100 Confessions: American Catholic

(74) My oddest Church experience:

I was in Washington, D.C. for a semester internship. One Sunday, my roommate and I decided to adventure out and try some random church. I didn't have my glasses on and from a distance I saw a sign for an "American Catholic" Church. What is that? Sounded good though. So I walked up the church, met the priest. The priest was dressed in all red and had torso-length dreadlocks.

After I took a seat it struck me that this wasn't a very diverse congregation. The priest came up to talk with us.

Me: "How is American Catholic different from Roman Catholic?"
Priest: "Actually, it's African-American Catholic. You all sit tight and enjoy the service!"

It did seem odd to us when a girl came out and did a sort belly dance on the altar. The priest got in there and did some dancing too. As it turns out, the priest was a defrocked Roman Catholic priest who started his own church after allegedly molesting a young girl. He argues that it's all a lie and the Roman Catholic church is racist.

Wild experience.