CALLING ALL DISGRUNTLED CATHOLICS: Father Jim Tucker wants YOU! Here’s his post, in its entirety.

In October, our parish will launch a new program designed to reach out to non-practicing, English-speaking Catholics in our area. I’ll be the clerical point-man and am working with our youth director (himself a convert from Anglicanism), who is the mastermind behind it all.

The structure of the program is fairly well set: it will feel very un-churchy to Catholics and is centered around what Protestants call “the message,” with a bit of music, some visual aids, and non-intrusive praying for the course of an hour each week — sort of a contemporary evangelical sort of thing. We’ll start putting our support team together soon, as well as letting out word of what we’re doing. The youth director also has a year-long plan of what each cycle of weeks should focus on, so the content matter seems fairly well thought-out, too.

Knowing that I have many non-Catholic and non-practicing readers, I thought I’d pose this question here: What have you experienced to be the things that keep disaffected Catholics from practicing their faith? What keeps them away from the Church’s doors? Realizing that different people turn away for different reasons, what are the things that I should be addressing?

Say what you feel. Don’t be nasty, but say whatever comes to your gut/mind.

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You can email him at DonJimUSA &at;& yahoo.it.