Alter Call

Ummm. I haven't heard of this until now. It shows how oblivious I am. My church doesn't do this. We have infant baptism and if you want to become a catholic as an adult you go through RCIA. I don't know exactly how I feel about alter calling. It is a very interesting concept. I like the idea of allowing people to come up and pray for salvation. It is a neat idea. I think it is a good oppurtunity to accept God into your heart. On the same note I am not sure if I like the public display of asking God into your heart. I think that it may be something that is better done in private or with a close group of family and friends to support you. This might cause some unsincere people to go up and the shy, scared, sincere ones to not. Is this implying that you have to go up to be forgiven or ask God into your heart? I don't know. To some people this may be intimidating and cause them not to go up or ask God into their heart. (Is that far fetched?) I like the way my church does it. The priest asks for God to hear the prayers of everyone in the church and to forgive them their sins. This is not just praying for the people who come up but for everyone. Everyone sins and everyone needs forgiveness. Your relationship with God is personal and I don't think it needs to be shown to the church. On the other hand this might be a good chance if you are feeling down in the dumps to have a support team and ask for Gods forgiveness. Like I said earlier, I don't know how I feel about this. Their are pros and cons.