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Theresa
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I'm curious as to wether or not most of you attend the Catholic church in the town you live in or do you travel to and belong to a different parish and if so, why?
Also, why is it that priests move from one parish to another?
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Theresa
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Angi
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We attend a parish in the next town over. The one in our town and the one we attend, have the same priest, and are connected. We attend the one out of town for 2 reasons -
1 - our local one only has Mass at 7:30 and we would be late every week 
2 - CCD takes place in the one the next town over
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LucyP
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We live in a city. There are two parishes. We live right on the very border of St A's parish, but we attend St B's parish. Partly that is because we are in the right direction for St B's more often and when dh is working it fits better with plans. Partly it is because when I wanted to be received we went to see the priest at St A's and he was really, really odd with us - and said some highly non-orthodox things - and while we chalk that up to mis-communication it made us turn to St B's. And we also know other people who live in the parish we live in but attend St B's, and people who live in St B's parish but attend at St A's (because St B's is also the diocese cathedral and St A's is smaller)
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Barbara C.
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We usually attend one of the two Catholic Churches in our "village". There are two others within in ten minutes outside our village. We also sometimes hit other ones that have more convenient Mass times. Being in the Chicago suburbs we have lots of choices. But we like our home parish the best--we like the style and LOVE the priests.
I get the impression that they sometimes rotate priests depending on the talents of the priest and the needs of different parishes. I wonder if it also has to do with preventing over-attachment on the part of the priest or the parishioners.
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JodieLyn
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there is one Catholic Church in our town.. and there's several Missions attached to our Church in the outlying areas.. the next closest Parish is an hour and 15 minutes away (about 56 miles, mountain driving)
It makes it really hard when there's any conflict because there is no choice (well driving at least an hour for Mass.. if those times can work).. gives me a headache thinking about how to balance obligation with obligation 
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Angie Mc
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We attend the parish in our town.
We visit other parishes for special masses and in connection to our friends who belong to different parishes. We're very fortunate to have access to many lovely parishes here.
Love,
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Angie Mc
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SimplyMom
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Jodie,
I grew up in Lakeview, OR, which is exactly as you describe.
One dear of friend of mine, an 80 year old woman who had grown up in a particular parish here in Portland really disliked her new priest. I mean REALLY disliked the man - with good reason in my opinion, but they just clashed beyond belief. Her take was that her parish was home, he was passing through and she would still be there. She was definitely one of those stubborn old birds. She told me that she came to mass for Jesus and "that man" just happens to be the conduit through which God acts.
Not sure if I have a point, but I sort of liked my friends imagery.
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stellamaris
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Theresa in MN wrote:
| Also, why is it that priests move from one parish to another? |
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Priests take an oath at their ordination to obey the bishop. It is the bishop of the diocese who decides which church each priest will be assigned to, and when, where, and whether he will move elsewhere. Usually new assignments are announced around the time of the diocesan annual ordination of new priests in the spring. A priest can be moved at any other time of the year, however, if the bishop requests it. Obedience is one of the evangelical counsels. It witnesses to our priests' dedication to Christ and their willingness to detach themselves from their own will to serve. It can truly be a cross for priests to be moved from one parish to another, but their sacrifice gives us a good example and encouragement in the sacrifices we must make in our own lives (like moving, for me)!
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Caroline
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JodieLyn
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Darcee, we've been to Lakeview for a swim meet (they have a Saturday evening Mass  ) Yes it's very much like there.
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Maddie
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We drive 50 minutes to attend Mass. Our local parish is ummm, very casual. We came from a diocese that was brimming with Catholic culture and it was shocking to come to a parish in a new state that offered very little and the homilies were usually "fluff" about being nice and about the pastor's home state. My teens were starting to roll their eyes, they wanted the substance they grew up on: a very reverent Mass, regular devotions,processions, Holy Hours, frequent confession schedule (not just Sat) instructive homilies, feast day celebrations, encouragement to say the Rosary and lead a holy life, etc... They kept pointing out abuses to me, ushers chewing gum, parents giving their children half of their Host, self-indiction, altar boys cramming down fast food in the parking lot minutes before Mass began, etc. When I brought it to the attention of the pastor, he blew it off.
I kept saying, but Jesus is present here too in our local parish but our Faith wasn't being nourished. Quite frankly the children's Faith was diminishing to see it treated so casually. When my little guy who was 7 or so at the time asked me, "What's a monstrance?" It was at that moment I knew we had to go. I didn't want them to grow up Catholic and not know the richness of our Catholic Faith.
We found another parish with a young and holy priest and the children's Faith was set ablaze or reignited. I would smile when the children would grab the bulletin to see what devotions Father was planning or when they reminded me it was time to pray our Divine Mercy novena, etc.. My now 9 yo who asked the question about the monstrance was one of 10 altar boys in a beautiful Corpus Christi procession this year.  
I am such a baby still in the Faith I guess. I need that strong holy shepherd at the forefront encouraging me to try harder, to do more for Christ, I want to hear "death rather than sin"as St. Dominic Savio once said. I want the beautiful Catholic books I "feed" my children with to match what they see in Church.
I know this approach isn't for everyone but it's what my family must do to keep our Faith alive and for us to pass down the Faith in its entirety to our children who will hopefully, in turn, pass it down to my grandchildren.
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Jenny
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We drive to the Latin Mass which is in the city (20mins). We live in between two small towns; the church in the town to the North is nice and is a good back up should we need one (sick kids, travel out of town etc...). The church in the town South of us is a valid Mass  and that's all I'm going to say.....
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Jenny
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SimplyMom
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Jodie, my grandparents always went to the Saturday evening mass.
Totally off the point:
The priest who said my grandfather's funeral was from LaGrande originally, his sister is a nun. He wore a priests collar and a "rodeo" belt-buckle. He actually had a horse that was stabled at a parishioner's ranch. A great fit for that community and pretty sound theologically too. I thought of that priest when Bishop Vasa spoke about encouraging our children's vocations to religious life.
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Darcee
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RA's Mom
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This thread raises a lot of personal issues and stories for me. Since our family moves every couple of years and travels frequently, we are constantly adjusting to new parishes. The church where I “grew up” (as an adult convert to Christianity) is in the Caribbean and is extremely charismatic. I have since felt the Holy Spirit lots of places but usually only in direct proximity the sacraments. The first time I attended this church I was overwhelmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit and this was at a communion service before I was really a believer.
At first I attributed this charisma to the young, dynamic parish priest, but during our first Lent, he received a transfer to a parish closer to where we lived. The diocese didn't have another parish priest and we were put under the care of the regional vicar. This was a big challenge in the year that I decided to do RCIA but we stayed with the community rather than the priest, even though this eventually meant that I received the sacraments of initiation at a church I'd never entered before the Easter Vigil rehearsal. Having a personal relationship with a priest is an incredible blessing and probably a necessary one at some point in our formation but to some degree the priest is just one member of the parish and may influence its culture less than the musical director, the education director, the secretary, the lady who launders the altar clothes, etc.
We spent last year in Virginia a short walk away from a socially and liturgically conservative church. At first I was in culture shock, everything was so quiet, face-to-face confession wasn't an option, and we just didn't know anyone. But we didn't have a car and didn't seem worthwhile to find a church that felt more familiar only to leave it within the year. So we stayed. After a couple of months, we found ways to be involved and feel connected. I learned more about the rites and gave more thought to social teachings. I even started to feel reasonably comfortable in the acrid confessional and realize that having a relationship with my confessor was about my ability to build on past mistakes and graces not on any coherence on the priest's side.
Now we're abroad again, have no choice about when and where to attend mass, and are doing fine. Visiting different churches is a great education in the Universal Church. Altar servers bolting breakfast in the car before mass will always be wrong, wrong, wrong, but there are a lot of different factors that can go into whether a place feels right at a certain time in our lives, and every parish community will offer different blessings and challenges in our journey toward God.
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sunnyviewmom
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Our parish is only about a 10 or 15 minute drive from our house, but it is in another state and diocese... and a "world apart" from the parish in our neighborhood which we used to attend. The Bishop and diocese are much more solid in promoting the fullness of the beauty and truth of the Catholic faith and our (realitivley young) pastor is as well. He is the holiest person I have ever known and is also warm, friendly, and approachable. I have come to realize that my own Catholic upbringing and formation was greatly lacking. We have been at our new parish for about 2 years and I really went through a personal conversion (though a cradle Catholic) after we had been attending Mass there for a little while. The impact on my husband and children has been life changing as well. Our Pastor preaches about sin and God's mercy, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and the Eucharist frequently. He offers Adoration 6 days a week. He encourages a devotion to Mary especially and to all the Saints.Jesus is present in every Catholic Church and that is what is most important! Yet we "deserve" to know the fullness of the truth of our faith.
Our Pastor has made me appreciate the impact that just one Holy Priest can have! I am excited about the Year of the Priest and pray that all priests may have the Eucharist at the center of their lives and will truly live and teach the fullness of our faith. If they do, I believe that this world will drasically change for the better.
Since we have joined this parish, one of my sons (only age 8)feels he is called to the priesthood and the other (age 13) feels he is called to study Scripture and Theology.
The rich blessings wehave recieved since joining this parish are beyond what I ever imagined.
God bless,
Dana
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CatholicMommy
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SimplyMom wrote:
One dear of friend of mine, an 80 year old woman who had grown up in a particular parish here in Portland really disliked her new priest. I mean REALLY disliked the man - with good reason in my opinion, but they just clashed beyond belief. Her take was that her parish was home, he was passing through and she would still be there. She was definitely one of those stubborn old birds. She told me that she came to mass for Jesus and "that man" just happens to be the conduit through which God acts.
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This is exactly the opinion of many of the remaining parishioners at the two parishes where I have been working. These folks have been through umpteen priests in their lives, seen it all, and despite all that he does, these parishes belong to THEM, not HIM.
Many others have left for other parishes to wait him out - I don't think anyone has intentionally left permanently.
I personally can attend Mass at these two parishes very very rarely, despite the fact that I used to work there (until last week), preferring to attend the Traditional Latin Mass 25 minutes away - which is made more interesting by the fact that the priest mentioned above loves the TLM and will do it on request for weddings and such. It's just his PEOPLE SKILLS that need work.
I think my point is that sometimes, the reasons we go elsewhere are not always directly related to the orthodoxy of the priest - as someone else said, the culture of the parish can also be heavily influenced by the other people who take care of the other details (so long as the priest doesn't fire them and replace them with people who match his ideology.... which is why I'm not working there anymore).
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Becky Le
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We are lucky to have many parishes to choose from within 15 minutes of our home, at least 5, maybe more. We attend a Franciscan church that is not part of our diocese. If I went strictly on how conservative the parish was we would go to a different parish and many times I have considered making the switch but something inside of me tells me that this is where we are meant to be. Occasionally I have to bite my lip and cringe through the "your buddy Jesus" homilies and I admit to being a little jealous that the more conservative parish has far more homeschooling families that faithfully follow the catechism, but in my heart I just know our parish is home. I think it's because it's Franciscan and St. Francis does seem to rather follow me around through life in weird sorts of ways.
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SusanMc
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Personally I've always felt that my local parish should have "right of first refusal" to put it into legal terms. Basically, I feel that if I don't have a very good reason not to go to my local church, it should be my home. Good reasons for me would be some of those mentioned above...particularly seeing one's faith diminish due to theological abuses or apathy. For my husband, the line is rock music. He is a convert and rock music masses are just too distracting for him to feel prayerful--too many years of megachurch services he says. If there is a drum kit set up I know he probably won't like it. 
Right now I actually live in the predominantly wealthy and popular parish in my diocese and it feels a little odd after all those years of being in remote missions or less affluent parishes.
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Topic: Parish questions
