Editing the Catholic Herald in the early 1990s made me realise that the popular view of the Catholic Church owed more to fiction than fact. The British saw my Church as an Evelyn Waugh creation steeped in incense, tradition and heavenly choirs. How they recoiled when they set foot in their local Catholic church and found a liberal Lefty priest preaching that raising taxes was part of God's plan, while tone-deaf youngsters wailed Kumbaya.
In the same way, those Anglicans who want to break away from Canterbury over gay priests will be horrified to learn that a great many Catholic priests are of a similar persuasion. Those who bemoan their wishy-washy liberal clergy will be shocked to find that much of the Catholic hierarchy is trapped in an Old Left mentality that regards Neil Kinnock as dangerously Right-wing. Anglicans who hold up the Church of Rome as a model for its black-and-white certainties should consider that, even under a German Pope, Catholicism is about the Italian art of arrangiarsi - or getting by. Thus, the Church bans birth control, but the majority practise it; condemns divorce while allowing annulment; forbids homosexuality, but shields paedophiles within its ranks.
I think this is really wise advice. Really wise. I have recently been asked by a couple of Catholic catechumens what kind of advice I, as a former Catholic, would give them about the Catholic Church. I've told them that there are great things about the Catholic Church, and that I didn't want to be seen as discouraging them, but that they should go into it with eyes wide open. Both these people are adults leaving ECUSA in disgust, and I told them that if they are thinking that they'll find a safe home in the Roman church from the kinds of things that bedeviled them in ECUSA, they're mistaken. The Pope is a wonderful and holy man, but Rome is very far away. Don't do as I did, and come into it with illusions and expectations that the Church can't possibly fulfill. It's very, very easy for converts to have a romantic vision of the church they're going to (Catholic, Orthodox, whatever), exaggerating its virtues and minimizing its faults. But that's dangerous.
As a new Orthodox, I have tried hard not to make the same mistakes in this regard that I made as a Catholic. I got some bad news today from a journalist about an Orthodox scandal, but it didn't get to me as it would have before as a Catholic, not because it's less bad when it happens in Orthodoxy (it's certainly not), but because I'm trying to learn from my past errors, and deal with this kind of thing with more spiritual maturity. Seems to me from my own unfortunate experience that in church matters as in marriage, if you exaggerate the virtues of your beloved, you will also be susceptible to exaggerating your beloved's vices down the road. I am reminded of Tolkien's wonderful advice to his son about how to regard women: not as mystical and perfect creatures on a pedestal, but as "companions in shipwreck."
That's my advice to anyone thinking of going to another church: there might be good and completely justifiable reasons for doing so, and if that's what you're called to do, go with God. But you'll be far better off if you see your new communion not as the embodiment of an ideal, but as companions in shipwreck. Because that's what they -- that's what all of us -- are.
I'd like to open up a thread for converts to talk about things they wish they had known about their church before joining. This is not to say that they regret becoming Catholic/Orthodox/Protestant/whatever, but only good advice for others considering their tradition. Be charitable. I don't want this thread to turn into a religious war, so I'll say now that I'm going to be especially vigilant about deleting posts that threaten to disrupt the conversation with their incivility. Keep your mind not on complaining about what's wrong with your church -- we've all got our lists -- but on what useful advice you'd give to potential converts for how to adjust to it and to find peace, spiritual sustenance and the good things your church has to offer despite its problems.
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"My wife and I have dined out for years on some of things that she has experienced as a black woman in primarily white protestant/evangelical convert parishes." That's a very astute observation, Douglas.
My church is Presbyterian. I was raised within the Presbyterian church, so I don't know what would come as a surprise to a convert. We have a liturgy. The format stays the same from week to week, but with the exception of the recitation of some brief creeds, the words change. I always thought of the parts to the liturgy that don't change as a means to state, as a group, why we are gathered together. The Apostles Creed or the Nicene Creed are more of a statement to define what the group believes, but stating the creeds never left me feeling spiritually moved. I've never attended a church that had an extensive liturgy. So, I guess if you like that, then you'd not like my church. However, if you like things to vary a little from week to week, then you might like my church. The music is pretty traditional. It's a large church, so it has a pretty good music program. It has a lot of programs. It's friendly towards outsiders. The morning message and the sermons are the best. Dr. Hess is great. I think that the church has a large membership because he's so wonderful. He's some examples of his sermons if anyone's interested in listening. I just finished listening to the one on prayer. http://www.firstpreswc.com/component/option,com_sermon/Itemid,23/
Christine, Rob G, & others: Sorry if you feel I've "hijacked" the thread with a non-issue. The original post, however concerned conversion, and this one issue has solely prevented my conversion to Orthodoxy. Again, I enjoy immensely the solemnity of worship in the Orthodox tradition, and hope neither of you is offended by my questions & criticisms. I've been trying to search this out for some time, so I value your input & will continue to search the Scriptures. I'll reiterate that my advice to any new convert to Christianity is a focus on the inward mortification of sin rather than the programs & strategies of the given Church.
RB, what do you make of the historic fact that virtually all Christians in the world asked the intercessions of the saints, until the time of the Reformation? Which is to say, the cult of the saints (I use "cult" in the strictly sociological sense) dates from virtually the beginning of the faith. Were all those Christians wrong?
"Don't do as I did, and come into it with illusions and expectations that the Church can't possibly fulfill. It's very, very easy for converts to have a romantic vision of the church they're going to (Catholic, Orthodox, whatever), exaggerating its virtues and minimizing its faults. But that's dangerous. As a new Orthodox, I have tried hard not to make the same mistakes in this regard that I made as a Catholic." So the reason you left the Catholic Church was because of your illusions and expectations ,so stop giving us the "Catholic claim to exclusivity" bull!
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