Is it a bad thing...

lindsaynewbride10 · December 2011

That as Catholics we attend a Christmas service at a Lutheran church with my side of the family?

Every other year we spend Christmas Eve with my side of the family, who are Lutheran. I havent been to a service at that church since I was confirmed and received my first Eucharist last Easter 2010.

So I'm wondering if it would be a bad thing if we went and participated in the service?!

Calypso1977 · December 2011

i was taught not to worship in other churches as a catholic.

i think its fine to attend a service, but you should not, IMO, receive communion or participate as it shows support of that religion.

also, will you attend a catholic church on christmas day? if you attending the lutheran service in lieu of the catholic service, i also think that's an issue.

since you made a decision to convert and be catholic, i really feel that you and your husband should be attending a catholic church together. to blur the lines and still attend the lutheran church could potentially weaken you as a catholic, and will surely be problematic when children come along.

just my personal thoughts.

lindsaynewbride10 · December 2011

Makes perfect sense to me. For me its more about being with my family rather than take part in the service.

lalaith50 · December 2011

It's not a bad thing in itself; yes, it is good to spend time with your family. But the thing that would make it wrong, as Calypso pointed out, is that since Christmas is a Holy Day of Obligation, and as Catholics we are required to go to Mass on those days, so it would be wrong if you were also not going to a Catholic service on Christmas (day or eve.)

lindsaynewbride10 · December 2011

Ohhhhh my bad, I did forget to say that we're also going to midnight mass at a local parish. I'm with ya.

professorscience · December 2011

We've done the trade-off thing since H and I started dating. Before I was Catholic, he would attend church with me and not participate in communion, and I would attend mass with him and do the same. My parents have become really lapsed, so I try to go to church with them whenever I'm home just so they'll go. We'll probably do midnight mass on Christmas Eve and then church with my parents on Christmas Day this year.

ElisabethJoanne · December 2011

I was Episcopalian when I attended the third-most-Catholic college in the US. None of my college friends would step foot in my church because it would "cause scandal."

If you attend a Lutheran service, please participate except don't receive communion or say any prayers contrary to Catholic teaching. That is, sing the hymns, stand when others stand, kneel when others kneel, recite those prayers not contrary to Catholic teaching. Don't just sit there.

ring_pop · December 2011

I don't think it's a bad thing to be with your family! This feast is meant to unite us, not divide us, IMHO.

bibliophile2010 · December 2011

Like others have said, attending the service in and of itself is not bad. My understanding is that basic participation (singing, listening attentively, praying) is fine and in an eccumentical spirit. You cannot receive communion (if it is offered) or anything that seems to "denounce" the Catholic faith.

I think the problem comes if you do not attend a Catholic service as well. I have gone to non-Catholic Christmas services with family, but still made a point of going to Catholic mass as well. I've also done this frequently at non-Catholic services on Sundays when family members were, for example, being baptised and I was invited to attend.

Chloeagh · December 2011

Do what makes you comfortable. My FI and his dad are Catholic, while his mom and sister are Lutheran. The family trades off which church they go to each week and they will go to the church of the family they are staying with. However, when they are with a Lutheran family on a holy day of obligation, my FI and his dad go to both Lutheran and Catholic services. Going to church together as a family is very important to them, but Christmas is a holy day of obligation, so it is still very important for you to attend a Catholic mass.

I don't think there is anything wrong with attending and participating in Lutheran services themselves as long as you don't take communion. I go to a Lutheran college and frequently it's either Lutheran service or no church at all. It has never gotten in the way of my Catholic faith (in fact, this Lutheran school has strengthened my faith as a Catholic!).

agapecarrie · December 2011

Sundays are days of obligation also.

chelseamb11 · December 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_bad-thing?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:89b5f76f-ed6f-41be-800a-d4ff373ea4f0Post:330eefd1-2301-428c-8392-ba0cfcb22858">Is it a bad thing...</a>:
[QUOTE]That as Catholics we attend a Christmas service at a Lutheran church with my side of the family? Every other year we spend Christmas Eve with my side of the family, who are Lutheran. I havent been to a service at that church since I was confirmed and received my first Eucharist last Easter 2010. So I'm wondering if it would be a bad thing if we went and participated in the service?!
Posted by lindsaynewbride10[/QUOTE]

My family is Lutheran too, and we go to Xmas eve service with them and then Christmas mass with FI's family. There is nothing wrong with it, IMO. Except like what PPs said about communion.

professorscience · December 2011

Just found out that we are spending Christmas with my grandparents who were really opposed to our wedding because it was Catholic. Should be interesting, to say the least.

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