Crossing the Street

By Robert Larochelle

The rift between Protestants and Roman Catholics continues to separate Christians from one another and to diminish our witness in the world.

Words such as "heretic," "apostate," "idolater," and "papist" have characterized much of the discussion over the last several centuries since the reformation. While changes in both groups over the last few decades have improved the tone of the discussion, much remains to be accomplished.

Author Bob LaRochelle, as a former Roman Catholic and now a United Church of Christ minister, is well-equipped to guide us toward a more constructive relationship. Crossing the Street speaks to the heart of the Energion Publications mission statement by advocating a "mainstream ecumenical center" in which Roman Catholics and Protestants can come to a deeper appreciation and understanding of the gifts they bring to one another. It demonstrates ways in which these traditions have misunderstood one another and even themselves, and then proposes strategies for both ecumenical cooperation and self-understanding.

This book is founded in a thorough understanding of both traditions and a commitment to ecumenical dialog and cooperation. It addresses both theory and practice. In a series of four chapters, it examines how we live in our own houses, the author's own story, and then the gifts that each group offers the other.

This second edition includes a new preface, updating the book concerning changes in the Roman Catholic church under Pope Francis along with connected changes in the relationship between Roman Catholics and Protestants.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Energion Publications
• Release date: Apr 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9781631998164

Book preview

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Advance Praise For

Crossing The Street

Robert LaRochelle’s Crossing the Street is a masterful intellectual travelogue of a journey of faith. The book is, at the same time, engaging and revelatory personal account of faith in transition and a scholarly exploration of the issues which divide and unite the Protestant and Catholic churches.

While I come from a different philosophical/theological perspective and have crossed the street from a cradle Episcopalian to Greek Orthodox by marriage, I find that the Reverend Doctor LaRochelle presents a thorough and compassionate review of the differences and similarities of the two traditions.

Curtis Brand, Ph.D.

Clinical Psychologist and author of Butterfly Moon

If you’re a Protestant, what goes on behind the doors of a Roman Catholic Church? And if you’re Catholic, what are those Protestants doing on Sunday mornings? In his new book, Crossing the Street, Bob LaRochelle, raised a Catholic and now a Protestant minister, makes a strong case for doing just that, crossing the street and finding out what our brothers and sisters are doing.

Susan Campbell

Author of Dating Jesus

In Crossing the Street Pastor Bob LaRochelle challenges us to grow in our ability to build up the Body of Christ and dialogue from the perspective of our diverse denominational experiences and traditions. As one who did cross the street, I highly recommend this book to those who are interested in learning from one man’s courageous and joyful journey.

The Rev. Albert R. Cutié

Priest-in-Charge

Church of the Resurrection

Biscayne Park, FL

Author of Dilemma

Crossing the Street is an experienced Christian pastor’s wise reflection on the current state of American Christianity or, better, American Christians. Once a Catholic teacher, then an ordained deacon, later a school counselor and United Church of Christ minister, Robert LaRochelle’s is a very American religious story. His pastoral and theological reflections are about continuity as much as change, shared Christian faith and discipleship, as well as honest assessments of important differences. Here is a book about faith that helps us get behind the newest data on America’s ever-changing religious landscape. Pastors, teachers and active lay Christians should read this important and very helpful book.

David O’Brien

Professor Emeritus, College of the Holy Cross

Department of History

As an intensely personal account of the internal struggles experienced by one who wonders how much one can dissent from the teaching authority of bishops while recognizing the formative strengths of his upbringing, this is a most revealing and insightful story. As a description of how much Catholicism and Protestantism have in common and how much is a defining tradition and resource in each, this is a reliable guide. On top of these excellent attributes, this is an irenic call to all Christians to become better Christians by appreciating the treasures to be found across the street, no matter from which side one is crossing, even when one is not looking for a new home.

Herold Weiss

Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, St. Mary’s College,

Notre Dame, Indiana

Author of Finding My Way in Christianity and

Creation in Scripture

Robert LaRochelle ... would hope to build a contemporary church culture that is open, ecumenical, unity focused but at the same time holding on to the best of its historic beliefs, practices and values.

Rev. Gregg A. Carlson, Director of Coaching, Convergence

Crossing the Street

Robert R. LaRochelle

2nd Edition

Energion Publications

Gonzalez, Florida

2022

Copyright © 2012, 2022 Robert R. LaRochelle

Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U. S. A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cover Design: Nick May

ISBN13: 978-1-63199-815-7

eISBN: 978-1-63199-816-4

Energion Publications

P. O. Box 841

Gonzalez, FL 32560

energion.com

[e-mail]

Dedication

This book is dedicated both to my wife Tricia and our children Brian, Kathleen and Stephen. It is dedicated to Tricia with profound gratitude for sharing this journey with me. It is dedicated to our children in gratitude for the wonderful life Tricia and I have shared with them and in hope that they will appreciate the importance of these issues of which I write, issues that have sparked such a passion in their father’s life! It is dedicated to my family, with my deepest, abiding love!

Table of Contents

Introduction To The Second Edition vii

Introduction xi

1 Living In Our Own Houses 1

2 So, What’s The Difference? 39

3 My Story 65

4 Who Lives In That House? 107

5 Protestant Gifts To The Church 121

6 Roman Catholic Gifts To The Church 145

7 An Ecumenical Center 171

8 Practical Strategies 181

9 It Is Time To Cross The Street 197

Epilogue 209

Acknowledgments 221

References 225

Introduction To The Second Edition

This is an updated version of a book which I wrote in 2012. When I wrote it originally, it was with the intention of sharing my experience of growing up Catholic and eventually becoming a Protestant who would serve much of my adult life as a pastor within Protestant congregations. I am grateful that it was well received and provided a resource with which people could explore what Christians of differing backgrounds hold in common with one another.

In the years that have gone by since the time this book was written, many important changes have taken place in the world of organized religion. These are among what I would consider to be the most significant:

In 2013, the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church elected a new Pope who opted to take the name Francis.

During this time period, church attendance and participation in both the Catholic Church and mainline Protestantism underwent a significant decline in the United States.

At the same time mainline churches were declining in attendance and overall presence, evangelical Christianity in the United States was in the spotlight and was a significant factor in the election of Donald Trump to the Presidency.

With the decline in mainline Christianity, many people grew to identify Christianity with Biblical literalism and so-called traditional values. A chasm which had been present for a long time grew between those Christians supportive of progressive causes and those who opted for more traditional approaches that they perceived as more expressive of a biblically based approach to Christian faith.

In the original edition of this book, I advocated the position that it was time for Catholics and Protestants to cross the street, grow in understanding of one another, seek out common ground and work toward a deeper and closer Christian unity. This is a unity expressed so powerfully in Jesus’ words

that they may all be one.¹ While I continue to hold to that position and will not cease to advocate on its behalf, I am troubled by the number of impediments that have been placed in its way. In my view, the primary obstacle has been the emergence of movements within both Catholic and Protestant churches which, in my view, present a view of the church and, sadly, of Christian faith, which is very troubling and which renders institutional Christianity irrelevant to so many.

It is clear that among the world’s different Christian denominations, the Roman Catholic church holds a unique place. This is as a result of how it grew and organized itself on the European continent in the centuries after Jesus walked the face of this earth. It is a church whose leader, the Bishop of Rome, popularly known as the Pope, is expected to wield the kind of authority which leads to the unification of the church. By their very nature, Protestant church communities do not focus on an authority that is held by a particular leader.

While one could argue the values and merits of the leadership models in these traditions, the reality is that the Pope is in a position where what he does is reported to people throughout the world via the media outlets of news journalism. If a Pope visits the United States, it is a story! Though the decisions of the Pope are not binding, they are noticed! In this updated version of this book, therefore, I will encourage us to explore the role of the papacy of Pope Francis, who was elected to this position after the original version of this book was written.

At the same time that I will be examining and commenting on the impact of Francis’ papacy, in the newly developed Epilogue to this book, I will also alllude to the developments in Protestant Christianity in the United States over the past several years. In doing so, I will encourage us to consider the breakdown that has so clearly occurred in mainline denominations since the original version of this book was written.

In short, this new edition will continue to advocate for the position I expressed in this book’s first edition years ago:

"So when all is said and done then, my friends, I really believe that it is time……It is time to cross the street!"²

---

1 Recorded in John 17

2 From my concluding comments in this book

Introduction

This book begins with a series of both explanations and disclaimers. Throughout this work, I will delve into considerable detail and offer many strong opinions about the nature and state of both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. I will speak from the perspective of someone who has lived considerable portions of his life within both traditions and has assumed the responsibilities of ordained leadership within these two expressions of Christianity.

On one level, this book cannot be what it is without a considerable infusion of autobiographical detail. Simply put, to tell the entire story which I seek to tell, I cannot escape from telling my own. Having said this, while I hope the message of this book is strengthened by the personal anecdotes I share and the very nature of my own journey, I need to be clear that this is not intended to be solely an autobiographical text. It is my hope that the reader will view my own personal experiences as contributing to my observation of both the current situation involving these two great religious traditions and as complementary to what I trust will be an analysis fortified by solid research and the utilization of important sources in the areas of theology and church history in addition to significant research regarding religious attitudes and practice.

It is also important to me that the reader understands that this is not a ‘why I left the Catholic Church’ kind of a book. I say this for two reasons. First of all, as I hope I will describe in considerable depth, while I am a former Roman Catholic and while I do affirm the core of Protestantism’s contributions to Christian faith, I am NOT writing this to encourage Catholics to leave their church. Secondly, the book’s main thrust is to assert that Roman Catholics and Protestants have great gifts to offer one another, the recognition of which can strengthen both the present and future church, defined for me as those who seek to follow Jesus and live as His disciples. Thus, this book advocates a strengthened ‘ecumenical center’ in which Roman Catholics and Protestants can work and worship together, espousing to the broader world beyond all sanctuaries the significant and crucial principles of the message of Jesus of Nazareth, the one whom His followers declare to be ‘the Christ.’

While this book must of necessity contain autobiographical elements, it is nonetheless different from other books in the field, materials to which I allude in this writing and which I highly recommend for the reader’s serious review. A seminal work for me in this regard is James Kavanaugh’s A Modern Priest Looks at His Outdated Church³ which, as I will note in later chapters, had a profound influence on my thinking far back in my teenage years. Albert Cutié’s recent book Dilemma,⁴ which chronicles his life growing up Catholic, preparing for, living and serving as a Catholic priest, dealing with the ‘dilemma’ created when the church’s policy on celibacy clashed with his own personal experience, and his eventual decision to leave Catholicism and become an Episcopal priest, is influential and informative to me, even as my own work has a different thrust and purpose. The autobiographical material and insights in James Carroll’s works, in particular An American Requiem⁵ and Practicing Catholic⁶ also provide valuable material for your consideration, as they most certainly have for mine.

In this particular work, I seek to draw upon my experience and my study to offer suggestions to Catholics and Protestants alike. It is my intention that congregational leaders and church officials will find this material useful in both advocating for and shaping courses of action. Likewise, I would be most pleased if what is contained herein might serve as a useful discussion starter among friends, spouses, partners and all of those whose lives have been influenced by their connection and affiliation with these two branches of the institutional Christian church. It is to this end that I provide discussion questions at the conclusion of each of this book’s chapters.

As we have already noted, this book has as a central focus the relationship between Protestant and Roman Catholic traditions. One might legitimately ask whether this focus is too narrow in this increasingly complex and pluralistic world of religious choices and paths. After all, within Christianity itself, the Orthodox churches form an incredible body with a magnificent history, offering tremendous resources to both Christianity and the wider world. One might wonder why we are looking solely at these two Christian groupings of Protestant and Roman Catholic as we all really need an ever more detailed understanding of and dialogue with such religious traditions as Judaism, Islam, and the great religions of the East as well as with the multiple approaches to spirituality existent both within this great vast world and right here on North American soil!

In my view, it IS crucial that serious work be done on all of those fronts. As a matter of fact, it is important to me that Protestants and Catholics alike engage in that enterprise, take it to heart and do it well. Having said that, I must also contend that the relationship between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism is an area that continues to need detailed exploration. It is a relationship that suffers from severe misunderstandings and a terribly troubled history, one that has affected many individuals in intensely personal ways. It is a relationship that must never be overlooked.

It strikes me as well that those who take Jesus seriously in his plea that ‘they may all be one’⁷ will likewise find most troubling the divisions and misunderstandings that have plagued these two great religious traditions. It is my hope that this book may contribute, in some way, to a greater appreciation of the commonality and shared mission between these two distinct approaches to the one Christian faith. Likewise, I believe that a healthy ecumenism between Protestants and Roman Catholics in turn will make a massive impact on other ecumenical, interfaith and universal spiritual dialogue in this, God’s most needy world!

Throughout this work, the language I use will be important and thus it is crucial that, from our very beginning, I am very clear. For the most part, I will refer to Roman Catholicism as ‘Catholicism,’ though I will at times use the phrase ‘Roman Catholic.’ While doing so most certainly cuts down on the wordiness of this text, I think it is also clear that it refers to that church community which acknowledges the Bishop of Rome as its leader. In popular parlance, I am talking about ‘the Pope.’ Likewise, ‘Catholicism’ is a preferred, popular self designation for those who are part of the Roman Catholic tradition. So, while I will on many occasions, use the phrase ‘Roman Catholic,’ please understand ‘Catholic’ to be interchangeable with it!

Contemporary Protestantism is hardly a monolithic enterprise. As a matter of fact, from Protestantism’s very inception, there has been considerable diversity of thought and practice within it. The modern Protestant movement, in my view, is less divided by denomination than it is by approach, especially to theology and its understanding of the Bible. This, in turn, has implications for the ways in which Protestant congregations and denominations deal with intrachurch issues (e.g. women and homosexual clergy) and political issues. Within modern Protestantism, there are multiple approaches to these matters.

In this work, I will distinguish between ‘mainline’ or ‘mainstream’ Protestantism and what I will call ‘evangelical’ Protestant Christianity. My use of the term evangelical is intended to include those who consider themselves to be fundamentalists.⁸ I make this distinction fully cognizant of the reality that many conservative evangelicals would eschew the term fundamentalist and that many ‘mainline’ Christians consider themselves to be truly evangelical and are troubled by the fact that the word itself has been co-opted by what they would see as the ‘religious right.’⁹ In using these terms, I am intending to distinguish between those established churches which have generally been in numerical decline in the last several decades and that multiplicity of other church communities which, in many cases, are growing considerably. A very incomplete list of these ‘mainline’ churches would include (and not be limited to) the Protestant Episcopal Church in America, the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the American Baptist Churches, the Disciples of Christ and the Presbyterian Church, USA. The more ‘evangelical’ churches would include both established denominations such as the Southern Baptists or the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (among many others) and also the plethora of independent churches or those affiliated with associations and alliances. I also distinguish between mainline churches and the growing number of ecclesial communities within the Pentecostal tradition. Likewise, there is a vibrant Emergent/Emerging Church movement which has burst onto the church scene in recent years which is marked by a unique eclecticism of practice and often theology.¹⁰ As we all know, much of the language can be confusing. I am the pastor of a New England church which has been called ‘Congregational’ since 1738. In 1961, we joined the larger ‘United Church of Christ,’ a church body in existence only since 1957. Not far down the road from us remain several churches who call themselves ‘Congregational,’ but also happen not to be ‘UCC.’ It would be fair to distinguish us and place us in the mainline category with the others more accurately described by the term evangelical as it is used within this context. Of course, having said all of that, I would also contend, quite vociferously, that, in the purest sense of the term, ours is an ‘evangelical church’ as well as is expressed in such a formal ritual as the ordination of our pastors.¹¹ As muddled and confusing as this can be, I hope all this is helpful to you, the reader!

Likewise, I think that, as you begin this book, it would be useful if you were to get a thumbnail sketch of who I am. More will be revealed later on, especially in Chapter 3. As I have indicated, I am currently the pastor of a United Church of Christ congregation in Union, Connecticut. Parenthetically, I am a part-time pastor engaged in bivocational ministry, often referred to as ‘tentmaking’ ministry.¹² My current full-time work is as a school counselor in a Connecticut public high school. I have worked in educational settings as either a full-time teacher or counselor for thirty-five years.

I was ordained in the United Church of Christ in 2002, several months after I was licensed to serve as pastor of a local church. From the day of my Baptism in January of 1953 to just before Lent in 1998, I was a Roman Catholic. While you will read a lot more about the specifics of my ecclesiastical life as you go through this book, suffice it to say that I was quite active and involved in the Catholic Church for the first forty-five years of my life. Educated in Catholic elementary and prep school, I also served for nine years as an altar boy, rising to the ranks of leader of the altar boys in a convent of nuns, actually the place that served as the national headquarters of a distinguished order of religious sisters.

From there, I moved on to a Roman Catholic college (College of the Holy Cross) which was run by the Jesuit Fathers, seriously considered the Catholic priesthood but decided against it, earned a graduate degree in the area of religious education from another Jesuit school (Boston College) and then embarked upon a career teaching theology in Catholic schools, working for a while in a diocesan office traveling the state of Rhode Island, consulting with local parishes, conducting literally hundreds of youth retreats and leading dozens of workshops, and serving several Catholic parishes in the capacity of Religious Education Director and/or Youth Minister.

In 1989, I was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate in the Catholic Church and served as a member of the clergy (oftentimes people do not realize that Catholics consider clergy to be bishops, priests and deacons)¹³ on a parish staff from 1989 to that day in 1998 when I decided that I needed to move out of the Catholic Church and search for where I might worship and potentially serve in my future.

In the interest of straightforward disclosure, I must say that when I ultimately decided to join a Protestant church, according to Roman Catholic canon law, I was automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church, a penalty about which I had been warned when I notified my Catholic Archbishop’s office at the time of my departure.¹⁴ The word excommunication is a scary one to many of us raised as Catholics. It is also a word terribly misused and misunderstood. As a matter of fact, it is a sad reality that there are a lot of Catholics living day to day and thinking they are excommunicated when in fact they are not.¹⁵ In my case, I most assuredly am. I often like to tell people that I had made my intentions known to the Archbishop’s office that I was considering leaving the Catholic Church. I then received a letter saying, in essence, that if I did that, I wouldn’t be a Catholic any more. I made that decision; hence, the automatic excommunication. The next few months and years in my spiritual journey led me to where I am today, joyfully serving as a minister in the United Church of Christ.

As I have said, this is the brief sketch. Later on in the book, I will do my best to describe the relevance of my own personal journey to the central thrust of this book. Suffice it to say for now that my experience as a clergyman, in the UCC, coupled with my deeply rooted Catholic upbringing and experience as a clergyman there, has strengthened my conviction that Catholics and Protestants really need to work together and to take the time to more completely understand each other. Not only that, but they must also make the effort to come to a fuller appreciation of themselves, their history, the theologies operative within their traditions and the pluralism of their own churches’ practices that so often catch them as a considerable surprise!

It is my hope that Chapter One will make my intentions clear and that this book’s title will become self-explanatory as well. In this chapter, I explore in great detail what it means to ‘live within one’s own house,’ of either Catholic or Protestant tradition. I seek to lay out the misunderstandings we so often have of the ‘other’ and argue against a monolithic reading either of one’s own or of another religious tradition. Chapter Two, entitled, ‘So, What’s the Difference?’, attempts to clarify the significant distinguishing characteristics of Catholicism and Protestantism.

Chapter Three serves as the ‘bridge chapter’ of this book as I attempt to connect the many details of my own

Reviews for Crossing the Street

[dubiousdisciple · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If I recall correctly, I requested this book from the author, rather than it just being sent to me for review. It struck me as interesting that a Roman Catholic of 45 years, who served as Deacon within the Archdiocese of Hartford, would leave it all behind to become a minister of a Protestant church … while still affirming the validity of the Catholic Church! LaRochelle not only crossed the street to see what the neighbors were like, he took up residence there.Why step down from the one true church? What is the difference between Catholic and Protestant, anyway? And how does it feel to be excommunicated from one’s lifetime heritage … for that is Roman Catholic canon law for LaRochelle’s situation.He left in part because he could not uphold certain doctrines, such as the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary. He also felt uncomfortable with conservative church stances against such things as abortion and gay marriage, and even more innocuous issues like birth control and annulment. (Odd that over 90% of Roman Catholic couples practice some form on contraception in opposition to official church teachings.) He notes differences in religious philosophy, such as the Catholic reliance upon papal decisions versus the Protestant insistence that our only needed answers come from the Bible.The book was a little dry in places, but it still held my attention well. The most powerful passages are the personal ones, telling LaRochelle’s own maverick story. The most interesting were the insights into Catholic doctrine, and how it has shifted in emphasis over the last half-century. The most meaningful are surely those that extol the positive contributions of both Protestant and Catholic traditions to the universal church. By “universal church,” LaRochelle means Christians; while he briefly encourages opening our understanding to other religions as well, that is not the focus of the book.LaRochelle speaks of being “profoundly grateful for the gifts I have received from both my Catholic and Protestant heritages,” but he notes that crossing the street isn’t easy. Those on the Religious Right tend to label more progressive believers as possessing something less than the truth faith. Conversely, it is extremely difficult for the progressive side to be at ease with a fundamentalist position. Yet LaRochelle points us to the words of Jesus who, in a moment of prayer not long before he was killed, pleaded that those who would be his followers might “all be one.”