... is that often times they are more "welcoming" and "friendly." I don't mean the religion, I mean the people. This isn't to say ALL churches either, it is a general statement.
For example, if you go to a BIG Catholic church you probably won't ever be NOTICED as a new member just by attendance. Even if you go to a small one, you "must be a visitor."
For example, we have lived in our new city since August. Of the 12 Sundays which the same Masses are celebrated, we have attended the Mass we now go to (the 9am) at least 6-8 of those times. The parish has about 200 members. We are just starting to get the "are you new?" Even after introducing ourselves to many people. We also can't seem to find the 2 young adult groups or any of the other groups that allegedly exist!
If we were new members of some of the protestant churches that I am familiar with, we would already be on 4 committees, be leading a thursday night small group, and be in charge of children's activities at the quarterly family night.
Again, this isn't true ACROSS the board... but more of a GENERALIZED observation. Why can't smaller Catholic churches foster better "parish life" situations? C'mon Catholics!
Side Note: This isn't to say that some parishes don't have lots of great opportunities. I believe even ours does... somewhere. Unfortunately, it is often just difficult to find. Plus, if something does technically "exist" but is either dormant or seldom used... it is near IMPOSSIBLE to start it up, jumpstart it, or reformat the group.
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