The idea for this blog is inspired by my frustrations in reading the book Sundays in America: A Yearlong Road Trip in Search of Christian Faith, by Suzanne Strempek Shea. Shea is a "cradle Catholic" who finds herself a bit disillusioned in the aftermath of the clergy sex abuse scandals, and also wondering if what the nuns taught her decades ago is really true. Are Protestants going to hell? Will the ceiling cave in if I darken the door of a non-Catholic church?
Thus begins her quest to visit 52 non- Roman Catholic churches and Christian communities, ranging from a Quaker meeting to a mega non-denominational church, to a Greek Orthodox service, to numerous small and medium town churches of various denominations. It's an interesting journey for what it is - the chance to meet people you wouldn't ordinarily meet and see how "others" worship God. For people who've never had the courage to visit other peoples' churches, or for people who simply don't have the opportunity, this is a fun book to read - though please be aware that it will not give you a "full" account of any particular church.
But the book was frustrating for me on several levels. One reason is that I grew up United Methodist and went to two different Protestant seminaries, and I didn't often appreciate her snap judgements of people she'd met once, worship practices she didn't really take the time to understand (because she visited each church only once), her sense that for worship to be real it must be conducted in the way she herself finds most appealing. There are several inaccuracies in the book, too, signs that Shea didn't always do thorough research on the denominations she visited. For example, John Calvin is NOT from "Olde England"; for another, Pentecostals are not the largest Christian group in the world, though it is probably one of the fastest growing.
But also, I am a Catholic convert, and so I claim some ties to the faith she's left behind. Shea often recalls as boring, repetitive, with bad sermons, and little if any variety, and never forgetting the dose of "You're going to Hell" statements - in marked contrast to the non-Catholic churches she most likes that have warm, welcoming sermons, fabulous hospitality, and a great sense of diversity. But her descriptions of Catholicism are limited by time and place - Shea is particularly limited by her pre-Vatican II memories of the church, which leave me wondering if she's ever tried to encounter Catholicism at a level beyond sixth grade catechesis. Shea's complaints about churches are ones that I commonly hear as a theologian, but I think sometimes people leave behind the faith of their childhood without ever really encountering it as an adult and that's my worry here.
So in this blog I'm trying to give a better (broader, deeper, maybe even more true) account of Catholicism as encountered in the Mass - as celebrated in so many ways, it's dizzying, even though these churches follow canon law and the General Instructions on the Roman Missal.
But this IS the good, the bad and the ugly. I'm not aiming to sugar coat things - but I am aiming to say, "Hey, Catholics in America might be FAR more different than many people imagine." This is NOT often the church of your grandmother (or of your grandmother's wildest dreams, if she was a Protestant who thought Catholics were going to Hell too).
This is partly my own record of road trips I've taken to various Catholic churches. Many of these posts will record memories of masses I've been to, because I can't take the time to visit one mass a week like Shea visited a different church for 52 weeks.
My hope is that others will add their own records of masses in the comments. And eventually, I'd like to add other regular contributors who will tell their stories too.
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