Calm Posted May 10, 2014 Posted May 10, 2014 (edited) We can attend any ward we want, talk to any member one wants to counsel with them, just can't hold callings in other wards and only your own bishop can hand out recommends. No one is going to stop you attending any meeting or class you want or taking the Sacrament in any ward you want.Some bishops may withhold recommends if they see it as an issue, others won't especially if given a good reason (real life examples i know of are avoiding someone you had an affair with, attending a ward one is planning on moving into, attending church with someone you are dating/engaged to).Bishops generally don't like it because it is too east for members to fall through cracks if a lot are doing this.Can a Catholic serve in a parish he doesn't live in? Is there anything like a recommend that is comparable in another faith? Edited May 10, 2014 by calmoriah
Yirgacheffe Posted May 10, 2014 Posted May 10, 2014 We can attend any ward we want, talk to any member one wants to counsel with them, just can't hold callings in other wards and only your own bishop can hand out recommends. No one is going to stop you attending any meeting or class you want or taking the Sacrament in any ward you want.Some bishops may withhold recommends if they see it as an issue, others won't especially if given a good reason (real life examples i know of are avoiding someone you had an affair with, attending a ward one is planning on moving into, attending church with someone you are dating/engaged to).Bishops generally don't like it because it is too east for members to fall through cracks if a lot are doing this.Can a Catholic serve in a parish he doesn't live in? Is there anything like a recommend that is comparable in another faith?I don't know the answers to your questions but it seems where they confess is entirely up to them and this is not the case in the LDS church. I think if I was inclined to join a church I would prefer to serve where I live and discuss my shortcomings with someone more removed from my circle of friends, family and acquaintances. Much like going to a therapist for counseling who isn't my next door neighbor or a fellow PTA member. 1
Calm Posted May 10, 2014 Posted May 10, 2014 I don't know the answers to your questions but it seems where they confess is entirely up to them and this is not the case in the LDS church. I think if I was inclined to join a church I would prefer to serve where I live and discuss my shortcomings with someone more removed from my circle of friends, family and acquaintances. Much like going to a therapist for counseling who isn't my next door neighbor or a fellow PTA member.Depends on the purpose of the confession/counselling.
Yirgacheffe Posted May 10, 2014 Posted May 10, 2014 Depends on the purpose of the confession/counselling.This strikes me as equivocating, to be a member in good standing a catholic has to confess, to who ever they choose, an LDS has to pass a confessional type interview with their assigned bishop.
Storm Rider Posted May 10, 2014 Posted May 10, 2014 This strikes me as equivocating, to be a member in good standing a catholic has to confess, to who ever they choose, an LDS has to pass a confessional type interview with their assigned bishop. I am missing the importance of this part of the thread. Is there some value in the Catholic situation where a Catholic can go to any priest and a LDS go to their bishop and stake president for repentance of significant sins? What seems important is that the disciple of Christ is strengthened by going through the repentance process. The fact that our Catholic brothers and sisters can go to any priest for the same thing that a LDS bishop/stake president does.....is somehow better? I guess if we are waving the flag about my dad is bigger than you dad caliber of conversations this could serve as well as any other, but I am not sure there is any value in the discussion. All of us that follow Christ must make decisions. We are not going to return to our Father in Heaven trying to circumvent the single path through Christ. We either choose Christ or not; we cannot and do not have a host of different forms of a mediator. The fact that our Catholic brothers and sisters may choose a Confessor is good I guess; just use what you have.
saemo Posted May 10, 2014 Posted May 10, 2014 (edited) Can a Catholic serve in a parish he doesn't live in? Is there anything like a recommend that is comparable in another faith?Yes. There aren't membership records that follow a person around. A family/individual registers with the parish they attend regularly, and that is where people usually serve. Depending on the ministry, a person can serve at a parish that is not their own, and non Catholics can serve in Catholic ministries. Most often you see non Catholics at soup kitchens that are ran by a parish or diocese. There are non Catholics, some of them LDS, who participate in our parish ministries.There is nothing comparable to a recommend. Edited May 10, 2014 by saemo
saemo Posted May 10, 2014 Posted May 10, 2014 I have to disagree with our RC friends: it is vital that the confessor be someone with whom one has a close relationship. Training to be functionary and distant is, to my way of thinking, of less value than close up and personal caring.I think of all priests as caring, and haven't met one who is not. Some are exceptional, and radiate peace in a way that was foreign to me until a chance meeting of a Franciscan priest who was traveling through Utah. Of course, all people express themselves differently, but there is something about a priest that isn't in most people. They aren't functionary, but act in in the person of Christ, which requires a level of compassion not found in most people.That isn't to say, a priest is more than a man, and above human weakness. He has a charism, that is particular to his office. A gift of the Holy Spirit. A confessional is an intimate space, inside the church, and it doesn't feel functional to confess. It is like nothing I could have ever imagined, and impossible to describe.
Sleeper Cell Posted May 10, 2014 Posted May 10, 2014 There are other choices too, you could join a different church or leave religion altogether but it's obvious that the LDS church doesn't present choices like those the Catholic poster here described, they can freely choose who they want to guide them, you can't. And in other ways, the Catholic church doesn’t present choices like those available to members of the LDS church. I suppose it all comes down to why you would join a church. For many Catholics, LDS, and members of other faiths, it is a matter of trying to do what they believe God wants them to do. If you don’t believe in God or organized religion, I suspect that you would probably find that membership in the Roman Catholic church would also limit your “free choice” in some ways.
Sleeper Cell Posted May 10, 2014 Posted May 10, 2014 This strikes me as equivocating, to be a member in good standing a catholic has to confess, to who ever they choose, an LDS has to pass a confessional type interview with their assigned bishop. In the sense your are using “confess,” I don’t believe that a Catholic can confess to whoever they choose. Presumably, they cannot confess to females or to married men, for example. (There may be exceptions in extreme cases when no ordained priest is available). A member of the LDS church does not have to “pass” a confessional type interview to be “a member in good standing.” For example, members who do not hold Temple recommends and even those who have never been to the temple are still “members in good standing.” As good as me, at any rate.
Calm Posted May 10, 2014 Posted May 10, 2014 , to be a member in good standing a catholic has to confess, to who ever they choose, Maybe I haven't been reading this thread close enough to get through old impression, but I got that impression (that lack of confession didn't interfere with standing due to the anonymity of it) from a Catholic friend long ago.
Calm Posted May 10, 2014 Posted May 10, 2014 (edited) Yes. There aren't membership records that follow a person around. A family/individual registers with the parish they attend regularly, and that is where people usually serve. Depending on the ministry, a person can serve at a parish that is not their own, and non Catholics can serve in Catholic ministries. Most often you see non Catholics at soup kitchens that are ran by a parish or diocese. There are non Catholics, some of them LDS, who participate in our parish ministries.There is nothing comparable to a recommend.Thanks for info.Just as an FYI, We have nonLDS often participating in the Scouting or genealogy/family history programs and the Helping Hands (yellow shirts) organization accepts all comers I believe. I have heard of instances where a nonLds member who attended regularly with LDS family would be gracious enough to accept a calling helping with music or some other area where they weren't teaching doctrine. Edited May 10, 2014 by calmoriah
saemo Posted May 10, 2014 Posted May 10, 2014 Thanks for info.Just as an FYI, We have nonLDS often participating in the Scouting or genealogy/family history programs and the Helping Hands (yellow shirts) organization accepts all comers I believe. I have heard of instances where a nonLds member who attended regularly with LDS family would be gracious enough to accept a calling helping with music or some other area where they weren't teaching doctrine.Similar for us. My parish has a robust music ministry. Our organist for a while was a BYU graduate, and our children's choir has a few LDS kids sprinkled in among the Catholics. Guidelines for participating in religious education at a parish require the person be a practicing Catholic.
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