[Matthew Shea]

A young church with a lot of families, like mine and like my parents' church, is likely to have a very social atmosphere these days. I've been to ones with primarily older people and it's a lot like you describe, Angela. A lot depends on the pastor and a lot depends on the type of people attending church at any given place.

Also, I don't know how long it's been since you went to church as a kid, but the closer you get to the Vatican II conference, the stodgier it's going to be. People in general, both clergy and laity, have loosened up a lot recently. A lot of the pre-Vatican II folks are always going to be much too uptight, especially the ones who still bemoan the loss of the Latin mass, but even a lot of them have relaxed a bit, like the guy I mentioned above.