Catholics who now attend Anglican, please help

[JASMAK]

Hi there
I have just noticed this forum on BnB and so hopefully someone can give me some help, hopefully someone who has done the same as me??? I can't attend the Catholic church because the religious education for my kids is on Wednesday nights, a night we just absolutely cannot give up right now...so we are attending an Anglican church, which seems pretty similar, but different too. I mean, we say sort of the same things...but in the Catholic church we usually sing them. We say the Apostles creed. We don't sign the cross for some reason...which is awkward as that is what I am used to. What are the differences please? And why don't we sign the cross? Can someone please explain as I am feeling a little 'homesick' but want to be able to go somewhere I feel like I am a bit comfortable, and I tried another church a few weeks ago, and without offending (won't say what kind) it was a little weird...so we are not going back.

 

[FaithMommy]

Hi there
I have just noticed this forum on BnB and so hopefully someone can give me some help, hopefully someone who has done the same as me??? I can't attend the Catholic church because the religious education for my kids is on Wednesday nights, a night we just absolutely cannot give up right now...so we are attending an Anglican church, which seems pretty similar, but different too. I mean, we say sort of the same things...but in the Catholic church we usually sing them. We say the Apostles creed. We don't sign the cross for some reason...which is awkward as that is what I am used to. What are the differences please? And why don't we sign the cross? Can someone please explain as I am feeling a little 'homesick' but want to be able to go somewhere I feel like I am a bit comfortable, and I tried another church a few weeks ago, and without offending (won't say what kind) it was a little weird...so we are not going back.

Hi! I grew up Catholic and now attend an Episcopal Church. I made the switch to accommodate my new family. My husband grew up going to service at various Christion denominations. I wasn't comfortable throwing caution to the wind and completely letting go of my Catholic beliefs and he wasn't willing to go through the courses to become Catholic. We settled on Epicopalian b/c it's in the middle. If you talk to the people in attendance you will probably find a lot of former Catholics. I still make the sign of the cross, etc and no one minds. I am actually very happy with my decision. The service is very close to a Catholic service, but they have more "relaxed" beliefs.

 

[supertabby]

I think it depends on the church, we go to Church of England which is Anglican but there are some differences between CofE and other Anglican churches. My husband was raised Catholic (I wasn't raised with religion at all but am now exploring). The key differences my husband has noticed is communion is considered to be actually Christ's body and blood in Catholic church but in CofE is a symbol of His body and blood. Also sign of cross and hail Mary are not done in CofE. Our vicar says CofE is still sort of part of Catholic church (and we say exactly that in the creed) but I don't really understand it properly. I would ask your vicar to explain, I'm sure they'd be happy to discuss it

 

[dannyfry]

Hi there
I have just noticed this forum on BnB and so hopefully someone can give me some help, hopefully someone who has done the same as me??? I can't attend the Catholic church because the religious education for my kids is on Wednesday nights, a night we just absolutely cannot give up right now...so we are attending an Anglican church, which seems pretty similar, but different too. I mean, we say sort of the same things...but in the Catholic church we usually sing them. We say the Apostles creed. We don't sign the cross for some reason...which is awkward as that is what I am used to. What are the differences please? And why don't we sign the cross? Can someone please explain as I am feeling a little 'homesick' but want to be able to go somewhere I feel like I am a bit comfortable, and I tried another church a few weeks ago, and without offending (won't say what kind) it was a little weird...so we are not going back.

Do you mean Mass?

 

[solitaire89]

At the end of the day, Catholics are Christian, just as Anglicans, Baptists and Methodists are all Christian. There are slight differences in belief between them all - as someone has already mentioned, the Catholic church believes in transubstantiation. This is when, during the Mass, the symbolic bread and wine are transformed literally into the body and blood of Jesus Christ (the Host), whilst the Anglican church believe that the bread and wine are blessed and, whilst still important, are not the physical body and blood of Christ. Another difference is the differing "status", for want of a better word, of Mary, the Mother of Jesus - Catholics believe in the Immaculate Conception. This is not that fact that she conceived as a virgin as people tend to think, but something deeper, in that when she conceived she was delivered of original sin. They believe that she can intercede for us (mediate between us and God), which is part of the reason why the Catholics will use the Hail Mary, whilst this doesn't tend to appear in the Anglican service. Having said that, I feel you'd be hard pushed to find 2 Christians of the same denomination who believe exactly the same thing - Christianity is first and foremost about being in a relationship with God, not about if you think the exactly the same as the chap in the pew behind you.
On a more "superficial" level, there are differences between the worship styles of the different denominations, though there can also be huge differences between worship styles of the same denominations. "High Church" C of E Communion (Anglican name for Mass) services can be very similar to the traditional Catholic Mass - complete with bells and smells as it's affectionately known; whilst in areas of, say, a high student population a C of E Communion service may include a rock band or sections of spontaneous prayer/singing, whilst the bread and wine is a baguette from the canteen/a hot cross bun (as we've had before) and a carton of Ribena. Having said that it they are superficial differences, I also accept that there is huge weight on worship style. It is very difficult to surrender oneself to God during worship if you're spending the whole service wondering where the next electric guitar is coming from, or if you're choking on the clouds of incense that are emanating from the guy in the dress wondering around. You catch my drift, I'm sure!
I believe (though I know that there are others who will not agree, and I don't mean to offend) that there is far too much focus on differences though - we are all the body of Christ and are called to work together to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to a needy world. Pray about your need to find a Church - you may be surprised what answers you get

ETA: Just seen that this is an old post revived - never mind! Hopefully somebody will find this useful