Godson And His Mom Not Attending Mass -- What Now?

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='bonkers' post='1796099' date='Mar 3 2009, 05:43 AM']When I was going through RCIA, I never felt comfortable attending mass. Not only because I was often the only young person in the pews, but generally the vibe was very cold and indifferent. Nobody cared. Not that I felt neglected or lonely, just uncomfortable.
I felt a lot more comfortable at protestant churches, even when I went by myself, there was definitely a stronger sense of community and a friendlier atmosphere. These aren't criticisms, just observations.[/quote]
I don't quite get this. Unless you talked to each and every person you would have no clue if "nobody" cared. Everybody feels uncomfortable in a strange place, so you smile at people - they smile back, the next mass you say good morning etc, relationships take time. We go to Mass to recieve Jesus, not to make new pals.

[Nihil Obstat]

Carrying the complete revelation of truth can tend to turn us into a dour lot sometimes.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='Dave' post='1795987' date='Mar 3 2009, 02:08 AM']I know I'm hijacking my own thread here, but it's something I've been wondering for quite some time ...

WHY is it that Catholic parishes so often have a reputation for being unfriendly? And why CATHOLIC parishes, of all places?[/quote]

Could be different reasons for different parishes. There are certainly some unfriendly Protestant churches. In fact, my college roommate and I had a heck of a time getting involved in a popular Baptist church, even after attending a community group for a year or two. In some ways, I liked that it wasn't too friendly. The few times I've been to the large megachurch here (~20,000 members), walking in through the parking lot and running into greeters who are all smiles and way too happy for 10am makes for an odd, surreal experience. I'd rather people not act happy if they aren't happy, and maybe that's part of the reason I was attracted to Mass...

The only thing that Protestant churches really seem to do differently is they often make people available before/after services for the purpose of helping you get involved in a community group, service project, ministries, etc. Catholic parishes typically rely on the bulletin, where it tells you to call someone for more information. At the Baptist churches I've attended, the pastor usually invited people to sign up for a group or ministry in some designated area after church, and sometimes food or at least coffee/tea was available there (especially for the college crowd). So instead of a bulletin announcement referring people to a phone number, the first point of contact should be a face-to-face interaction.

Edited March 3, 2009 by LouisvilleFan

[CatherineM]

I think part of it has to do with the fact that some people only go because they feel they have to. No one is going to be friendly under those circumstances. Some of it though is that we may not want to impose. Catholics never feel like they should evangelize, and it oozes over into our church life too. I've found the best way to have people be friendly is to volunteer. Then you get to know people, and they know you are here to stay. Almost every church has a KofC for the guys and a Women's group for the better half.