Are You a Convert or a Revert?

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I think this poll should be further broken down to:

Convert from Protestant Denomination
Convert from Other Religion

Just because…

Ex-non-denominational Christian and current happy Catholic here. 🙂
 
Convert from Black Baptist church. I had never been baptized and I was anti-Catholic (they worship statues when it clearly says not to in the Bible!). I was 110% more religious than most teenagers. In high school a Catholic friend of mine took me to the Shrine/I.C. in DC – it was my first time inside a Catholic place of worship. Well, as I was sitting in the pew, this pain came over my chest, like someone pressing a dull pencil into my heart. I asked my friend to teach me the Hail Mary prayer on the spot.

So then, I started one-on-one RCIA at age 16 after the parish priest (a Brooklyn Italian Jesuit) totally destroyed a tract that the Baptist church pastor had given me called “99 Reasons Why I am a Baptist” just by using the Bible! I was received fully into the Church (baptism, Eucharist, confirmation) at age 17.

It’s just as well; I would always secretly pretend (while a young girl in Baptist church) that their communion really was the body and blood of Jesus.
 
I was baptiptized Catholic and then left the Church right before I was confirmed and found myself in an independent Catholic community.
 
robbie20 said:
I was baptiptized Catholic and then left the Church right before I was confirmed and found myself in an independent Catholic community.
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In Polls, it’s usually best to keep it as simple as possible. How many converts from Confusianism or Hinduism do you suppose there are?
 
I listed revert but at first did not know what that meant when I first started back 7 years ago. I would have to say now jumping into the frying pan. I have been most happy learning my catholic faith. Loving living another advent season for Jesus. 🙂 Acting with charity / hoping 👍 Following the beatitudes as possible, in the steps of Jesus. 🙂
 
I’m a lifelong Catholic revert who have fallen away (and will fall) numerous times because of sin, but have reverted through God’s grace and His Sacraments.
 
JSimmons said:
Baptized in the Lutheran Church. Began the RCIA process in 2007 and was finally accepted into the Catholic Church in January 2010. The reason it took so long was repeated deployments to Afghanistan got in the way of me completing everything in a timely manner.

😉
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Praise God you came home safely and thank you so much for the service and sacrifice you and your family made for all of us here at home.

Lisa A
 
Looking at the posts here it seems that I may be in the minority. I’m a renewed Catholic. We are probably what Bonnie and Lisa were talking about as those Catholics who are being “Protestantized”. But I will assure you that I definitely do not feel that I’m being drawn away from Catholicism.

Like many, many, many Catholics I was born and baptised into the faith as a baby. But my religion didn’t take a hold of me until Jesus met me where I was. I felt growing up that God was this far away judge with the flowing beard that you cannot approach and get personal with. And the people in Church during the mass were all very serious and always looked like they’re mad. I understood that we need to give Him reverence but I thought He was distant and unreachable.

Not until I attended a charismatic youth retreat and learned that God desires to be known and He will meet you where ever you are in your life. That kindled a fire in my heart to know Him more and to experience His love more and I learned that the Church is for everybody. And what draws me to Him is that I can sing to Him and praise Him and worship Him any time and any place and in any music style. I love that I can pick up a guitar or put on a song on my iPod and worship Him impromptu and He puts His arms around me and embraces me and love me while I do.

I’m only speculating here but I think Bonnie and Lisa were referring to some charismatic music choirs that play a different brand of church music. And I agree with Lisa’s suggestion to seek instead for a mass/parish that’s more to your temperament. I’m sure there’s one near you. But I just want to clarify that we are not being led away from the Church just because we play a different style of music.

We play/sing for the 1pm mass in our parish and it is very different from the choir in the 9am mass. But I don’t believe that we are guilty of any sacrilege because of our musical selection. Of course the solemnity and reverence of the Mass should be respected and observed but I don’t believe that it’s being broken because the choir plays a contemporary song instead of a traditional church song. That’s like saying you can only pray the ‘Our Father’ and any other type of free-form prayer God wouldn’t listen to. Both forms still glorifies God and God accepts our worship. Though I agree that some can get carried away, like in Bonnie’s parish choir facing the congregation, but traditional choirs are sometimes guilty of that mistake too. And I hope and pray that we’re all open to correction when we misstep.

Lastly, I want to say that I have great respect for our Protestant brothers and sisters for their fervor and zeal in loving Jesus and proclaiming the gospel. It has been a personal prayer intention of mine that the Church will get revived by many Protestant converts and inject nominal Catholics sitting in their pews with the fire and zeal that they’ve had from their Protestant days. Just imagine if you take the passion and fire of pastors from the mega churches but equip them with the Truth of the Catholic Church that lukewarm, cradle Catholics will get inspired and trully get their Bibles and spread the Gospel to the world. Like how it was in the days of St. Peter and St. Paul and St. Barnabas and St. James, etc.

In Christ,
OMGJ
 
OMGJ said:
I’m only speculating here but I think Bonnie and Lisa were referring to some charismatic music choirs that play a different brand of church music. And I agree with Lisa’s suggestion to seek instead for a mass/parish that’s more to your temperament. I’m sure there’s one near you. But I just want to clarify that we are not being led away from the Church just because we play a different style of music.

We play/sing for the 1pm mass in our parish and it is very different from the choir in the 9am mass. But I don’t believe that we are guilty of any sacrilege because of our musical selection. Of course the solemnity and reverence of the Mass should be respected and observed but I don’t believe that it’s being broken because the choir plays a contemporary song instead of a traditional church song.

Lastly, I want to say that I have great respect for our Protestant brothers and sisters for their fervor and zeal in loving Jesus and proclaiming the gospel. It has been a personal prayer intention of mine that the Church will get revived by many Protestant converts and inject nominal Catholics sitting in their pews with the fire and zeal that they’ve had from their Protestant days. Just imagine if you take the passion and fire of pastors from the mega churches but equip them with the Truth of the Catholic Church that lukewarm, cradle Catholics will get inspired and trully get their Bibles and spread the Gospel to the world. Like how it was in the days of St. Peter and St. Paul and St. Barnabas and St. James, etc.

In Christ,
OMGJ
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LOVE your last paragraph and AMEN to that. I truly believe that all it takes to love the Church is to know the Church. Too often (to paraphrase Archbishop Sheen) people don’t like what they THINK is true about the Church when in fact they are responding to a mistruth. We do need to evangelize more effectively and frankly my Bible study group is using a book called “Just Walk Across The Room” by Bill Hybels a well known ‘mega church’ pastor. And I agree, using this book doesn’t Protestant-ize me any more than some praise music would Protestant-ize you.

I don’t think the Church has been very effective in evangelization. Maybe because growth came naturally by the birth of millions of Cradle Catholics who were presumed to continue with the faith. But your testimony and others’ stories feature a common thread, of drifting away and then only some Coming Home.

As a Convert I am also very aware of potential Reverts in my path and do not hesitate to invite them to return to Mass. Look around and you will find many who have drifted away–I found one at Trader Joe’s and she’s now back attending Mass with her daughters. Another was the receptionist at my health club who quit attending after the death of her husband. Another who just got out of the ‘habit’ of going to Mass and after a few conversations is now coming regularly. Especially at Christmas I think many are open to at least coming back for the season. Then it’s up to the Holy Spirit to speak to their heart about the Church.

Lisa
 
LisaA said:
Praise God you came home safely and thank you so much for the service and sacrifice you and your family made for all of us here at home.

Lisa A
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Thanks for the kind words Lisa. I’m glad to be home. 🙂
 
I am co-owner of a Catholic book store. And I thank God everyday that he made me Catholic.

My partner and I are so thankful for the opportunity to witness to reverts, converts and church going Catholics.

It is truly a blessing when someone you have had a conversation with goes to confession and is now back in the church. And then she witnesses to others right in the store! 👍
 
Cradle Catholic but non practicing for many years. I would consider myself a revert even though I did not follow any other faith.
 
I’m sort of a convert.

I went to a Lutheran church as a kid, but not regulalry. I went on youth rertreas and bible school in the summer, that sort of thing. I stopped going before confirmation started and was basically non-religious (but had a basic belief that God existed) until my mid 20’s when I started exploring.

I did everything from taking classes with a Lutheran Pastor to taking classes from Wiccans. I was left unsatisfied by both and then studied Islam, Buddhism,Judaism, LDS and many others. Again, nothing excited me or rang true.

When I was about 28 I met my futur wife and she was Catholic. In all my searching I had not consided Catholicism because of many preconcieved notions that were most definitely not true. However, after falling in love with my wife I decided Catholics are not all bad. 😛

It took me 2 years of going to mass with her and reading everthing unders the sun on the subject, but it finally clicked.
 
Fell away from the Church during college and graduate school. Came back in my final year of school, went through RCIA as an adult, and am grateful for the experience.

Peace,
Robert
 
Miriam1947 said:
I would love to hear your story.
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I would as well. We have several converts from Islam in our Parish. They are African, from Congo as I understand. I hope someday they will give their testimony as well. To convert from Islam is to face down martyrdom and I am so awed by your and their courage
Lisa
 
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