St Louis Church is very orthodox and some would even say it is very conservative. The school is wonderful, welcoming and a great all around place. Lots of interest lately in the school and full open houses.

My children attend St Mary's and we love the school. It is a IMO conservative but I don't find the Mass overly conservative (most Sundays anyhow). I know one family at St. Louis and she said they had a fairy high number of non-Catholics in the school and made an open effort to be welcoming to those families. I have no experience with the Church though.

Good Shepard in Mount Vernon is very welcoming and has an active mother's group that meets on Wed mornings. I work FT so I never went but do go to the mother's night out events, bunco and participate in the rummage sales. They also have a social justice committee and there have been some book club selections I have read, but never made it to the meetings.

We loved it but ultimately went back to St. Louis, our in bounds parish when our son was about to start school. We are still registered at GS and sometimes choose to worship there.

St. Louis is more traditional. Our son is in K, and I have felt really welcomed by the school staff. I don't know about the mother's group, except that they have one.

But I love St. Charles. We went there when we were first married and my kids attend Atrium classes there. I believe there is a children's mass where the kids are dismissed inot the chapel and they do a kid version of the readings & homily. We happened upon it because our 4 YO was having a melt down about going into church, so we were calming down while sitting in the chapel. In walked an army of kids. Both my kids loved it.

Good Luck, it's hard to find a good fit.

Anonymous wrote:lose-lose situation

The Catholic church is rigid and inflexible. Once your kid starts going through his sacraments, which can be intense, your husband will not stand for it.

If he's not happy with the Catholic faith, it will cause marital issues. [b]

What's this need to suddenly join again? You were away from it for years, I'm guessing. Please don't tell me you experienced something horrific and are in need of a supportive community!

If your spouse doesn't want you to seek comfort in something that gives you strength and joy, you already have a marital issue.

We have been going to St. Ann in Arlington for a year now. I didn't jump at the chance to go there when my kids were younger b/c I felt like people were overdressed and it was pretty traditional. My husband is Catholic but only tolerated the things I asked him to do. I often went to mass alone.
I went to Jesuit colleges and I'm into social justice. I also teach. One of my kids has special needs.

Here is my assessment:
St. Charles is awesome. Everyone is welcome. It has a nice mix of young professionals, people doing mission work, welcoming to Spanish-speakers. Great music. When my kid went to CCD there, I told them he had special needs and I'd volunteer every week to assist. We experienced some discrimination due to ignorance and when I asked the religious ed director why the teacher would behave that way, she said she kept what I shared about the disability a secret "as to not embarrass my family." I was not impressed. (My kid was told he'd have to do push ups if he couldn't do what the other kids did-something to that effect. The teacher hadn't been told what was up and it wasn't fair to her or to my kid. My kid grew anxious about walking into the church building. #fail). It is great for most people, but too big for us. They have a school. The school is closing.

Our Lady Queen of Peace: GREAT community. Really mission-driven. They would not but a $2000 stained glass window if it meant a family could eat with that money. They run a great thrift shop for families in need and staff it with volunteers-some with disabilities-as a work program. They have a very progressive approach to being Catholic (and in general, a good person) and a friend who is gay told me her parents went there because they felt like they were more welcomed and included than other places as parents supporting their gay kid. They are activists in the ministry there (and the ministry is about living your life, not changing at all...). Their religious ed program has a great "family circle" model. You can work with other families to define what religious ed should be and what your kid(s) should learn. In the process, you learn or re-learn (or unlearn) more about the faith. It is like theology on tap, all the time. Mass never starts or ends on time. You won't care. I loved it. My husband and kids did not respond well to the lack of structure. There is no school. The music is great, especially at 11. On 3/4 of the weekends they have a kid's mass during your mass. My kids often would not go. They said it was too loud.

St. Ann is a church where a lot of people know what to expect. It has a Happy Days feel. Lots of military families use this as their parish. The school is small and I love it b/c when my kid hit a wall at his public school, in spite of all of the rules and deadlines, they took him in, sight unseen, gave him a uniform and enrolled him the next day (he'd been injured at another school and was terrified of the kid that did it). They start and end of time. They have 2 new priests who are missionaries. The homilies are becoming more timely and up to date, I think (although I hear a lot about GPS and apps-the joke is old now!). There are lots of neighbors who attend mass during the week and have been there for 30 years. My husband likes it because it reminds him of what church was like in his home town when he was growing up. They also have sports for the school where kids in CCD can participate for very very little money. (We went from $200/month for Tae Kwon Do to $30 a semester for tennis). The masses are full but not overflowing. The "Kid's church" during mass is run by parents of the school kids who get volunteer hours to do it, and they all go through hours of training re: child safety in order to be allowed to do it. They are by the book but warm. I wish I had been more open to this church years ago. The school also has a committee for exceptional children and I see them working to be inclusive. I feel like there are still some super conservative folks (because I'm not) and it isn't a "bring a bag of cheerios and swing under the pew" type of place, but it feels like home. My kids now have favorite places to sit. They use the same song book I had growing up, so that is comfort to me.

I also agree with Holy Trinity for a good service, but I struggled as a mom finding a place to park in G'town. My kids really wanted a parish where they could run around in the courtyard and have a donut after church. St. Ann was that. I was going to be Catholic anyway, so I altered my vision.

Good luck! If you do go to OLQP, you may want to bring your husband to some of the theology on tap events. They would be very open to his questions about "why the heck do Catholics do (insert wacky thing here)?" If it just about finding a nice little home where you can go with your kid, I'd go ST. Ann. I often go w/1 or 2 kids and I'm not the only parent in that position.

Welcome back!

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have any experience with St. Louis in Alexandria?

My boyfriend's family has attended St. Louis for years and both of their younger boys (9 and 11) go to St. Louis for private school. They love it.

Know that you said Nativity might be too far, but I also have an inter-faith marriage (Jewish husband), am raising our children Catholic, and wanted a "welcoming" church - and Nativity has been that and more. I would consider checking it out, even with the commute. The vibe is very much in line with Pope Francis - ie. outreach to the poor, etc.

A Catholic married to a Jew here -- we actually participate most thoroughly in the Interfaith Families Project of Washington, DC, but DH is cool with attending mass (yep, Christmas - Easter Catholic here) at Our Lady Queen of Peace in South Arlington. He did not like the vibe at St. Charles at all.

Anonymous wrote:lose-lose situation

The Catholic church is rigid and inflexible. Once your kid starts going through his sacraments, which can be intense, your husband will not stand for it.

If he's not happy with the Catholic faith, it will cause marital issues.

What's this need to suddenly join again? You were away from it for years, I'm guessing. Please don't tell me you experienced something horrific and are in need of a supportive community!

OP, please ignore the negativity from this poster. I used to live in Alexandria where I attended both St. Rita's and St. Mary's. Both churches were extremely welcoming. What this poster refers to as rigid and inflexible, I view as steadfast. The Catholic Church has endured for centuries not by bending with the wind. It is possible to raise your child Catholic while being married to someone who is not Catholic. Your husband does not have to convert. He just has to support you and your child and not sabotage your efforts to raise your child Catholic.

BTW, I don't know much about St. Louis, but I know someone who is a parishoner there, sends her daughters to the school, and loves it there. Good luck!

lose-lose situation

The Catholic church is rigid and inflexible. Once your kid starts going through his sacraments, which can be intense, your husband will not stand for it.

If he's not happy with the Catholic faith, it will cause marital issues.

What's this need to suddenly join again? You were away from it for years, I'm guessing. Please don't tell me you experienced something horrific and are in need of a supportive community!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I stopped going to Blessed Sacrament the day the priest called the Affordable Health Care act "the work of Satan" and the congregation applauded. No joke.

At least he wasn't hiding.

You've got to know that most priests are thinking the same thing but not expressing it.

Don't fool yourself. There is no such thing as a liberal parish.

Well, you'd be wrong. You must not know many actual priests. I do, Mai ly Jesuits and Franciscan, and none of them would say something like that. Quite the opposite.

Absolutely. One, I don't believe most priests believe this let alone say this. Two, depending on the order (as pp said Jesuits are an example) there is a tremendous lean to liberal social policy.

You may know a lot of priests, but I know two former priests. And we're very close. One is a cousin; the other was my high school teacher.

One was a Jesuit. Let's just say that their stories would make your head spin. And they were very liberal - especially the former Jesuit.