Help me understand my mis/preconceptions on Baptist Church
This is a sort of companion post to one I made in r/catholicism a few days ago. I have posted the body of that post below, as its content in its entirety still explores the questions I have and preconceptions about Baptist churches:
“TL;dr pretext, my wife is a confirmed Catholic, though she has not been to mass for some years now. I am interested in exploring my faith and spirituality, both for the sake of myself and our future children. I have arrived at a Baptist church as what best suits me for this journey, but my wife does not want to attend with me (which is important to me) because she is confirmed. I would like both of us to go to something, though, and go on this journey with her.
Anyway, what drew me to the Baptist church is the sense of community while also being very laid back and focused on the modern lessons that can be derived from scripture. I have a ton of healing to do personally, and for me, storytelling and study of the lessons of scripture onto my life is something I deeply yearn for, but I kind of want to attend to this journey at my own pace. My own idea of God is less literal, and moreso as a set of principles and finding strength in these stories that will help me reinforce myself. (edit from the original r/catholicism post, I am certainly quite open to accepting a more literal God, I’m sure, after continued attendance and learning).
I’m feeling like the only (or at least “best”) way to go on this journey together with my wife and future children is to simply attend a Catholic Church, as she is hesitant to even attend a service for any other denomination, and I would certainly like a unified household on the matter.
To the mis/preconceptions about Catholicism that I’d love feedback on before going further down the decision making process:
It seems to me as though Catholicism is much more rigid and ritualistic, and deeply rooted in traditional practices and ceremony rather than personal interpretation and exploration of one’s spirituality. It seems from the outside like there’s one way to do it, so to speak. Something about the pomp of it doesn’t appeal to me.
I also struggle with hierarchy and politicism within the Catholic Church. What has drawn me to the Baptist church is the self governance of individual churches to kind of come to its people where they are in their communities and be a bit more localized.
I suppose the best distillation is that Baptist churches seem to be more on the ground with its people with lessons that I can apply into my life to find strength, where Catholicism seems like a large hulking structure I need to fit myself into and find strength within its rules.
BUT, I have never personally attended a Catholic mass and know very little about real people’s experiences with it, as it goes to my priorities. So, to those here, do you see a situation where I could find the answers I’m looking for within Catholocism if it means being able to go on this journey with my wife? Or would we be better suited to perhaps attend services of each other’s denominations as support for one another?
Am I wrong about my preconceptions?”