[ceejay]

Originally Posted by Annabelle

I can't imagine any Priest having the clout to do what the Priest in your church did. In every Catholic Church that I have belonged the children have always been a priority and I have never met a Priest that would do anything to discourage socialization within the various youth groups.
Where was the church council during all of this? One harmless "kiss" and that put an end to all youth activities? Must have been a very small and inactive church to allow this to happen.
If I were that unhappy with the Priest, I would have just changed churches.... not religions.

Annabelle

Unfortunately, he did have the clout. We met with the Pastor and he insisted that since Fr. Joe was our new moderator and he didn't want to make any waves, we had to follow his rules. Fr. Joe wanted the kids to do more spiritual and meaningful activities. We spent an Easter at a housing project. We collected chocolates and candy from the Parish, we had supplies for coloring dozens of eggs, we bought at least a hundred baskets and filled them for the kids. Not long after we arrived, the candy and eggs were thrown all over the place and the day was a total wipeout. We also had to explain to our kids why the project kids had nicer sneakers and coats than they did (my boys included...they wore Kmart sneakers). Fr. Joe's answer was that these "poor" kids had no fathers so the mother's tended to spoil them. The kids did not buy that explanation.
As far as changing parishes, that was not going to happen. I was married in that church, my children were baptized and confirmed there, my sons were married there and my husband was buried from there. This was MY church and I was not going anywhere else.
I guess my point is, my church had the opportunity to evolve and it was taken away by an overzealous assistant priest because no one wanted to stand in his way and make any waves.
Since I believe in one God and the fact that we are all brothers and sisters, I really don't feel like I've changed religions. I've just changed the way that I worship and Fairway Christian Church is where I do it.