St Augustine Church⛪ — Attraction in Washington

My first experience of this parish left me a bit disturbed in my spirit. My first impressions: a beautiful church structurally and internally. Gorgeous depictions on the stained glass windows and the architecture was very lovely. Upon walking it, I was disappointed to see that there was no holy water, instead, there was hand sanitizer bottles! My heart dropped. I looked around and saw bags and packages around their baptismal font. It looks like it was really pretty, but all of the stuff hid it's beauty. Walking to a seat, I genuflected, but I didn't see a lit candle in front, so, I didn't know if our Lord was up there. I looked for our Lord but could not easily find him right away, as he appeared not to be in the center and front of the church. Instead there was a piano and microphones, and lots of cords. After being there for about 30 mins, I finally saw that he was off to the side near a door. My heart sank even more. Before mass, there was rosary prayer, which I liked alot. While waiting for mass to begin, there was no quiet time, where one can prepare themselves for the sacred mystery. Lots of chatting everywhere, while I saw others trying to pray. A woman walks up to the lecturn, she greeted everyone, and welcomed those who were present for the first time and then encouraged the congregation to also greet each other. I liked that as well. During the mass, the singing was reflective of the culture that the parish represents, however, the drums seemed to be overkill. It was present in all the singing and responses. It seemed out of place sometimes. After almost all of the singing, people would clap as if watching a performance. I even heard a cowbell a couple of times which also seemed out of place. The homily was solid. I received a nice word from it. The people clapped here also, after the priest was done, as if watching a performance. When the priest held up our Lord, the singers, who were behind him, were standing, instead of kneeling. While the priest began to administer our Lord, there were a number of people who came from different areas of the church who walked up surrounding the altar. I don't know if they were deacons, deaconess, or what. They were not in priestly robes. He handed off the blood of our Lord to someone and they passed it around to each other. That seemed so irreverent to me. Finally, we, went to receive our Lord. Here, you do not receive him on the tongue, only in the hand. But, you do get to receive his body and blood. I truly appreciated that. And people were just walking out right after receiving our Lord. Like, huh?? The parking lot was horrible. People parked blocking those who were parked in parking spaces. So we and many others were blocked in until the owner of the one car that blocked the entire parking lot came out of the church. That was a nightmare.

Overall, I did not like the experience here. This is the mother church of black Catholic churches? Though their hospitality and welcoming spirit was present, the service lacked a true reverence of Christ. Having him off to the side, no holy water, musical instruments and microphones at the center instead of him, the clapping at the most odd of moments, the drums, all those people up in the altar space, passing his blood around... smh...I was truly sad about all of this. Maybe their other services are different. I don't know. I do not presume to know individuals hearts here, but, where was the beauty and reverence of the mass? I can see the cultural significance within the service, and I appreciate that, for the most part. But, no. Why are there musical instruments at the center of the altar space, behind the altar, and not Christ? I can't get over seeing hand sanitizer bottles where holy water is supposed to be In a Catholic church? Naw. That just blew me. I received the body AND blood of Christ so I am grateful for that. But, i didn't like this experience. I hope they see this review. Please, put Jesus up front, put the hand sanitizer somewhere else, put back the Holy water. Please. For the love of...

St. Augustine is a great church in many ways. My concerns are with the music for the Gospel Mass---it no longer feels like an African American gospel mass. The songs are always slow, repetitive, and no attempt is made to do any of the contemporary songs we hear in other churches or on the radio. St. Augustine used to be a place where one could tap your feet, clap your hands, and shout. The sames songs are done over and over in the exact same way, with no spontaneity of spirit. It does not appear to be the desire of the choir to sing this way; perhaps the minister of music needs a break? He really needs step it up and teach new songs and once again give the gospel feel, clapping, and other music to the songs.

In fact, little attention is given by any of the people who participate in the liturgy to making clear that St. Augustine is first and foremost a cathedral of African American Catholicism. Father Pat does make the statements regularly; wonder why others at the lectern do not? This used to be said at the opening of every service by the first lector.

Finally, St. Augustine no longer acknowledges birthdays, allows individual recognition of visitors. No where on the website or any time during the service is it made clear how to make the church aware if a member is in need. The church increasingly feels like "performance art" with a pat choir and the pet liberal causes talked about frequently, but little mention or attention to the needs of the individual parishioners. You can not feel like a family if the church does not treat each member as it treats its own.

St Augustine recognizes individuals in mailings for money. Rarely in other ways at service. These comments are offered because many of us care about community. Please hear them and don't just...

If you prefer the usual lukewarm/slightly stale Catholic Mass found it 90% of Catholic Churches across the US ( and the District of Columbia), this place is not for you. Although I usually blush at clapping and swaying in Mass, I get over it when I'm here because of the beautiful music, and more importantly the inspiringly vibrant community spirit.

Every time I leave full of joy, and my hope for humanity is restored. Why? Because It's so hard to find a truly diverse, warm, and genuinely WELCOMING Catholic parish such as this. It's alive with young families, a plethora of singles, students, and a healthy dose of just about any demographic imaginable (except socially conservative folk and segregationists... for whom holding hands with those who look and dress differently may be uncomfortable).

It's no wonder that it's usually packed on Sundays from people all around DC and the world. This is particularly of note for a neighborhood church tucked away from the main tourist destinations like Chinatown, Capitol Hill, St. Matthew's, & The Shrine. This place not only has a fabulous gospel choir that has performed for two consecutive Popes, (more?), it's a Catholic church where people don't just quietly mutter through the songs, they actually lift their voices in praise. I've known the sermons to be inspiring and...