How do I become a Protestant?

Magenta

Hello everyone,

I was raised as a Catholic, however I do not practise. I have never been to Sunday mass in my adult life, I only attend for funerals and weddings.
For a number of reasons I am considering, at some stage, leaving the Catholic faith and becoming a Protestant. Does anyone know how I would go about doing this?
Would I have to get my godparents or any family members involved for the process? I would rather they didn't know because it is a private matter for me and they are a little judgemental about these things. My father in particular is very against anything that he considers to be remotely English.

Thanks

M

Chewbacca.

go to hell

rugbyman

Magenta wrote: »

Hello everyone,

I was raised as a Catholic, however I do not practise. I have never been to Sunday mass in my adult life, I only attend for funerals and weddings.
For a number of reasons I am considering, at some stage, leaving the Catholic faith and becoming a Protestant. Does anyone know how I would go about doing this?
Would I have to get my godparents or any family members involved for the process? I would rather they didn't know because it is a private matter for me and they are a little judgemental about these things. My father in particular is very against anything that he considers to be remotely English.

Thanks

M

I have no particular advice to give you but am intrigued as to why you, a non practicing Christian want to move from one branch to another. If it is private, thats fine.

There are several Protestant churches and groups, with different beliefs, it is not simply a matter of becoming a Protestant.
rugbyman

Magenta

rugbyman wrote: »

I have no particular advice to give you but am intrigued as to why you, a non practicing Christian want to move from one branch to another. If it is private, thats fine.

There are several Protestant churches and groups, with different beliefs, it is not simply a matter of becoming a Protestant.
rugbyman

I have a number of reasons, I would rather not say why as I do not want to offend any practising Catholics.

mehfesto

Chewbacca. wrote: »

go to hell

Fail troll fails.


Anyway, to the OP, I'd imagin. You'd nee to defect from the RCC first, but I could be wrong. In sure then you'd just I've to locate a branch of Protestants you are happy with and approach a vicar there for more info.

I know a few people undergoing this at the moment myself & if I hear more on how they got on, Ill letcha know. Will be interesting to see these figures in the next census too!

Good luck anyway!

DesQ2

The OP does not deserve some of the comments put up, he/she does not have to explain their actions or beliefs and that 'go to hell' comment was completely uncalled for,

Sorry i can't offer any advice and best of luck with the change over,

crotalus667

mehfesto wrote: »

Anyway, to the OP, I'd imagin. You'd nee to defect from the RCC first,

nope although th op does risk being kicked out of the rcc (but that is hardly ever done unless they are pestered into doing it

Michael G

Magenta wrote: »

Hello everyone,

I was raised as a Catholic, however I do not practise. I have never been to Sunday mass in my adult life, I only attend for funerals and weddings.
For a number of reasons I am considering, at some stage, leaving the Catholic faith and becoming a Protestant. Does anyone know how I would go about doing this?

There is some kind of ceremony that they have in the "church of Ireland". You can find it in Tom Doorley's autobiography because he used it. It involved reciting some formula in front of one of their "bishops". But why do you want Christianity-lite instead of being an atheist?

Fanny Cradock

There was a similar thread on this a while back. I'll see if I can dig it up at some stage. I'm typing this on an iPod and it's not ideal for such things.

Unless you want to officially leave the RCC then all you have to do is turn up at a Protesant church. They don't grill you at the door

Fanny Cradock

Michael G wrote: »

There is some kind of ceremony that they have in the "church of Ireland". You can find it in Tom Doorley's autobiography because he used it. It involved reciting some formula in front of one of their "bishops". But why do you want Christianity-lite instead of being an atheist?

I suggest you read the charter.

yessam

Magenta wrote: »

Hello everyone,

I was raised as a Catholic, however I do not practise. I have never been to Sunday mass in my adult life, I only attend for funerals and weddings.
For a number of reasons I am considering, at some stage, leaving the Catholic faith and becoming a Protestant. Does anyone know how I would go about doing this?
Would I have to get my godparents or any family members involved for the process? I would rather they didn't know because it is a private matter for me and they are a little judgemental about these things. My father in particular is very against anything that he considers to be remotely English.

Thanks

What takes your fancy to the practicing the Protestant faith. I would just like some info as I really don't know what the big differences are.

Jellybaby1

I know several Catholic people who attend Protestant church services. You could visit several different church services over a period of months and decide where you feel most comfortable. There are several branches of the Protestant faith, you might find some pretty dull, boring, and old fashioned, and then there are others that are full of life, contemporary music, with very interesting preachers. Personally, I think there is a place for both the old fashioned, and the modern. Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water, as they say.

What you need to remember is that both Catholics and Protestants are both Christian faiths, they basically believe in the same God and that Jesus is the Son of God, etc., they just have some different rules and different ways of worshipping God and most of the differences are really less than you think. There are of course the one or two ‘biggie’ differences i.e. Catholics believe the bread truly becomes the body of Christ during Communion and Protestants believe it is merely symbolic. Another difference is belief in the Virgin Mary – Protestants have given her a special place as the mother of Christ but do not pray to her as Catholics do. Protestants believe that Christ alone can save. Catholics pray to saints, Protestants do not. Both churches have a lot of tradition. I am not a theologian but this is just about as much as I know.

I know someone who actually went through a church service ritual to ‘become’ a Protestant, but I personally don’t think it is actually demanded of you. Others I know just go to whatever church they are happy in. You should discuss it with whichever Protestant clergyman whose church you intend to attend.

If you would like me to find out any more information for you, let me know.

Magenta

yessam wrote: »

What takes your fancy to the practicing the Protestant faith. I would just like some info as I really don't know what the big differences are.

As above, I would rather not say, as I do not want to offend practising Catholics and nor do I want to provoke a debate on which religion is better.

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

What you need to remember is that both Catholics and Protestants are both Christian faiths, they basically believe in the same God and that Jesus is the Son of God, etc., they just have some different rules and different ways of worshipping God and most of the differences are really less than you think. There are of course the one or two ‘biggie’ differences i.e. Catholics believe the bread truly becomes the body of Christ during Communion and Protestants believe it is merely symbolic. Another difference is belief in the Virgin Mary – Protestants have given her a special place as the mother of Christ but do not pray to her as Catholics do. Protestants believe that Christ alone can save. Catholics pray to saints, Protestants do not. Both churches have a lot of tradition. I am not a theologian but this is just about as much as I know.

Thanks for your post. It is just a number of small things that I think the Protestant faith practises better.

yessam

Jellybaby1, are you sure it is acceptable in protestant churches for a catcholic to just attend a service without there being a reason other than checking out the service. I am sure a lone catcholic at a protestant service would get some looks in rural ireland

Splendour

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

Unless you want to officially leave the RCC then all you have to do is turn up at a Protesant church. They don't grill you at the door

This is what I did. I first attended an Alpha course in an Evangelical church, then for about a year or so I swung between services there and the Catholic church. Eventually I just gave up attending the Catholic church knowing I'd found the right church to be in. And yes all done without being grilled at the door

robinph

Magenta wrote: »

Does anyone know how I would go about doing this?

Find church.

Walk in.

Jellybaby1

Yessam, in any of the instances I am aware of, no-one looked strangely at anyone in the Protestant churches. If you experienced any strange looks it may have been a church still living in the past or in Northern Ireland maybe!!

Magenta, I suggest doing what Splendour did, go to an Alpha course, lots of Protestant and Catholic churches run them. There are Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, Methodists, Evangelical Protestants, Evangelical Catholics, Pentecostal Churches (not all are African) - you are spoiled for choice for churches in this country!!

I also recommend when you find your church, and get to know people, be honest and up front - it really is the best. You don't need to go into detail. One Catholic lady just said that she felt that "this was where she should be", another said "I just thought I'd try here and I quite like it", and that was accepted, no problem!

Another thing about the Protestant communion is that it is open to all. No-one is asked about their background, all are invited to partake - nice.

Hope this helps.

Magenta

robinph wrote: »

Find church.

Walk in.

I wasn't looking for smartass remarks. I'm sure if I went over to Long Term Illness and posted "Find hospital. Walk in" to people looking for advice, you'd have something to say about it.

Fanny Cradock

Magenta wrote: »

I wasn't looking for smartass remarks. I'm sure if I went over to Long Term Illness and posted "Find hospital. Walk in" to people looking for advice, you'd have something to say about it.

I could be wrong, of course, but it didn't read that as a smartarsed remark. In certain respects, it mght be that simple. The tricky part is finding the right church for you.

robinph

Magenta wrote: »

I wasn't looking for smartass remarks. I'm sure if I went over to Long Term Illness and posted "Find hospital. Walk in" to people looking for advice, you'd have something to say about it.

Not intended as a smartass response, but it does read like that. The RC church does not own you though and you are free to do as you please and go to whatever church you please, or not. Find one that you like and go to it, if one doesn't suit, find another one.

I don't see how it is actually any more complicated than what I said.

"Find hospital. Walk in" would actually be the best response for a lot of things on LTI actually.

Magenta

robinph wrote: »

Not intended as a smartass response, but it does read like that. The RC church does not own you though and you are free to do as you please and go to whatever church you please, or not. Find one that you like and go to it, if one doesn't suit, find another one.

I don't see how it is actually any more complicated than what I said.

"Find hospital. Walk in" would actually be the best response for a lot of things on LTI actually.

I apologise, I read it and took it the wrong way

Puck

It pretty much is that simple to be honest. Many churches have an official membership but this is often just to keep track of people for pastoral work or for church voting purposes. When it comes to belief systems the most important part is the belief itself, so the "hard" part is finding a denomination whose beliefs you genuinely share.

Forgive me if I offend, but I hope you do realise that protestantism (and that's a very broad term encompassing many denominations) is not simply a lack of Catholic belief. Protestants do actually believe specific things too. This is why I suppose people have been asking you why you want to make the move. It is quite possible to state one's disagreement with Catholic belief and give reasons why you think you'd be happier in a protestant church without offending people by the way, give it a shot.

Leopardi

Magenta wrote: »

Hello everyone,

I was raised as a Catholic, however I do not practise. I have never been to Sunday mass in my adult life, I only attend for funerals and weddings.
For a number of reasons I am considering, at some stage, leaving the Catholic faith and becoming a Protestant. Does anyone know how I would go about doing this?
Would I have to get my godparents or any family members involved for the process? I would rather they didn't know because it is a private matter for me and they are a little judgemental about these things. My father in particular is very against anything that he considers to be remotely English.

Thanks

M

I'm a Presbyterian, and as such I would regard the Westminster Confession of Faith as a source of doctrinal norms. In no sense would you be required to agree with all of the precepts of this document (many Presbyterians do not), but it might aid your thoughts as to what some Protestants, particularly those with a Calvinist background believe. Perhaps your father might be slightly more favourable towards Presbyterianism, given its Scottish, rather than English associations? (tongue firmly in cheek).

http://www.reformed.org/documents/wcf_with_proofs/index.html

homer911

In the Presbyterian Church I attend, we have a number of regular attenders who make no bones about calling themselves Roman Catholic. These are some really nice people, some of them also attend mass in their catholic church - nobody bats an eyelid and everyone is equally welcome.

Many in the Protestant Churches would consider themselves Christian first and denominational christian second (if at all). I dont call myself Presbyterian, I just worship in the Presbyterian style.

Magenta

Puck wrote: »

Forgive me if I offend, but I hope you do realise that protestantism (and that's a very broad term encompassing many denominations) is not simply a lack of Catholic belief. Protestants do actually believe specific things too.

Yeah I know that Protestantism has its own beliefs.

Jellybaby1

I would agree with Homer911.

Magenta I really hope that your journey will be a fruitful one for you, wherever you end up, and that you will find happiness there.

fryup

yessam wrote: »

Jellybaby1, are you sure it is acceptable in protestant churches for a catcholic to just attend a service without there being a reason other than checking out the service. I am sure a lone catcholic at a protestant service would get some looks in rural ireland

funny looks by whom?? the protestants in the congregation? or the catholics living in the locality??

itsonlywords

Chewbacca. wrote: »

go to hell

Nasty and uncalled for. :mad:

StudentDad

A number of years ago my wife and I were out for a walk with our children and we came across our local Anglican church. We wandered inside and the place just 'felt right.' We had both left the RC when we were younger. So, to cut a long story short, we contacted our Rector and asked about services and he just invited us along. So long as you are a baptised christian you are welcome to practice and receive in an Anglican/Church of Ireland service. Our children have now been baptised and we consider ourselves Anglican.

SD

TravelJunkie

OP, I know what it feels like to go against family wishes in terms of what church to attend. It was really difficult for me at one stage, where it got to the point where I wasn't attending any church.
I hope you find what you're looking for. Stay strong, go quietly, and I'm sure your dad will come to accept it in time.

super_furry

As someone who was baptised and made Communion in the Catholic church, but went to a CoI school and was in the Boys Brigade, I've always felt that CoI services were much more uplifting. I dunno, there just seemed to be more a community feel - perhaps because it is indeed a smaller community - but I've always found CoI churches to be hugely welcoming and much more joyful that Catholic.