Are You a Convert or a Revert?

[Church_Militant]

I clicked the convert alternative although it is not technically right since i was never baptized into any denomination and it only happened as an adult after i got interessted in the catholic church.

So i was baptized after being a cathechumen, i dont think that counts as convert, it would be fun to know how many was acctually baptized as cathechumens in the church?

Maybe you should make another poll

Actually you do qualify as a convert to the Catholic faith from essentially no religion (apparently from your own description).

Catechumens are those who have been instructed (like RCIA) in the faith before coming into the faith by baptism or conditional baptism. Candidates IIRC are those who are already baptized Christians converting to the Catholic faith, and though their catechesis in many RCIA overlap, they are actually different in the aspect I have mentioned.

People sometimes don’t understand that conversion means that one comes into the Catholic faith from wherever you were before, be it atheism, no religion, Judaism, Protestantism, or any other religion, Christian or otherwise, so you really are good to go.

 

[Julianne_Rose]

I am a convert that was baptized Lutheran but most recently attended a Presbyterian Church. I had attended a Mass when I was about 8-9 years old and had felt something calling me back to the Catholic Church since then. I joined the church two Easters ago. I have never been so happy and I know now it was the Holy Spirit whispering to me since I was a little girl.
I think probably the reason that most people on here are converts are because they are still trying to learn more about the church.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

I am a convert that was baptized Lutheran but most recently attended a Presbyterian Church. I had attended a Mass when I was about 8-9 years old and had felt something calling me back to the Catholic Church since then. I joined the church two Easters ago. I have never been so happy and I know now it was the Holy Spirit whispering to me since I was a little girl.
I think probably the reason that most people on here are converts are because they are still trying to learn more about the church.

Welcome home, as they say, and welcome to CAF too! I was received the Easter Vigil of 2004.

 

[LisaA]

A Convert. Tiber Swim Class of 2005! I was raised a heathen so to speak. Parents very anti-religion so we never went to church or learned anything about the Bible. Back in those days though, they allowed us to learn religious songs (Doxology is one I remember) and have Christmas pageants. I can still recite my lines “Fear not for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy…” Didn’t realize it was from the Bible until decades later!

As a young adult I went to a Unitarian “church” as it was one of those acceptable in my family. You never hear about God or Jesus there! I found it was a church full of good intentions and no substance. After a year or so I was attracted to Methodism as a church active in the world with missions and helping people. Was baptized into the Methodist church and very active for a few years until their hideous anti-life philosophy became apparent. Left one day in August and never went back. Started RCIA in 2004 and came into the Church (with a capital C!) in 2005. Fell in love and still in love.

As I look back though I realize God put Catholics in front of me from the beginning. It just took me 48 years to pay attention. I attended a healing retreat where one of the leaders, a P.K., was a convert. I was FASCINATED as I had no idea one could convert. Every Catholic I’d met was a cradle Catholic. She told me about RCIA and the conversion process. At the time it was just an interesting story. A year later I told her I’d converted. She replied “Well of course, I knew you would.”

Wow way too long but I love my adopted Catholic faith:thumbsup:
Lisa A

 

[BornAgainCathlc]

Revert and feel so blessed to be back!

 

[lmpower]

I converted to Catholicism at the age of 27. Upon doing my genealogy I found no Catholics in the family tree for a few centuries, although my uncle did marry a Cajun girl. I am descended from a Puritan minister, who was pastor of the English church in the Hague. I had other ancestors who were Quakers and Huguenots. I was christened as a Presbyterian, because my mother was one, although my father was a Methodist. My mother converted to Christian Science and put me in a Christian Science Sunday school for a year. I grew up non religious, but I always had a strong feeling of kinship with Jesus. I think there are three major varieties of Christianity: Catholic, liberal protestant and fundamentalist. The fundamentalists are too anti intellectual and fanatical for me. The liberal protestants are too insipid and even morally lax. The Catholics almost come down as a happy medium. They have firm moral values while tolerating intellectuals. They no longer make Charles Darwin the litmus test for membership. When one converts to a fundamentalist church, one is simply welcomed and congratulated. When Thomas Merton converted to Catholicism, the priests wanted to know why. They don’t understand the conversion process and expect a simple precise answer. The priest jumped to the ridiculous conclusion that Merton had been converted by James Joyce. I encountered the same attitude from a priest when I dropped by a Catholic church and asked to join. After rambling on about my reasons, I dropped the magic word Merton and the priest was satisfied. I find the Catholic Christianity to have the advantage of beauty, ethics, holiness and universality. People of all races and social classes can fit into the Catholic church. The protestant world seems to be segregated not only by race, but also by social class. The Unitarian church is about 3/4 college graduates, while the Jehovah’s Witnesses are no more than 6% college graduates. Jehovah’s Witnesses are construction workers while Seventh Day Adventists are health care workers. Protestant churches are like social clubs, which cater to a particular type of clientele. The Catholic Church today is in serious trouble today. I only hope that it can heal and be renewed.

 

[Bonnie]

Convert. Started out in the Methodist church, Mom changed to Baptist when I was a toddler, in my teens found the Jesus freaks & was Pentecostal for a few years, then nothing. Until the Holy Spirit nudged me into the Catholic Church. :dancing:

For some years I’ve been objecting to the protestantization (is that a word?) of the Catholic Church. I tell anyone who will listen (& a few who won’t) that I didn’t go through all that trouble to become a Catholic only to be made a protestant again. I’m fervently hoping & praying that the corrections in the liturgy will help keep the Catholic Church Catholic!

 

[Joebfm]

I’m a revert back to the Catholic faith. I was baptised as a baby and received all the sacrements up to confirmation. I left the Church in my mid twenties for the same reasons that many my age do. Later in my late thirties I experienced God’s absence in my life and felt I needed more. I started going back to church however, in the Episcopal Church (I still held on to my old resentments about the Catholic Church) where I stayed for 4 years. On Christmas Eve 2009 I attended my last Episcopal service, on Christmas day I returned back to Mass and the one true faith where I have stayed since. I’m now a daily communicant and have been for the past two years. I love being Catholic, it is the most important aspect of my life, and I’m glad I’ve been called home to where I belong.

 

[EricFilmer]

I am a covert and a former Episcopalian.

My brother, David (who frequently posts on CAF), is also a former Episcopalian. He once had a desire to study the Early Church Fathers (just to see what sort of things such theologians wrote about) and this played a big influence in his decision to later become Catholic (but if he elects to participate in this discussion then he can go into this in more detail). When he told me he was going to become Catholic, I initially tried to talk him out of it.

A few years later we discussed Catholicism and Protestantism in great detail while making a summer day-trip to Mount St. Helens (after the eruption). We began debating theology and church history while walking along the top of a mountain on a trail called the Abraham Trail (here’s some footage of it shot by a mountain biker). David brought up a lot of great points concerning the legitimacy of the Catholic Church which lead me to continue learning more about Catholicism. That autumn I entered a RCIA class. Whereas I once tried to talk my brother out of becoming Catholic and debated against Catholic teachings, I ended up becoming Catholic and became one of my parish’s RCIA instructors. Talk about a funny irony!

So I can honestly say that my own conversion experience initially began while on a mountaintop, along a trail named after Abraham. (Well, technically, the Trail of Abraham is named after the Plains of Abraham in that area which, in turn, were named after a fisherman named Abraham Martin. But I’m sure that at some point in Martin’s family tree the name was taken from the Old Testament’s Abraham).

 

[Letchitsa1]

I am technically both. I was a convert as a teen, left for a few years in my late 20s/early 30s, and came back a few years after that.

 

[martininthefiel]

Convert. I was baptized an Episcopalian.

 

[UpUpAndAway]

Revert :curtsey: In a nutshell: I was born to cradle Catholic parents. My mother was devout, my father lukewarm. Baptized on the way home from the hospital, when I was four days old. Though I attended Catholic school for the first eight years of my formal education, I, as with so many of my generation, was poorly catechized. Due to circumstances much too long to explain in a nutshell version, my mom left the Church when I was eleven and took our entire family with her (my elder sister was already falling away at this point). I continued in parochial school for another two years before entering a public high school. Whatever scraps remained of my Catholic upbringing at that point went out the window literally overnight, and I spent my adolescence believing in nothing. Explored Buddhism and Judaism during and immediately after university before becoming acquainted with an evangelical Protestant who is still, to this day, a very close friend of mine. Spending time with him brought me back to Christianity, but attending his church was a hollow experience. I started to realize how much I missed the sacraments and felt a general absence of sacredness in every Protestant church I attended, but never managed to to do anything about these feelings. Finally, a conversation I had with the regional manager of my then place of employment - a move that was relatively bold on his part, since our chat took place at the office during working hours - convinced me to walk into a Catholic church for the first time in fifteen years. Haven’t looked back since.

As for the rest of my family: Mom came home before I did, Dad’s still indifferent, sister remains fallen away.

 

[Gerrybhoy1888]

I suppose it kind of makes sense that the majority of people who are searching for answers, will be those that are new to the faith or those trying to return to it.

Most of the cradle Catholics that I know are very comfortable with their beliefs and understanding of their religion. Not that they are always right of course.

 

[SoDakTim]

The Mormons Made me really Catholic!

I was raised in Catholic school, went to mass every sunday. When I was about 32 I dated a mormon girl. For the first time I felt I had to defend my faith but quickly realized I didn’t know much. I tried to learn but didn’t do very well, but I kept trying. Then one night a guy named Tim Staples came to our church to speak. I started buying up all his tape sets. I learned things I had never even heard of before. Mary as the ark of the new covenent? Where the heck did that come from and why had I never heard of that before? I continued to devour everything Tim Staples put out and then moved on to Scott Hahn, Karl Keating, Patrick Madrid, Jeff Cavins, and more and more and more. Still can’t get enough. I married a catholic, and we now have a big, very catholic, family.

Keep praying for the mormons.

 

[meme1961]

I admit I could be dead wrong on this, but I feel like almost everyone on CAF is an ex-Protestant. So I thought I’d create this little poll for fun.

Are you a convert from any religion?

If you are a convert, which religion did you convert from? Ex-atheists and agnostics are welcome to respond as well.

I am a partial convert (the Church is not yet ready to let me join).

I’m a convert from just about everything else, having bounced through a number of other religions, as well as a sampling of various forms and generations of Protestantism.

I ended up Catholic, primarily as a result of a great deal of study and scholarship.

 

[Ignatius]

Looks like about 3/4 Convert/Revert. Which means that chances are, most folks here know a good bit about Protestantism.

 

[Ignatius]

It does something to my heart when I read these conversion/reversion stories, really strange; kind of real warm sensation! What is that do you suppose?

 

[GratefulFred]

Fortunate to be a cradle Catholic who admires all those who choose to be become Catholic later in life or return to the Catholic Faith.

The good Sisters taught us that, having been taught the major elements of the Catholic Faith by age 14, we were old enough to make a life long decision to live our lives as a Catholic. If that was our choice, we were ready for Confirmation.

Now, more than 50 years later, I am even more certain that Jesus Christ is indeed THE way, THE truth, and THE life.

I thank God for the great gift of Faith that I feel is still growing. Those who ask God for an increase in Faith will not be denied.

Constantly pray for Wisdom and Understanding whether you are cradle, convert or revert.

 

[CatholicTrekkie]

Cradle Catholic here, though I guess in a sense I’m really a “revert”. What I mean is that even though I never really “left” the Catholic Church, I’m just now (currently 19, almost 20) growing into a more adult understanding of the faith, and boy do I love it.

To all Converts:
[SIGN]Welcome Home![/SIGN]

To all reverts:
[SIGN]Welcome Back![/SIGN]

Sorry, I’ve just always wanted to say “Welcome Home” if someone has converted

 

[lutherlic]

I was baptized Catholic and raised Lutheran. After witnessing the lack of the Holy Spirit in the affairs of the ELCA, I decided to return to the Church.

I was born and raised Lutheran, 56+ years. Through mergers, I ended up ELCA. About a decade or two into that the scales finally fell from my eyes. August 2009 was the breaking point (the infamous ELCA convention). It was like being hit (hard) in the head by a 2x4. It was a blessing actually, but I didn’t know that at the time.