[ellenmelon]

How do you experience fellowship at your church? Because my dds have so many friends at school that are Catholic, I feel a little bit less lost because their friends and their parents I see at mass.

Is it small enough that you can experience this? No, our church is huge. We left the other parish and joined this one because it is where my dh grew up. Since having cancer, I get the worst claustrophobia feelings during church services. It wasn't until just last week that I could sit in the main area and not be nervous and unsettled. I always stood in the back before. That is when I noticed little pockets of people so the huge crowd became a little less terrifying.

If you missed a service, who would call you? Or would it even be noticed if you were not there? Well, my mom and my mil are always asking what mass we went to, it is their way of making sure we go! No one would notice but God and our hearts that we didn't go.

Do you attend a Sunday School or bible study? Because of the claustrophobia, for five years we did not go to church. I realized I needed to do something for fellowship so I joined a small Bible Study at the church, with everyone being 20-30 years older than me! Housewives are a rare breed up here. It has been a rewarding and steadying influence in my life, all that wisdom and humor! And when I didn't resume going after Christmas holidays, I got a call from the leader and she was real chatty and just wanted to be sure everything was all right because they hadn't heard from me in a while. Knowing I was wanted helped me return.

Do you have someone at church you could call if you needed to talk or just go out for a cup of coffee? I noticed about three years ago that I had no Christian or Catholic close friends outside of family. I targeted five people and determined to cultivate relationships with them as I knew them to be Christian or Catholic and so began to ask them to do things with me (outside of church). Three of them have become closer friends. One was a dud, our paths just didn't work out together but not out of anything bad but scheduling and one is still on hold. Recently I went through a bad time and I was able to call the one gf and ask her to go to the chapel with me and pray, I even wept on her shoulder and I have never done that with anyone. It was very nice. I hope this doesn't sound cold but I had to do something and being a housewife I didn't have many networks!

Do you feel blessed by the friendship/fellowship at your church or is it lacking? Yes, I do. When I go to church the readings, prayers, and sacraments and communion affirm what I know in my heart to be true and what the world around me and on tv does not acknowledge or practice. When I see a lot of people at mass it is very encouraging that there are so many trying to be faithful and good. Maybe I am just so hungry and now have the time to hear the mass because my dds are older and not so squiggly that I get so much more out of it.

History: I shopped for churches. I was raised Roman Catholic, attended Young Life in high school, joined non denominational groups in college, in grad school one of the groups became an unhealthy sect and before disbanding did a lot of harm to many people. I got out before I was seriously damaged but then spent 10 years living a prodigal son's life before being prodigal. This life gets very tiresome very quickly and I determined to go back to church.

I shopped around the local community, each week attending a different service, protestant or quaker or whatever. At one of the churches I spoke after service with a woman, they had a welcoming thing going, and we talked. I mentioned about being Catholic and she said it sounded like that should be a choice too (duh!). Meanwhile I met my dh and he also said he wanted to go to Catholic Church, raised that way too. So we go to Catholic Church and it is nice. Not perfect, but still a blessing.

I hope this helps you train, I don't think size matters but who you establish contacts with. And until you do find a home, you still have a home here at FC, this website has been a true blessing for me, too.