- Dec 20, 2009
- 30,270
- 8,545
- Country
- Canada
- Faith
- Christian Seeker
- Marital Status
- Married
You're preaching to the choir. However, the way this people hears is through digital media.
A friendly observation.
Upvote
0
-
Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.
Study: 9 in 10 cradle Catholics leaving the Church; experts urge stronger faith community
- Thread starter Michie
- Start date
A friendly observation.
- Feb 10, 2013
- 35,639
- 20,570
- 29
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Male
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Celibate
- Politics
- US-Republican
Upvote
0
FaithT
Well-Known Member
- Dec 1, 2019
- 4,447
- 2,038
- 64
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Female
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
I’m not sure how often my church has coffee and donuts but I don’t think it’s even once a month. I go Mass on Saturday. I miss the fellowship we had at the LCMS.
When I first joined my parish we had more going on than we currently do. We had a thing called the Midlife Social Connection. We had more opportunities to volunteer. We had a nice ladies tea near Christmas time and other activities.
I miss all that, too.
Upvote
0
Learning always
Active Member
- Nov 25, 2024
- 244
- 96
- Country
- Australia
- Gender
- Male
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Private
That happens only in USA, perhaps because of the bad influences of Hollywood and music industry, especially California.
Also the decline might not apply to all American states equally.
(I wonder how the researchers picked their samples, from all states or not. And how many people did they survey.)
Also the decline might not apply to all American states equally.
(I wonder how the researchers picked their samples, from all states or not. And how many people did they survey.)
Last edited:
Upvote
0
Akita Suggagaki
Well-Known Member
- Jul 20, 2018
- 10,242
- 7,333
- 70
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Male
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Others
Unfortunately even at once a month our s not well attended. Maybe 1,00 at mass and about 15 come for coffee. So we are pretty good at worship together but not so good at reaching out to each other. Unless kids are involved. Our school is a big deal with plenty of activities for community building if on e has kids or grandkids.
Upvote
0
I think a big problem is that too many Evangelicals (I don't even know if there's an exception) are aggressive in their evangelization strategies by using constant buzz words or buzz phrases to cause Catholics to question whether they have a true "personal relationship" with Jesus, and Catholics can fall for it. I'm not sure how this can be stopped. If I had enough time, I could think of a list of these words or phrases (to be honest, I think I did write a thread about the buzz phrases that they use). To top it off, they use emotions to preach these words/phrases, and that's how they get you.
Upvote
0
FaithT
Well-Known Member
- Dec 1, 2019
- 4,447
- 2,038
- 64
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Female
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
When our daughter was in 7th or 8th grade she went with a couple friends to a Baptist church for a service and they had a gym where the kids could go afterward to play games and I think have snacks. They made it really appealing for the kids so that they’d want to hang out there and become Baptists. She wasn’t Catholic at the time, my husband wasn’t (and isn’t) Catholic, and I was away from the Church. From that night on the people from that church kept coming to our house trying to get her to join their church. Then they decided on a date for her to be baptised there. I called and said that shes a minor and doesn’t have my permission to be baptised. I thought that was the end of it but it wasn’t. They came to our house again….always at night, and wanted to speak with her about her baptism. I forget now how we got them to leave her alone but I think my husband had a talking to them. They were so pushy.
Upvote
0
- Feb 10, 2013
- 35,639
- 20,570
- 29
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Male
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Celibate
- Politics
- US-Republican
Upvote
0
FaithT
Well-Known Member
- Dec 1, 2019
- 4,447
- 2,038
- 64
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Female
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
They did have a good idea……a safe, fun place for kids to be kids and learn about Jesus but they were just so pushy. It would be nice if there were more activities for kids at my parish. They’ve got sports and some group for teens (youth group?) but it doesn’t look like there are many kids in the youth group. If you’re into organized sports there’s a lot for kids to do. But fellowship just isn’t as big in my Catholic parish for tweens and teens either.
Upvote
0
johnnypapa
Active Member
Hard to trust any polling after the recent election though lol...
Then we have data that says the opposite. I got this off twitter and it was difficult to find the source.
Then we have data that says the opposite. I got this off twitter and it was difficult to find the source.
Upvote
0
FaithT
Well-Known Member
- Dec 1, 2019
- 4,447
- 2,038
- 64
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Female
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
When I was a kid my then - parish had a thing called “Country Sunday”. It had a turkey shoot, hayrides, booths where my friend and I used to buy turquoise rings hand made by our neighbor, crafts to buy. I think it had a haunted house (Country Sunday was in November just after Halloween, I believe). It was a lot of fun. I miss activities like that. My current parish used to have a Homecoming with bingo, pie eating contests and fun activities for kids and adults but after my second or third year there that ended, too. We still have an annual parish picnic in the Spring with a pretty good fireworks display but that and organized sports are the only family activities I can think of that can be enjoyed by all. And besides the fireworks, I’m not into picnics. There might be more that I’m not thinking of now, but compared to Protestant churches, we pale in comparison.
Upvote
0
Valletta
Well-Known Member
- Oct 10, 2020
- 12,413
- 5,898
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Male
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Married
"These declines are due to “weaker social connections among Catholics, the ‘values gap’ between Catholic morality and mainstream American morality, and the internet and smartphones,” Rota told “EWTN News Nightly” in an Aug. 13 interview."A recent study has found an increase in the number of Americans Catholics leaving the Church. To combat the issue, the study’s authors suggest creating stronger community ties among Catholics, especially among children.
Michael Rota, philosophy professor at the University of St. Thomas, and Stephen Bullivant, theology and sociology professor at St. Mary’s University, conducted the study examining the decline in religious practice among Catholic-born Americans using data from the General Social Survey (GSS).
The GSS has asked a large representative sample of Americans a number of questions about religion for the past 50 years, which Rota and Bullivant analyzed to write “Religious Transmission: A Solution to the Church’s Biggest Problem,” published by Notre Dame’s Church Life Journal.
The data revealed that in 1973, 84% of the participants raised Catholic still identified as Catholic when surveyed as adults, but in 2002 it was 74%. By 2022, it had dropped to 62%.
Continued below.
Study: 9 in 10 cradle Catholics are leaving the Church
A recent study has found an increase in the number of Americans Catholics leaving the Church. To combat the issue, the study’s authors suggest creating stronger community.www.catholicnewsagency.com
Cause and effect can be difficult to determine. I don't believe this conclusion should be drawn from the study. First, I think it is much more important to look at practicing Catholics than those who "identify" as Catholics. Because the goal is to have as many practicing Catholics as possible, as many following God's Word as possible. I have listened to many who lived through the sexual/cultural revolution opine on that being the largest event for the beginning of the decline of practicing Catholics. I agree. What was lost was a sense of holiness, we didn't know what we had. As I recall one Protestant remarked, if he believed what the Catholic Church teaches, that Jesus is truly present in the Holy Eucharist, he would be at mass every day. So the faith needs to be taught and emphasized, and a prayer life needs to be emphasized. People need to know that a prayer life beyond mass is essential, without it many many have fallen away, As to converts and bringing cultural Catholics back to the faith of course they need to be connected with. A lot of converts come from being married to a Catholic, that's how they are exposed to the faith. Fellowship is a good thing and I encourage it and it will strengthen us and give us a sense of community.
Upvote
0
Similar threads
