Can you belong to two catholic parishes

Rare though it is, there are parishes that know us by name via email or phone but not by face, and so we have the opportunity to be anonymous in the pew. The chance to simply be Nicole, a child of God, nameless to those around me by design and worshipping with my husband for an hour on Sunday can be so life-giving when working for the church is not only your day job but also a huge part of your home life.

As we attend different parishes, it is not to denigrate the critical nature of becoming part of a parish community. We respect and honor the tradition of a home parish in our faith. Indeed, John and I spend inordinate amounts of time in our respective ministries accompanying people as they seek communities of faith that will welcome and nourish them.

We are advocates for and cheerleaders of the parishes we serve. Over time in our marriage, we will put down roots and do our diligence to find a community that feeds us, in which we will engage wholeheartedly.

I know John is already yearning for a place where he can serve as a eucharistic minister, as he did in his childhood parish. I would argue that our current methodology of parish-hopping does not detract from the necessity of the home parish in our Catholic identity.

Taking the time to find a parish that feeds our souls nurtures seeds of greater participation and engagement. For me, I know that I am significantly more likely to participate in the life of a Christian community if I feel fed. The notion of tolerating a grouchy pastor, a dull homilist, or a depressing musical environment is one that contributes to the spiritual malaise found in many parishes.

Historically in the United States, the church relied on people who lived in a specific territory to worship at their local parish, no matter how inhospitable the experience might be. Although it was not the intent, it led to an attitude that there is no need to improve the worship experience, the hospitality, or the preaching, because parishes could reasonably count on a steady stream of participation.

In turn, this led to a culture wherein both the pastor and the faithful took each other for granted.

Perhaps if Catholics had been more amenable to the fact that people will parish-hop until they find a place where they are fed, parishes might have been more likely to critically examine why people might leave or avoid a parish and endeavor to improve accordingly.

So, on any given Sunday, my husband and I might visit Fathers David and Rob at Saint Aloysius because we love witnessing our friends in the fullness of their Christian vocations. The next week we might pop in to Most Holy Trinity due to proximity and ease. Some weekends might find us in a diocese in another state, visiting family. If a person is baptized elsewhere, it will not affect the validity of the baptism, but the same cannot be said for the celebration of a marriage.

If they do not, and do not obtain permission in advance to marry elsewhere, the marriage is actually illicit! Whether that person is registered at a completely different parish, or is not registered anywhere at all, is canonically irrelevant.

In general, pastors are well aware of this. To cite a very common example, the average pastor knows that if a Catholic parishioner wishes to marry in his parish, but actually lives in the territory of a different parish, permission must first be obtained from the pastor of the territorial parish for the wedding to take place elsewhere. Frequently this permission is sought and obtained by the pastor himself, without the spouses ever even being aware of it.

Note that the the fact that parishes are by definition territorial does not mean that it is illegal or otherwise wrong to ask people to register in their parishes. It can be tremendously helpful for a pastor to know the demographics of his parish members, for a variety of reasons.

Rather, one might say that the U. The fact that a person has or has not registered in a particular parish can never be used in a way that would directly violate canon law. If the two systems were conceivably to contradict each other, canon law would unquestionably have precedence. Does Maggie have to attend the parish in which she resides?

On a regular basis, when it comes to weekly Mass attendance and routine reception of the sacraments, we are not obliged to attend any one church in particular. Canon asserts that on Sundays and holydays, the faithful are obliged to participate in the Mass, but does not specify that we must attend Mass in any specific place. Similarly, we may receive the sacrament of confession from any priest who is lawfuly able to administer it c.

Therefore, there is no legal reason why one cannot routinely attend Mass and receive the sacraments at a parish church other than the one to which we technically belong—although this is hardly an ideal situation. And when it comes to marriage, as discussed above, the law is even more serious, for the liceity of a marriage depends in part on whether it is celebrated in the parish of one of the spouses.

But there is nothing inherently heterodox or illegal about guitar Masses, however distasteful and distracting one may find them. It is important to distinguish between preaching that is actually contrary to church teaching, and that which simply does not accord with our own ideas. The first should be objectionable to every Catholic; the second should not. On the flipside of this, there have been a few somewhat public instances in the last couple of decades, when pastors tried legally to eject certain persons from their parishes because they caused repeated disruptions.

Muslim and Buddhist? Or any other combination? I am a bi-vocational pastor at a small, rural SBC church in northwest Texas. A few weeks ago, I accepted the bi-vocational pastorate at a second small SBC church here in our community.

So, I am currently the pastor of 2 distinct and autonomous SBC churches. I am already a member of the first church, but feel as though I need to formally join the second church as well. Do you agree and do you know how I would go about doing so? Featured Resources. Join the Message Board for Ministry Get 4 months free for a limited time! Learn More. Tools for Your Church. On-Demand Video Course.

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