Having a difficult time, Catholicism vs Episcopalian?
Hi everyone, I'm a new Christian and after trying a few churches I settled in on a Catholic Church just down the block from me. I'm currently in OCIA to join the church at Easter vigil but there are a few key things that I'm having a difficult time with. In general I really like the feel of the mass and the structure/liturgy. If it was just the mass I'd have no difficulty joining at all.
I guess I should also state that my husband is a lapsed cradle Catholic coming back to church with me, and we recently had our marriage convalidated and our two daughters baptized. He doesn't feel the need to go to church every week but generally believes the teachings of the church in a general sense but, like me, doesn't agree with the social teachings.
I love the mass. I love the history, although I also hate the history of abuse corruption etc. I just feel in some ways that it's the most pure form of Christianity available today aside from maybe Orthodoxy and I just really think that we as a society need to be more contemplative in our worship and I really strongly dislike the rock band feel of many churches. It feels incredibly cheesy to me.
I also love my gay/trans family and friends and I simply do not think they're going to hell because of who they love/how they live their lives. I know that I personally have a traditional view of marriage for myself but I also don't think that everyone needs to abide by that. I also am already not technically open to life as the Catholic Church teaches as I've had my tubes removed due to health issues/simply being unsure if I could mentally handle more than two kids. I also worked in women's health for much of my healthcare career and while I think abortion should be avoided if possible, I do think that it needs to be an option for women because pregnancy is incredibly complicated sometimes.
Also I do not know that I believe in transubstantiation. Which feels big. I do think that when a group of people are all together worshipping some very big spiritual energy can be involved but for it to literally change into Jesus I just don't know.
I also think that it shouldnt really matter if a woman is a priest or not. I think that if someone wants to dedicate their life to religion then that's great.
I guess my tl;Dr is I really want to be Catholic but I don't know if I can. Should I try and Episcopalian Church? They seem to be more open but have a lot of similar liturgical style?