Moving from Catholic Church to Church of England - anyone done it ?

[PinkfluffySlippers63]

An open question - has anyone here decided to switch from the Catholic Church to the Anglican Church ? I go to a very nice RC church but I'm feeling for a whole variety of reasons that maybe I should move to the C of E. (For example I feel increasingly irritated that women have such a limited role within the RC church.) If anyone here has made the switch - what type of C of E church did you move to - Evangelical, High Church ..... (How many types are there ?!_) and what were there any problems that you found in switching.

I went t'other way. DP and family still go to CofE church though. They're in a vaguely charismatic evangelical parish group of churches. There are a number of other types round here, though - some fairly middle of the road Anglican, places where 'civic' events take place. I have been to high churches in the CofE, where everything looks very similar to a Mass except for the female vicar presiding!

There really are lots of different expressions of church in Anglicanism as a whole. I can't really see any obvious issues that would be problems as such - you'd be going from a Church with a relatively strict set of official boundaries to a Church that defined the phrase "Broad church". Not nearly as difficult as going the other way!

Floral thanks for your reply. I like your Broad Church comment ! I came back to the RC church two years ago - but suddenly the issue of women priests is really bothering me. It's not as if it wasn't an issue a couple of years ago! When you moved was it difficult leaving behind friendships... or wasn't that an issue? (Hope you don't mind me asking..)

No, I don't mind at all. I have lost some friends - the type that think I am now a heretic and likely damned for all eternity, but there's nothing much anyone can do to stay on the right side of people like that forever!!
I guess moving to a new church can mean that some relationships drift, purely because you're not seeing those people as often through a shared set gathering, so you have to make an effort to stay in touch.

It was a big challenge for me at first, as Catholic churches aren't geared up to welcome newcomers the way other churches often are, and it did take me a while to work out how to build new relationships (for those wondering, you just accept that it won't happen at Mass and join in a group, like a volunteer or prayer or study group!)

That's unlikely to be a problem for you, tbh, though I'd always recommend getting involved with things the church is doing, but you are much more likely to make connections at an actual service.

I went Catholic (loosely) to Anglican and I was thoroughly welcomed. I've been confirmed and everything - though there was no pressure (Catholics are welcome to take communion). We have a female vicar. It's a nice church (no idea where it fits on the High Church scale) & the people are lovely.

We do both. We are practicing Catholic by heritage but attend Anglican because it’s the central focus of our village and we want to be part of that community. You can, be both according to Canon Law.

Our daughter is marrying next year and both of them feel more comfortable with the rector than her local priest, so will marry in the CofE church. It’s prettier too.

Thank you all for your very interesting comments.
Floral -That's appalling that some people thought you were a heretic !
I agree with what you say about getting involved in your church in order to meet people. The trouble is I've done just that and I'm now involved in a few groups and I'll feel rather embarrassed to leave them (including the parish council). I wonder how to do this...... Suggestions ??

Well, I'd make a decision about where you want to go first, then begin to withdraw from the official stuff like parish council. Withdrawing from other things would be a discretionary thing, I would have thought. Obviously, if you're not a member, then being in leadership is inappropriate really, but if you're involved with prayer groups or volunteering, I wouldn't have thought you'd have to stop that. Depends how you feel about it. You don't have to leave under a cloud. Things change. That's life

Top advice Floral ! Thank you - you're right I don't want to leave under a cloud.

Actually a few projects I'm involved with at church will be ending in the next few months so I can quietly step down with no fuss.

If you don’t have anything specific in mind it might be worth trying out the ones that are near you. Even ones that are supposedly similar in worship style can be very different depending on the priest and congregation.

Like floral I went the other way, and I agree you shouldn’t have too much difficulty in switching.

Rafals - thank you. It might be quite fun "shopping around' !

I did it for a while and ended up going to all sorts of places. A couple of things I found:

• some congregations are much more welcoming and friendly than others
• some are much more ‘vibrant’ than others. A C of E church with 5 regulars that keep themselves to themselves isn’t likely to suit most people.
• some will preach stuff you completely disagree with. Not really worth going to those more than once.

We moved from one CofE to another and DH was on the PCC at the first one, he went to a few evening services in the next couple of months to show his face and then stood down at the next election point.

I have. I also had my dd christened in COE church mainly because dh was COE and it was much much easier process than the Catholic Church. It far less rigid and much more easy going. The only thing I notice is hardly any children at all whereas our Catholic Church has so many there was a massive Sunday school which is a bit of a shame as a lot of elderly people who are all wonderful but I wonder about the future of the congregation. We met with the vicar before we joined and he welcomed use

Thank you all. Rafals and Froggy - you're right about the congregation size. Our Catholic church has easily about 500 attending the three masses on a Sunday of all ages- and we have just one priest!

I am also someone that joined the Catholic church although I wasn't an Anglican. The C of E didn't appeal to me.

Our Catholic church is new, built in 2011 and is a new parish. We have four masses on Sunday which are also full and lots of children, teens and young adults.

DH moves from RC to COfE. He loves it and is totally involved.

He gets very frustrated when he goes back home for visits and funerals. The RCC is so out of touch.