we just can't get with. Although we are both politically conservative, we are also pro-choice and pro-gay marriage.

-We are also for priests getting married, and against the notion of there being only male priests/preachers

-Are there any Catholic Churches in the Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Upper NW area that my family and I should try?

-Additionally, we are totally open to trying an Episcopalian or Presbyterian church. In the Bethesda area we are looking at Church of the Redeemer, St. Dustan, All Saints and Fourth Presbyterian.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

You don't sound conservative at all. Time to switch to an Episcopal church.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I need help finding a church that really resonates with me, and my family. one that makes me/us look forward to going to services on Sunday. This really hit me the other day when one of my kids knew absolutely nothing about our faith and religion and that's because we have not been regularly involved with any church.

-DH and I were born and raised Roman Catholic, but have always had a few issues with the RC church in general. Some of them superficial, some go a little deeper.

-We've tried a few different Catholic churches in our area but have been really underwhelmed. There is a total lack of excitement both within the congregation and with the priest. The sermons/homilies are boring and lack any kind of relevant meaning - to us at least.

-We feel stifled, and it just seems like a lot of "work" just to mentally attend to what the priest is talking about. again that goes back to the lack of personal relevance to what we hear at church.

-there are things in Catholicism that we just can't get with. Although we are both politically conservative, we are also pro-choice and pro-gay marriage.

-We are also for priests getting married, and against the notion of there being only male priests/preachers

-Are there any Catholic Churches in the Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Upper NW area that my family and I should try?

-Additionally, we are totally open to trying an Episcopalian or Presbyterian church. In the Bethesda area we are looking at Church of the Redeemer, St. Dustan, All Saints and Fourth Presbyterian.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

You don't sound conservative at all. Time to switch to an Episcopal church.

No, we are conservative as there are parts of being "Conservative" that we do agree with but not getting into that here. Just like with liberals, there are different degrees of "how liberal" one may be.

Thank you for the suggestion to try an Episcopal church This is what we've been leaning toward doing.

[Anonymous]

St. Augustine Catholic Church in DC. Love it. I drive an hour to get to it every Sunday.

http://saintaugustine-dc.org/

[Anonymous]

I'm also a pro-choice, pro-gay marriage Catholic who thinks women should be priests. My family goes to St. Jane de Chantal. I left another catholic church (not in Bethesda) after a priest decided to spend the whole homily decrying gay marriage, and I've never heard anything like that at St. Jane's. The pastor is a little stiff, but I think he's an nice guy, and they also usually have a younger priest in training, plus they have an older order priest that seems like a great guy and often gives very social justice focused homilies. I think most of the homilies are actually pretty relevant (although maybe a bit too long), when I can hear them over my telling my kids to be quiet and sit still. There is a group that sells pro-life cards/flowers a couple times a year in the front of the church, and there's one of those "recovering from abortion?" fliers in the woman's bathroom, but the overall pro-life presence seems small.

My biggest complaint about the church is that the music is very stuffy. The musical director is very highly credentialed and they often have one or two songs that are "professional" sounding and which just the choir sings. I think my grandmother would have loved it. I'd prefer something a little more uptempo and in a vocal range that the kids and I can all belt out and maybe clap to.

The congregation tends a little older, but people are nice. I've heard of some churches where people "dress to be seen." I think there are very few people like that there, or maybe none at all. That's good for me, as I can barely get myself and the kids decent on a Sunday morning in order to get out the door. Also, they have a Saturday 5 pm mass with a children's liturgy that may work for your family, especially if your kids aren't used to sitting through a whole mass.

There are other families in my neighborhood that go to St. Elizabeth's. I've been meaning to check it out, but have just not been able to motivate for the longer drive.

One thing to think about is when the CCD classes are. St. Jane's has CCD classes on Tuesday afternoons, which is really impossible for some working parents. I know St. Elizabeth's has theirs on the weekend. I didn't focus on that when picking a church, but the logistics really becomes important when your kids are in school, if you work.

[Anonymous]

If you want to try an Episcopal church, you may like St. John's Norwood (corner of Bradley & Wisconsin, technically in Chevy Chase). We find the church to be very welcoming to all, and it has a terrific church school and young adult program. It is also very focused on outreach, and has a dynamic rector.

[Anonymous]

10:40 here

Just wanted to add that I consider myself moderate politically, and I really appreciate that the sermon is always tied to the gospel reading, applying the lesson to today. I do not feel like this is a politically charged church (unlike St Columba's where I used to belong). It is a diverse congregation which unlike many others includes people of all political leanings (not just diverse within the left spectrum). In particular there is strong outreach to military & veterans (including Wounded Warriors program.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want to try an Episcopal church, you may like St. John's Norwood (corner of Bradley & Wisconsin, technically in Chevy Chase). We find the church to be very welcoming to all, and it has a terrific church school and young adult program. It is also very focused on outreach, and has a dynamic rector.

Agree with this. We go there and it seems that almost everyone is a lapsed Catholic, so you'll find some kindred spirits.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you for all the thoughtful responses! I am really looking forward to checking out the various options that all of you suggested

Thank you also to my fellow Catholics that responded. It's nice to know we aren't the only ones feeling this way!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to try an Episcopal church, you may like St. John's Norwood (corner of Bradley & Wisconsin, technically in Chevy Chase). We find the church to be very welcoming to all, and it has a terrific church school and young adult program. It is also very focused on outreach, and has a dynamic rector.

Agree with this. We go there and it seems that almost everyone is a lapsed Catholic, so you'll find some kindred spirits.

I came here to recommend St. John's Norwood also.

[Anonymous]

I think you're going to find a hard time finding a Catholic Church that is pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and pro-female priests. Just a guess. The best homilist in the world is not going to give you what you are looking for if those are your religious views.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you're going to find a hard time finding a Catholic Church that is pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and pro-female priests. Just a guess. The best homilist in the world is not going to give you what you are looking for if those are your religious views.

They're not going to give a homily on it, but that doesn't mean they don't silently support it. My super-old mom went to a conservative Catholic college, and most of her classmates became nuns. For their 50th reunion (which was already almost a decade ago), they surveyed graduates about a variety of issues. Almost all supported female priests, and a large number supported gay marriage (many saying that they had friends or family that had come out over the years, and how sad they were about them leaving the church). Everyone knows that the Catholic Church generally moves slowly. Sometimes that's frustrating, but sometimes it's good.

[Anonymous]

St. John's has had it's day, it isn't what it used to be.

[Anonymous]

St. John's has had it's day, it isn't what it used to be.

? care to explain this comment?