Crossing the Street. Robert R LaRochelle
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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. 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 Columnist, Hartford Courant 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
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 University Professor of Faith and Culture University of Dayton Loyola Professor of Catholic Studies, Emeritus College of the Holy Cross
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
Crossing the Street
Robert R. LaRochelle
Energion Publications
Gonzalez, Florida
2012
Copyright © 2012, 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
ePub Edition: 978-1-63199-653-5
Print ISBNs:
ISBN10: 1-938434-01-3
ISBN13: 978-1-938434-01-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012938016
Energion Publications
P. O. Box 841
Gonzalez, FL 32560
www.energionpubs.com
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!
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 Church1 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,2 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 Requiem3 and Practicing Catholic4 also provide valuable