Anyone here that converted to Catholicism from Southern Baptist?

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My wife is a Southern Baptist and has been going to mass with me. She asks a lot of questions about the Catholic Faith, which is awesome, but she still struggles with understanding some of it and dislikes parts too.

My question is: when you were converting from Southern Baptist to Catholicism, what were some of your struggles to understand and/or agree with? I figure maybe coming to y’all will help me have a better conversation with my wife so she can make an informed decision and help her decide which is right for her.

Thanks and God Bless
 
I am a cradle Catholic born to a Catholic father and a Protestant mother who became Catholic in her 80s. Because my mother was a Protestant, I had the opportunity to attend various Protestant churches, the last of which of Southern Baptist.

One issue many of the Southern Baptists in my area have, apart from “praying to and worshipping Mary”, is infant baptism. They believe that it isn’t valid and that the individual must be aware of come to Jesus on his/her own. They also do not believe that Jesus is fully present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist. They believe Communion is a symbol of remembrance only.

The Holy Spirit led me out of that church because their beliefs were so different from my own and because they were not focused on Jesus but on carnal and worldly things.

May I ask what your wife’s issues with the Catholic Church are?
 
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She has both of those concerns as well as saint intercession, the infallibility if the pope, and probably many more. She’s open minded and I do my best to talk her through it. She also hates that she cannot “take” communion
 
I grew up in an independent Baptist church and was drawn to Catholicism in my teens and converted when I was in college. I am working with a good friend of mine right now who was raised evangelical but considering conversion since his wife is Catholic.

There are a ton of issues separating Baptists and Catholics, everything from style of worship, church governance etc. My friend has been to masses but says he feels weird and unwelcomed and doesn’t like the fact that he can’t receive communion. I’ve done my best to explain that in the catholic church we like to have sacred silence before mass, unlike most protestant churches where there’s a lot of talking and glad-handing. We also practice closed communion, because we believe it is a communion of believers who (should at least) believe the same thing and be members of the same church, it also protects them from receiving the Blessed Sacrament not in a state of grace.

Nevertheless, all the reasoned arguments wont overcome someone who feels unwelcomed or left out. I think this is a problem for the church and makes evangelizing a challenge.
 
ajg said:
My wife is a Southern Baptist and has been going to mass with me. She asks a lot of questions about the Catholic Faith, which is awesome, but she still struggles with understanding some of it and dislikes parts too.

My question is: when you were converting from Southern Baptist to Catholicism, what were some of your struggles to understand and/or agree with? I figure maybe coming to y’all will help me have a better conversation with my wife so she can make an informed decision and help her decide which is right for her.

Thanks and God Bless
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I converted from Indie Baptists that were non-member affiliates with the SBC. But I converted of my own will. Not 100% the case for my wife.

Some of the issues my wife had (and still has, to some degree) are as follows;

Why do I need a priest to forgive my sins? What makes HIM so special?
Why do you pray to dead people like Mary instead of just God?
Babies can’t be validly baptized because they’re not believers…
So do you think everyone else is going to hell?
All the Catholics I know behave as badly as non-Christians!

You must understand that your wife’s questions are largely an emotional resistance parading as an intellectual one. As such, good answers still won’t “answer” the question.

Show her the reverence, the holiness. Model and “sell” Catholicism to her rather than intellectually engage to any great extent… Good luck!

To all you non-married folks reading this; this is why it’s important to pick a mate with which you share religious values. It saves a lot of grief, especially when you have kids.
 
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Vonsalza said:
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ajg:
My wife is a Southern Baptist and has been going to mass with me. She asks a lot of questions about the Catholic Faith, which is awesome, but she still struggles with understanding some of it and dislikes parts too.

My question is: when you were converting from Southern Baptist to Catholicism, what were some of your struggles to understand and/or agree with? I figure maybe coming to y’all will help me have a better conversation with my wife so she can make an informed decision and help her decide which is right for her.

Thanks and God Bless
Click to expand...
I converted from Indie Baptists that were non-member affiliates with the SBC. But I converted of my own will. Not 100% the case for my wife.

Some of the issues my wife had (and still has, to some degree) are as follows;

Why do I need a priest to forgive my sins? What makes HIM so special?
Why do you pray to dead people like Mary instead of just God?
Babies can’t be validly baptized because they’re not believers…
So do you think everyone else is going to hell?
All the Catholics I know behave as badly as non-Christians!

You must understand that your wife’s questions are largely an emotional resistance parading as an intellectual one. As such, good answers still won’t “answer” the question.

Show her the reverence, the holiness. Model and “sell” Catholicism to her rather than intellectually engage to any great extent… Good luck!

To all you non-married folks reading this; this is why it’s important to pick a mate with which you share religious values. It saves a lot of grief, especially when you have kids.
Click to expand...
Very interesting, sharing this personal info helps me understand you better. Even as you advise people to pick a mate that shares your religious values, unless I am wrong, it appears that is exactly what your wife did. Now because she does not share your change of beliefs she is not capable of intellectual discussion. It appears she probably deserves a medal!
 
NickyMaz said:
There are a ton of issues separating Baptists and Catholics, everything from style of worship, church governance etc. My friend has been to masses but says he feels weird and unwelcomed and doesn’t like the fact that he can’t receive communion. I’ve done my best to explain that in the catholic church we like to have sacred silence before mass, unlike most protestant churches where there’s a lot of talking and glad-handing. We also practice closed communion, because we believe it is a communion of believers who (should at least) believe the same thing and be members of the same church, it also protects them from receiving the Blessed Sacrament not in a state of grace.

Nevertheless, all the reasoned arguments wont overcome someone who feels unwelcomed or left out. I think this is a problem for the church and makes evangelizing a challenge.
Click to expand...
I have this problem when attending Protestant services. Some pastors even invite the congregation to discuss the homily during the service! It seems like they are more focused on welcome than on Jesus.
 
Wannano said:
Very interesting, sharing this personal info helps me understand you better.
Click to expand...
🤔
Now because she does not share your change of beliefs she is not capable of intellectual discussion.
Click to expand...
No, that’s not at all what was stated. Like, not even a little bit. You just need to dehumanize me so it’s easier for you to withstand my critiques of whatever flavor of protestantism you adhere to.

What was stated is that her counter-arguments were largely predicated on emotional attachments. And it’s bluntly true in the vast majority of similar cases. In fact, I saw the exact same behavior displayed by my own sister when she married a Catholic.
We all attend mass regularly now, despite our long-standing reservations (hers toward Restorationism, mine toward Orthodoxy)

It’s just hard to accept that the “Old Time Religion” we learned on our granny’s laps isn’t the full truth. How many folks attend the denomination they attend because, ultimately, they particularly loved one of their forebears?

Plenty. My dad was one of 'em.
It appears she probably deserves a medal!
Click to expand...
My wife deserves lots of medals for lots of reasons. She’s one heck of a woman.
I think what you’ve tried to do here is even more revealing about you, unfortunately.
 
I was basically going to say the same thing, but not nearly as well as you did.
 
NickyMaz said:
Nevertheless, all the reasoned arguments wont overcome someone who feels unwelcomed or left out. I think this is a problem for the church and makes evangelizing a challenge.
Click to expand...
This is pretty much me. Since I’m unwelcome, and often left out, because I’m not the “right” Christian so at this point, I’d really rather not join.
"Vonsalza:
To all you non-married folks reading this; this is why it’s important to pick a mate with which you share religious values. It saves a lot of grief, especially when you have kids.
Click to expand...
I’m glad my wife never found this place before we got married. I would have missed out on 14 years of marriage (and counting) along with 3 fantastic boys.
 
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Vonsalza said:
40.png
Wannano:
Very interesting, sharing this personal info helps me understand you better.
Click to expand...
🤔
Now because she does not share your change of beliefs she is not capable of intellectual discussion.
Click to expand...
No, that’s not at all what was stated. Like, not even a little bit. You just need to dehumanize me so it’s easier for you to withstand my critiques of whatever flavor of protestantism you adhere to.

What was stated is that her counter-arguments were largely predicated on emotional attachments. And it’s bluntly true in the vast majority of similar cases. In fact, I saw the exact same behavior displayed by my own sister when she married a Catholic.
We all attend mass regularly now, despite our long-standing reservations (hers toward Restorationism, mine toward Orthodoxy)

It’s just hard to accept that the “Old Time Religion” we learned on our granny’s laps isn’t the full truth. How many folks attend the denomination they attend because, ultimately, they particularly loved one of their forebears?

Plenty. My dad was one of 'em.
It appears she probably deserves a medal!
Click to expand...
My wife deserves lots of medals for lots of reasons. She’s one heck of a woman.
I think what you’ve tried to do here is even more revealing about you, unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Sorry you took it personal. I guess I misunderstood the “sell” Catholicism rather than intellectually discuss part. I thought you were advising someone else to do that too. I must have misread.
 
TC3033 said:
I’m glad my wife never found this place before we got married. I would have missed out on 14 years of marriage (and counting) along with 3 fantastic boys.
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Honestly, thrilled it worked out for you guys. Really.

But your experience seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

When both partners take their faith very seriously, theological differences are marital stumbling blocks.

Even when we were both evangelical protestants, my wife and I would have “discussions” about whether baptism was requisite to being “saved”. She being Restorationist - of course it was! Me being Baptist - of course it wasn’t! Similar “discussions” over whether salvation can be lost and a few other things…

On another consideration, maybe your situation is just becoming the norm. With the growing number of unique Protestant sects out there, the odds of you marrying someone with matching religious beliefs as yours are becoming smaller. You’re practically forced to marry someone from your same church and even then, that’s no guarantee!

By all means, marry who ya wish! But marriage is hard - as the divorce rate attests. Finding someone that you don’t disagree with on the “big stuff” makes it easier. Especially when it comes time to decide where the kids go on Sunday morning. 😁
 
NickyMaz said:
Nevertheless, all the reasoned arguments wont overcome someone who feels unwelcomed or left out. I think this is a problem for the church and makes evangelizing a challenge.
Click to expand...
I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you can find a parish you feel welcomed at. My friend went a few times to a downtown church that was more ‘upscale’, but he liked coming to my parish in the suburbs that is more ‘blue collar’. Different parishes have different personalities.
 
Personally, I really appreciate the sacred silence of the Catholic service. The reverence one experiences is without compare.
 
We honestly haven’t really had any issues at all with these “big decisions”, most often than not, we’re aligned on it. If there’s been any problem, the local parish(s) aren’t the most accepting of mixed-marriages well…at least they don’t seem to care for the non-Catholic spouse/parent.
 
Ill give you that.

Catholics often have a lot to learn from Evangelicals on how to be friendly and inclusive when possible.
 
A great guy, a great resource, and a familiar experience …

Steve Ray!


His website has a ton of information on it and some of it is sure to resonate truth to your situation as his conversion to Catholicism seems similar to yours.
 
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