It is the absolute worst. In this area - Detroit - everyone relies on the Catholic school their children attend to be the community. So if your child doesn't go to Catholic school, or if you don't have children, forming community is nearly impossible.
We had several good things going, pre-Covid: a pot luck family game night with a rosary beforehand, lots of small groups, etc. Covid just ruined everything and now...it just hasn't come back. People just don't come to things anymore and those of us who were running things got burned out trying to deal with the policies and politics of masks/distancing/etc.
To be honest, I'm tired. I'm tired of trying to make things happen and hitting repeated red tape. I feel so much for the new moms: women who are having their first or second babies. The community just isn't there for them. Until their children are old enough to go to school, they're basically rudderless.
And then people wonder why there's a vocation crisis, declining admissions for Catholic schools, budget shortfalls, etc. It's because people are having smaller families to some degree because there isn't a community to help. I'd like to think this is a problem with American Catholicism, and that other places it's better, but if someone could come over here and give the U.S. a lesson in community building, that'd be great.
I moved to CT from MO 10 years ago and am still adjusting to the cultural differences. Catholic grade school is free in my home diocese! Our current church has monthly potlucks and several homeschooling families but they live across a broad geographical range so that small local parish community can still feel lacking. I've always felt that the Catholic church is more 'what can you do for the Church' whereas protestant faiths are more 'what can the church do for you'. I see pitfalls to both approaches, but the Catholic approach has largely left a feeling of loneliness over the years.
It is the absolute worst. In this area - Detroit - everyone relies on the Catholic school their children attend to be the community. So if your child doesn't go to Catholic school, or if you don't have children, forming community is nearly impossible.
We had several good things going, pre-Covid: a pot luck family game night with a rosary beforehand, lots of small groups, etc. Covid just ruined everything and now...it just hasn't come back. People just don't come to things anymore and those of us who were running things got burned out trying to deal with the policies and politics of masks/distancing/etc.
To be honest, I'm tired. I'm tired of trying to make things happen and hitting repeated red tape. I feel so much for the new moms: women who are having their first or second babies. The community just isn't there for them. Until their children are old enough to go to school, they're basically rudderless.
And then people wonder why there's a vocation crisis, declining admissions for Catholic schools, budget shortfalls, etc. It's because people are having smaller families to some degree because there isn't a community to help. I'd like to think this is a problem with American Catholicism, and that other places it's better, but if someone could come over here and give the U.S. a lesson in community building, that'd be great.
I moved to CT from MO 10 years ago and am still adjusting to the cultural differences. Catholic grade school is free in my home diocese! Our current church has monthly potlucks and several homeschooling families but they live across a broad geographical range so that small local parish community can still feel lacking. I've always felt that the Catholic church is more 'what can you do for the Church' whereas protestant faiths are more 'what can the church do for you'. I see pitfalls to both approaches, but the Catholic approach has largely left a feeling of loneliness over the years.