I'm leaving the Catholic Church

b12mearse

I've decided to leave the Catholic Church as I dont want to be associated with such a corrupt institution anymore.
Irish people in general have been loyal to the Catholic church for generations and for generations the Catholic Church has abused the people of this country in more ways than one.
I have grown to dispise the Catholic Church for all its wrong doings and I have now decided to become a Protestant.
But I'm not sure which Protestant denomination I should join.
Can anyone give me any advice on what I should do?

Joey the lips

and your posting in christanity because......

Is it a christian or an athiest you want to be.....

By the way..... Is it not the bible that teaches quite well let he who has not sinned cast the first stone.... Ah well there is always the prodical son if you decide to return.

Turtwig

Joey the lips wrote: »

and your posting in christanity because......

Is it a christian or an athiest you want to be.....

By the way..... Is it not the bible that teaches quite well let he who has not sinned cast the first stone.... Ah well there is always the prodical son if you decide to return.

Em...I know you can be protestant and an also atheist, but it is highly unlikely that the OP is an atheist posting in the Christianity forum who also happens to be protestant.:)
Eitherway, the OP asked for advice for non-catholics who are Christian, so I'll shut up now.

Fanny Cradock

To give you a better idea of where I'm coming from - I consider myself a non-denominational Christian. To me a church is only a building (although some are very beautiful and special places) and no one denomination has a monopoly on truth. Others might disagree.

I don't think you have to do anything other than turn up at a church and see how it goes. If you are convinced that the RCC isn't for you - and to be fair to, I think that the Church does a tremendous amount of good that is all too often overlooked - I suggest that you shop around to see what best fits. As long as the focus is on Christ and the Gospel, the matters of worship and fellowship with fellow Christians, I suggest, are largely down to personal preference. So try everything from Protestant to Pentecostal!

If you could give us an idea of where you are living and what style of worship you are after, people here might be able to suggest something close to you.

philologos

OP: If you are looking for churches the following may be of use -

Aontas -a database of all Irish Pentecostal churches: http://www.aontas.ie/
The Church of Ireland - http://ireland.anglican.org/index.php?do=information.dioceses
Methodist Church in Ireland - http://www.irishmethodist.org/find-a-church/index.php
Presbyterian Church in Ireland - http://www.presbyterianireland.org/
Baptist Churches in Ireland - http://www.baptistireland.org/

I wish you the best of luck. I'd advise you try as many different churches as you can until you find one where you think you can learn and strengthen your faith.

Tim Robbins

b12mearse wrote: »

I've decided to leave the Catholic Church as I dont want to be associated with such a corrupt institution anymore.
Irish people in general have been loyal to the Catholic church for generations and for generations the Catholic Church has abused the people of this country in more ways than one.
I have grown to dispise the Catholic Church for all its wrong doings and I have now decided to become a Protestant.
But I'm not sure which Protestant denomination I should join.
Can anyone give me any advice on what I should do?

Note I am atheist but I think I might still give an interesting opinion for you.
Some of the other Chrisitian denominations:

Anglican: Bit like chilled out Roman Catholics. They do things like "peace be with you" but don't have any child abuse scandal. They also seem quite progressive on some issues.
Methodist: Chilled out Anglicans who don't have Bishops.
Presbyterians: No Bishops but they take their scripture and "relationship with Jesus" very seriously. I don't think they would do as much humanitarian work as say the Anglicans. They are probably a bit more God fearing.

The closer you get to the North, the more serious they all take it.

If you are more liberal in your views, you might like to check out the Unitarians or Quakers.

Cheers.

Run_to_da_hills

You could also give the independents ago.

Dec Dunlaoghaire.

St Marks Pearse St

Graces7

That is a nasty crack; re the first stone.

And in these circumstances, singularly inappropriate.

And it is not Jesus being left, so the example of the prodigal son does not apply; maybe to the bishops.

Yes we all fall short; BUT the Bishops are setting themselves as shepherds and leaders. And the extent and degree of the corruption are such that many are deciding to leave.

They are preaching one thing and living another; Jesus calls that being whited sepulchres.

Someone changing tradition is not leaving Jesus. Sadly many do both because their faith is in the Church.

Some can stay somehow; many cannot. Both reactions are fine.

Ultimately where we hang out hats on a Sunday is up to us; as long as our faith IS in Jesus, than all else will fall into place.

"Church" is overrated!
And not necessary in some ways.

We talked with a German couple recently; they were so put off by the corruption in the Church.. so we asked if they believe in Jesus.. yes... so then pray at home and invite others to join you.

So to ask what someone WANTS to be? Really....

We have a sacramental link with a Friar/confessor. spirirtual director we can trust; but there is no Bishop or this diocesan priest we would trust now.

As long as what you do is for the love of the Lord Jesus, and to be with those who love Him.. not in anger.

Safe journey and well done...

Blessings

Joey the lips wrote: »

and your posting in christanity because......

Is it a christian or an athiest you want to be.....

By the way..... Is it not the bible that teaches quite well let he who has not sinned cast the first stone.... Ah well there is always the prodical son if you decide to return.

Graces7

Not true,. re the abuse.

Ask google for the Canadian Holocaust.. all the Churches there combined to abuse... Kevin Annett speaks and writes of this; he was "defrocked" for standing up to the Free Church he was a pastor in.

The disease of child abuse has run through every Church and every country.

Many US Anglican dioceses as well as RC have gone bankrupt paying out compensation.

For a very full picture, see this site.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AbuseTracker/

This is why so many are striving so hard to get the situation here in Ireland sorted

And there will be soon an audit of Church of Ireland ..... Less damning as there are fewer here.

Your other summing up is.... so off the mark.

Not interesting from a constructive and spiritual point of view.

We who know and love Jesus, rely on His guidance, not secular/atheist. You leave Jesus out.

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Note I am atheist but I think I might still give an interesting opinion for you.
Some of the other Chrisitian denominations:

Anglican: Bit like chilled out Roman Catholics. They do things like "peace be with you" but don't have any child abuse scandal. They also seem quite progressive on some issues.
Methodist: Chilled out Anglicans who don't have Bishops.
Presbyterians: No Bishops but they take their scripture and "relationship with Jesus" very seriously. I don't think they would do as much humanitarian work as say the Anglicans. They are probably a bit more God fearing.

The closer you get to the North, the more serious they all take it.

If you are more liberal in your views, you might like to check out the Unitarians or Quakers.

Cheers.

philologos

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

You could also give the independents ago.

Dec Dunlaoghaire.

St Marks Pearse St

I had thought both of these were in the Evangelical Alliance. However, that said St Marks is a great church.

Tim Robbins

Graces7 wrote: »

You leave Jesus out.

That's a good argument.

PDN

Jakkass wrote: »

OP: If you are looking for churches the following may be of use -

Aontas -a database of all Irish Pentecostal churches: http://www.aontas.ie/

That database is predominantly non-Pentecostal churches and omits hundreds of Pentecostal congregations all over Ireland.

Run_to_da-Hills wrote:

You could also give the independents ago.

Dec Dunlaoghaire.

St Marks Pearse St

St Mark's is a great church, but they are not independent. They belong to the Assemblies of God.

homer911

OP: Where are you living and perhaps we could make some local suggestions. We could maybe even arrange a local introduction, but you might find that a bit intimidating...

Demonique

Joey the lips wrote: »

and your posting in christanity because......

Is it a christian or an athiest you want to be.....

It's the CHRISTANITY forum not the Catholic forum and as far as I'm aware Protestants are Christians or do you only consider Catholics to be true Christians?

Joey the lips

Demonique wrote: »

It's the CHRISTANITY forum not the Catholic forum and as far as I'm aware Protestants are Christians or do you only consider Catholics to be true Christians?

Just reverse a bit back there......and think about it.... He is telling christians he wants to leave the church..... My point was does he want to be a christian now(From a catholic) or an athiest which is the current trend.

Demonique

Joey the lips wrote: »

Just reverse a bit back there......and think about it.... He is telling christians he wants to leave the church..... My point was does he want to be a christian now(From a catholic) or an athiest which is the current trend.

I suggest you re-read his post, he clearly stated he wanted to convert to being a Protestant which is a CHRISTIAN church

Joey the lips

Demonique wrote: »

I suggest you re-read his post, he clearly stated he wanted to convert to being a Protestant which is a CHRISTIAN church

Ooops my apologies. Thanks for the correction should have gone to specsavers.

Michael G

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

If you are convinced that the RCC isn't for you - and to be fair to, I think that the Church does a tremendous amount of good that is all too often overlooked - I suggest that you shop around to see what best fits.

I think this argument is based on a false, or at least not generally accepted, premise — namely that the different Christian churches are all of equal worth. I am a traditional Irish Roman Catholic. I despise those who abused children. I also despise the bishops and others who hid the abuse and protected the abusers, but did nothing for the children. I think they should resign for the sake of the Church and, if they have committed a crime, they should be prosecuted and punished.

Nevertheless I would not for a moment consider that I should belong to another Christian denomination, because I believe that the Catholic Church is the only one that is fully the church that Christ founded. When I go to Mass (as I did yesterday), I am not there to watch Father X conducting a service or because I prefer this kind of service to something done elsewhere. Father X is a cipher; he may be gentle, holy and kind or he may be a drunk or a tax-dodger like Fr Tadhg or something worse; but at Mass he is there in persona Christi — standing in for Christ. There is and will ever be only one Mass, which is the Passion and Resurrection of Christ, and it is being perpetually re-enacted. If I don't go to Mass I am not registering my contempt for Fr X; I am turning my back on Christ.

This is a very Catholic explanation and I do realise it makes no sense in secular terms, or even to many Protestants.

LordSutch

b12mearse wrote: »

I've decided to leave the Roman Catholic Church as I dont want to be associated with such a corrupt institution anymore.
Irish people in general have been loyal to the Catholic church for generations and for generations the Catholic Church has abused the people of this country in more ways than one. I have grown to dispise the Catholic Church for all its wrong doings and I have now decided to become a Protestant. But I'm not sure which Protestant denomination I should join. Can anyone give me any advice on what I should do?

Might depend on where you live? If you wish to stay close to Roman doctrine then you might consider an Anglican 'High Church' (few & far between in Ireland), or if you want a complete break from Rome then you are really spoilt for choice, from traditional 'Church of Ireland', to Methodist, Baptist, Evangelical > plus everything else in between

SirHenryGrattan

b12mearse wrote: »

But I'm not sure which Protestant denomination I should join. Can anyone give me any advice on what I should do?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/5256878/Holy-or-wholly-accessible.html

I spent a lot of my teenage years searching for spiritual guidance and meaning in life. I could not find it in the Church of England. This was because the church tends to try to become milder to attract more followers and I feel this mildness drives people away. I eventually joined a Pentecostal church as I found real answers there. While I do not want to appear denominationalist, It is the strong church that attracts more people. When I say strong - I am referring to a church that has doctrines that are set in stone and preachers that are not afraid to offend in their sermons. The recent dramatic rise in attendance at Pentecostal Churches demonstrates people desire to be in touch with a powerful God.
Please, C of E, do not try to soften God to draw people in. If people wanted a soft option they should go to a flower arranging class!

herbiemcc

Hi, I'm just wondering why my fair and open post was deleted yesterday.

To do that with no explanation is disgusting and demeaning to those you wish to support. I won't be posting here if this childish censorship exists.

I know you'll delete this too but I just wanted to say it.

PDN

herbiemcc wrote: »

Hi, I'm just wondering why my fair and open post was deleted yesterday.

To do that with no explanation is disgusting and demeaning to those you wish to support. I won't be posting here if this childish censorship exists.

I know you'll delete this too but I just wanted to say it.

If you think that having a post deleted on an internet discussion board is "disgusting and demeaning" then I suggest you get out into the real world a bit more.

Your post was deleted because it was more suited to the Spirituality forum than the Christianity forum. Occasionally posts are deleted on boards.ie - and if you have a problem or questions about that then the next step is to PM a moderator of the forum concerned.

Anyway, the OP has managed to get himself sitebanned for some reason or other (possibly his xenophobic tirades against foreigners and immigrants in other fora) so there seems little point in keeping this thread open.