Let me start by saying that I am a liberal Democrat (well, practically a Bernie-crat) and if you…read morehad told me five years ago that I was going to become a Catholic, I would have called you crazy. I started visiting St. Michael the Archangel after visiting every Protestant church in the area, including the Presbyterians, the Lutherans, the Anglicans, and even the Quakers.
When I started lurking in the back pew of the church for 7:00 PM Sunday evening mass, the first thing I noticed was that you could look around the room and see a rich diversity of people from all walks of life, and yet when it comes time for communion, everybody goes up to the same table together. And you could hear the rich diversity of the church, with choirs from all different traditions - Anglo-Saxon, African American Gospel, African, Filipino, Latin American, and so forth. When I looked around the room, I had this gut reaction that when I have kids, this is the world I want them to live in - a global community where our cultural differences can be celebrated but where we are all part of the same family.
Eventually, I decided I wanted to learn more and started taking R.C.I.A. classes, which is the course you take when you are interested in becoming a Catholic. I got cold feet and stepped out for a bit, but the church stayed in touch with me. I went back almost a year later for midnight mass on Christmas Eve and the Deacon remembered me and my husband, telling us, you're always welcome to come back. So I did, and here I am, writing this review.
That's not to say that there's nothing challenging about being a Catholic especially in a politically charged city like the Washington DC Metro Area. I have felt a little pushed and prodded by the sermons from time to time, but always in a thoughtful, provocative way. What I like about St. Michael's the Archangel is they give us lots of space to work out these heavy questions of salvation like "What are the religious and moral issues surrounding various government proposals?" and also simpler, more social questions like "Where can I go to a tasty crab boil?"
I've found this church to be intellectually stimulating, welcoming, warm, and exciting. And I'd welcome anybody reading this to come and join us sometime.
IN A NUTSHELL
THE GOOD
-The diversity of choirs is fantastic and if you like gospel and sacred music, there's always something to enjoy.
-There is always something going on - over forty different ministries with activities!
-There are people of all ages - folks with kids, a growing Young Adult group (20s - 30s group), three Youth Groups, and older folks.
-Location, location, location - the Church is easy to get to from downtown Silver Spring and there are two parking garages within a one block radius of the church.
-There's a ton of masses - Saturday at 4 PM, Sundays at 8 AM, 9:30 AM, 11 AM, and 7 PM in English and 1:30 PM in Spanish, so you can go anytime.
YOU SHOULD KNOW
-Like most Catholic churches, the bulletin doesn't include all the responses from the church body during a service, so you may feel a little confused the first couple times that you come. The Missals in the pew will tell you what to say and when to kneel, stand, etc. It's also okay if you're not sure to hang out (I notice even some cradle Catholics aren't sure what to do sometimes!)
-The Church is really big, so if you do want to get involved, make sure you reach out to one of the ministers. Each bulletin that is handed out at the end of mass has emails and phone numbers, and the ushers can help you with this too.
-A couple of folks have commented that the homilies are long or that they didn't connect with one of the speakers. There are multiple priests who preach at this church so if a homily doesn't connect with you on the first go round, you might try going to one of the other services to see if that's a better fit. They also rotate and sometimes there's a Deacon preaching too, so there's a lot of variety.
Anyhoo, I love this church, so if you have questions, feel free to PM me and I'm happy to help!
