Interesting question.
I can’t say how I got involved with the Baptists and Father Tom was part of all this and you got to know God has a plan for me with all this weird stuff.
The Baptist minister got to know me from my attendance at a couple of events sponsored by this church, mostly I went with a friend of mine, a member of this church. Her boyfriend, heh, is a bigwig radio talk show host, and is a Catholic member of MY church.
Anyway, once all this stuff broke my friend asked her Pastor to meet with me, I guess to offer me solace....I dunno. And then there’s the Father Tom thing, for which I already wrote a book but do not think anything bad or untoward happened.
It didn’t.
But I ended up at this Baptist church with Pastor Munro, a delightful man who did introduce me to the scriptures and endured my complaints about the Pope.
Also, as an aside but important, my beautiful granddaughter loves the Baptist church, her other grandmother is a Baptist, and at one point both of her parents were baptized in that church. So I promised Kaitlyn that I would attend a service at the Baptist church with her.
Thus I met with the Baptist Pastor at the urging of my friend and I had the ulterior motive of scoping it out for my granddaughter.
So I went to two meetings with the Baptist pastor and upon return from Massachusetts I sent him an email thanking him and telling him that in due course I would attend a service at his church, with my granddaughter, as was my plan.
But I’d given I a lot of thought. So okay Peter had a wife and kids, I did not know this. I just can’t stop going to services at my Catholic church and the Baptist pastor did ask me why.
Now after that email, the Baptist guy responded by asking me to stop by one more time but I made up my mind it would be the last.
It’s obvious he wants me to convert. So okay, it’s normal for a Pastor to want to convert people to their faith. But I told him, no, I would come to a Baptist service with my granddaughter but for now I would continue with my Catholic services.
That’s when the Pastor got a little....I dunno, annoyed would be the word. Only slightly but I realized that for some reason I could not fathom, this guy really wanted me to become a Baptist. Why? Lord I am only one person, this pastor already having met with me three times and before I left he said he wanted to see me one more time.
Why? What the hell do I bring to the table?
This is when he asked me what I get from attending mass. I said I need to get on my knees but he told me I could get on my knees at home. Then he asked if I really thought that little wafer was really the body of Jesus.....and I answered truthfully, that I did.
Whatever, whatever.
I WILL attend the Baptist service with my granddaughter and it is really a lovely, lovely church with a great music department.
But I will not walk away from my Catholic church and that’s just that.
I don’t want to turn the Sunday thread into a religious thread or argument, but you mentioned something that always bothered me.
Forget for a moment the people who only go to church/services/mass infrequently, but concentrating on those who go to everyone and therefore show at least their dedication...
Aren’t all these churches Christian? I mean seriously, they are all firm believers in Jesus, or why would they bother? So what need does a Priest have to convert a person to Catholicism, or a Pastor to convert someone to Baptist rites? The primary thing is they believe Jesus us Savior and Lord, and simply worship Him in different ways.
Otherwise, I start getting cynical. Maybe someone has an ego and sees a big flock as some kind of bragging right. Or maybe it’s all about the collection plate Benjamins?
I had a priest who, when I grudging told him my daughter was going to Baptist services with my Baptist preacher father-in-law say, “Well that’s good. The Baptists are great believers in our Lord.” And my Baptist preacher father-in-law has no problems with accepting my Roman Catholic Church as Christian and my daughter still goes to Mass and even serves as alter girl. She loves to help out!
I don’t know, but just consider that God and Jesus is just happy that a believer BELIEVES, you know? I wish the entire body of Christians of the world would accept that everyone who believes this is first and foremost a Christian, and THEN a Catholic, Baptist or Orthodox rites, whatever. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ.
That’s why I do not get on the religious threads. So much hatred and bickering about so many trivial things and ignoring the BIG question: Do you believe Jesus is Savior and Lord?
Anyway, forget the religious wars among Christians and just be there to worship, learn and help. That’s what really matters!