M
mayxanh
Guest
Please tell me the reasons. I am interested to listen to your stories of conversion.
Thanks.
Thanks.
- Status
M
Michael_Allen
Guest
For me it was the richness of both the prayer tradition and the grappling with theological thought over many centuries.
I had spent a number of years away from the Christian faith (exploring both other faiths and atheism). My wife, a Catholic, quietly continued her faith and when I felt a strong pull back to prayer, scripture reading and faith I explored the Catholic faith in more detail. I wasn’t so much impressed by the Catholic Church having all the answers, but I was impressed with how seriously it has grappled with the questions over very many centuries. I discovered there was so much more to the Catholic faith than I had realised - I discovered Merton, Nouwen and Kung, alongside Thérèse of Lisieux and Thomas à Kempis. I found that alongside beautiful liturgy there was a charismatic movement and a contemplative movement (especially in the wake of John Main).I found a solid centre and a more radical movement pushing away from that centre and engaging with the most difficult social issues of the day, perhaps mirroring Peter and Paul in some ways. I found a faith confident in itself, but also able to recognise the truth in other faiths.
I found a home, with Jesus and with other disciples spanning the world and spanning the centuries.
I had spent a number of years away from the Christian faith (exploring both other faiths and atheism). My wife, a Catholic, quietly continued her faith and when I felt a strong pull back to prayer, scripture reading and faith I explored the Catholic faith in more detail. I wasn’t so much impressed by the Catholic Church having all the answers, but I was impressed with how seriously it has grappled with the questions over very many centuries. I discovered there was so much more to the Catholic faith than I had realised - I discovered Merton, Nouwen and Kung, alongside Thérèse of Lisieux and Thomas à Kempis. I found that alongside beautiful liturgy there was a charismatic movement and a contemplative movement (especially in the wake of John Main).I found a solid centre and a more radical movement pushing away from that centre and engaging with the most difficult social issues of the day, perhaps mirroring Peter and Paul in some ways. I found a faith confident in itself, but also able to recognise the truth in other faiths.
I found a home, with Jesus and with other disciples spanning the world and spanning the centuries.
M
mayxanh
Guest
Michael
Thank you for your story. You mention Kung but I am heard that Kung has been away from the Church for quite long time (I don’t know if he has ever joined any other denomination).
Thank you for your story. You mention Kung but I am heard that Kung has been away from the Church for quite long time (I don’t know if he has ever joined any other denomination).
M
Michael_Allen
Guest
Hans Kung is still a priest in good standing with the Church, and is still very active in the Church, especially in writing. He is not allowed to teach theology in the name of the Church as some of his views are seen as a little radical. One of the things that has impressed me about the Church is how they are able to accommodate people like Hans Kung in the Church (and in the priesthood) without necessarily condoning his views - there is a greater tolerance to questioning, even from priests, than I had originally anticipated.
M
mayxanh
Guest
Really? But he seems to challenge the Church hierachical authorities, especially the infallibility of the pontiff. I remember he heavily criticized Pope Jean Paul II.
M
Michael_Allen
Guest
Yep, really - all his priestly faculties remain intact. He had somewhat of a reproachment with Pope Benedict a few years ago when they met for a meal to discuss theology (they had an academic relationship, but the two diverged in views). That is not to say you, or anyone else, should agree with Hans Kung (I have found his writings thoughtful and thought-provoking myself) - I quote the example simply as an example of a greater tolerance to questioning thought than is often associated with the Church. Sorry if that’s taken us off-topic.
M
MalaysianDan
Guest
For me it was the love of scripture, the Holy Bible. From a young age I was raised in a very strict Protestant environment and everyday there was a time committed to the study of the Bible. This continues to be one of my great loves, when I was about 13, I managed to memorize the whole text, but I was not able to fully understand the Bible completely. I felt a spiritual emptiness and I craved for more. I stumbled across the works of St. Augustine (specifically; On Christian Doctrine, the City of God, On the Grace of Christ and on Original Sin, On Nature and Grace and Confessions), which inspired me to learn more about the Catholic Church. I then stumbled upon a letter from St.Jerome to Eustochium; it is a long document, but the quote that struck me most was “For if, according to the apostle Paul, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God and who does not know scripture does not know the power or the wisdom of God, then ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ.” My eyes were suddenly opened and I realized how ignorant I was of Christ and scripture, it was a really humbling and amazing experience. I think my post is getting a little to long. ^^ If you are interested to know more, feel free to PM me anytime.
-dan.
-dan.
M
mayxanh
Guest
Thank you, Dan, Michael, for your sharings.
The_Reginator
Active member
Why did I convert? It was a question of authority.
I was raised as an Anglican and baptized at age six in a protestant chapel on an RCAF base.
Our family went to church almost every Sunday. I still recall that the first, third, and fifth Sunday the Eucharist was celebrated.
At age 12 I had a ‘religious experience’ of sorts. (I won’t go into detail here.) I later asked for a bible and, unlike my peers, became serious about my Christianity.
Then a long journey began …
While at university a couple of former Anglican friends introduced me to a new concept of ‘church’: A church established by Jesus Christ and having Apostolic Succession. (They believed at the time, as did I for many years, that the Anglican community had Apostolic Succession.)
I married a Roman Catholic girl a few years later, and after starting our own home we both attended Catholic Mass on Sundays. This went on for about 15 years.
One Catholic friend gave me a (very) little book by Paul Whitcomb called “Confession of a Roman Catholic”. What I learned that stuck with me was that Jesus established His Church upon Peter and the this same Church has taught with authority throughout history. (I do not recall if the author made this point, but that is what I got out of the book.)
I was still attending the Anglican parish in town during Lent and Easter, but I became uncomfortably aware of how no one ever knew for sure what the Anglicans taught. But the Catholic Church taught with consistency and authority. How else would the Holy Spirit communicate with man?
So I had no choice. There were a number of teachings I had to struggle through due to my ‘low church’ upbringing, but I understood one evening that whatever the Church taught was what the Holy Spirit taught. I simply decided that I had to accept these things if I wanted to become a Catholic.
I could write a bit more, but that is the “why”.
I was raised as an Anglican and baptized at age six in a protestant chapel on an RCAF base.
Our family went to church almost every Sunday. I still recall that the first, third, and fifth Sunday the Eucharist was celebrated.
At age 12 I had a ‘religious experience’ of sorts. (I won’t go into detail here.) I later asked for a bible and, unlike my peers, became serious about my Christianity.
Then a long journey began …
While at university a couple of former Anglican friends introduced me to a new concept of ‘church’: A church established by Jesus Christ and having Apostolic Succession. (They believed at the time, as did I for many years, that the Anglican community had Apostolic Succession.)
I married a Roman Catholic girl a few years later, and after starting our own home we both attended Catholic Mass on Sundays. This went on for about 15 years.
One Catholic friend gave me a (very) little book by Paul Whitcomb called “Confession of a Roman Catholic”. What I learned that stuck with me was that Jesus established His Church upon Peter and the this same Church has taught with authority throughout history. (I do not recall if the author made this point, but that is what I got out of the book.)
I was still attending the Anglican parish in town during Lent and Easter, but I became uncomfortably aware of how no one ever knew for sure what the Anglicans taught. But the Catholic Church taught with consistency and authority. How else would the Holy Spirit communicate with man?
So I had no choice. There were a number of teachings I had to struggle through due to my ‘low church’ upbringing, but I understood one evening that whatever the Church taught was what the Holy Spirit taught. I simply decided that I had to accept these things if I wanted to become a Catholic.
I could write a bit more, but that is the “why”.
M
mayxanh
Guest
Thank you Reginator, feel free to write more, I love to hear from you 
Dan, Please continue your amazing story
Dan, Please continue your amazing story
K
Kal2012
Guest
- Family Unity
- Authority - Truth - Closest to Christ - Fullness of Christ
- Structure/Clarity
T
Texsain
Guest
This Easter will mark ten years since I entered the Church! Deo gratias! 
I was raised Baptist and my parents were (and still are) fairly devout Baptists. We would always go to church on Sunday morning, and often on Sunday night (a separate service). Rarely (but sometimes) we would go on Wednesday nights as well. My father was a deacon in our church. We prayed regularly together at home, and I truly believed in Jesus, though I was far from devout. Unlike many of my friends, I never became involved in child or youth groups beyond the minimum of what my parents required. I was baptized on September 22, 1991, when I was 7 years old.
For my first two years in high school (and some time before that) I protested and refused to go to church at all, and told my parents that I no longer believed in God. This caused them great hardship, but I don’t think I was really an atheist. Rather, at this time (as is not uncommon) I began having severe periods of depression and mood swings, and my parents (so it seemed to me) did not notice, despite sometimes blatant statements (as in, “Mom, I’ve been feeling very depressed for several months now.”) I took out a lot of personal frustrations on God, but He drilled through the hardness of my heart and spoke to me loud and clear on September 4, 2000.
It was Labor Day so I did not have school. An old family friend who had Parkinson’s had died and his funeral was held that day. I don’t know if it was the realization of my own mortality or something else, but I saw how foolish and angry I had been, and I prayed for God to take me back; I know He did.
The next Sunday I went to church with my parents, which surprised them, but not my sister. She saw how much I wept at the funeral, and that something had changed inside me. There at our church, I made the Baptist “altar call” again and publicly professed my faith in Christ Jesus. On October 1, 2000, I was “re-baptized.” (The Church counts my first baptism as the valid one.) Since for most Baptists the act of baptism is seen not as a sacrament but as an outward profession of faith (an “ordinance”) there is nothing wrong with re-baptism, per se. Some churches practice it commonly, while for others it is quite rare. At my church, it was occasionally done but typically only when someone came from a church in which they were baptized as an infant (eg. Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopal, etc.)
After this point, I never looked back, though there have been times where I’ve been angry at God and turned away from Him, without fully denying Him.
About a year later, during my junior year of high school, I began investigating the Catholic Church because the girl I was dating (and who would later become my wife) was Catholic. I don’t like it when people say that I converted “because of her” because (to my ears) that implies that I converted without regards to the truth, but only for pragmatic purposes when it was clear we wanted to get married. (That being said, I do acknowledge that if she were something else -such as Seventh-Day Adventist with the rest of her extended family- I would have likely researched SDAs instead.)
Ever since my second baptism there was a nagging thought in the back of my head. The pastor of my Baptist church had said baptism is merely a symbol, and outward profession of faith. It doesn’t do anything to the soul. It does not wash our sins from us. This bothered me, because I remember explicitly being taught as a child that it does was our sins from us, literally. It wasn’t until later that I learned that almost all Baptists believe it is a symbol, and very few believe it is more than that. Nevertheless, I wanted to know: which is it? If it is a symbol, then it is not that important to be baptized. If it literally washes away our sins, then everyone needs to be baptized!
It also bothered me how I could be taught one thing as a child, then a couple of years later, be taught something else. My interpretation for what happened was that there was a change in pastors. I don’t know if that is wholly true, but from experience I do know that the dynamic and beliefs of an individual Baptist church is largely dependent on the pastor, deacons, and other elders/leaders of the church.
Truly, if there is any one thing that convinced me to become Catholic, it was not the Pope, or Mary, or even the Eucharist, but rather continuity. Soon after I first began reading up about Catholicism and compared it to Protestantism, I was shocked at the continuity of Catholicism and the discontinuity of Protestant denominations! I believed strongly that truth does not change, because Jesus, who is truth, “is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow” (Heb. 13:8). So I concluded that for a Christian denomination to be legit, there has to be continuity in teaching throughout history.
It was at this point, as a senior in high school, when I had only been to Mass twice (both times a daily Mass), that I knew I wanted to become Catholic. I didn’t want to rush into the decision, however. So I continued to read more. I started going to Mass regularly (every week) beginning Christmas 2001. Every Sunday, I would go with my girlfriend and her family to Mass at 8am, and she would come with me and my family to the Baptist church at 10:45. Ultimately, my first year in college at Texas A&M I signed up for RCIA and was confirmed at the Easter Vigil, on April 19, 2003.
I was raised Baptist and my parents were (and still are) fairly devout Baptists. We would always go to church on Sunday morning, and often on Sunday night (a separate service). Rarely (but sometimes) we would go on Wednesday nights as well. My father was a deacon in our church. We prayed regularly together at home, and I truly believed in Jesus, though I was far from devout. Unlike many of my friends, I never became involved in child or youth groups beyond the minimum of what my parents required. I was baptized on September 22, 1991, when I was 7 years old.
For my first two years in high school (and some time before that) I protested and refused to go to church at all, and told my parents that I no longer believed in God. This caused them great hardship, but I don’t think I was really an atheist. Rather, at this time (as is not uncommon) I began having severe periods of depression and mood swings, and my parents (so it seemed to me) did not notice, despite sometimes blatant statements (as in, “Mom, I’ve been feeling very depressed for several months now.”) I took out a lot of personal frustrations on God, but He drilled through the hardness of my heart and spoke to me loud and clear on September 4, 2000.
It was Labor Day so I did not have school. An old family friend who had Parkinson’s had died and his funeral was held that day. I don’t know if it was the realization of my own mortality or something else, but I saw how foolish and angry I had been, and I prayed for God to take me back; I know He did.
The next Sunday I went to church with my parents, which surprised them, but not my sister. She saw how much I wept at the funeral, and that something had changed inside me. There at our church, I made the Baptist “altar call” again and publicly professed my faith in Christ Jesus. On October 1, 2000, I was “re-baptized.” (The Church counts my first baptism as the valid one.) Since for most Baptists the act of baptism is seen not as a sacrament but as an outward profession of faith (an “ordinance”) there is nothing wrong with re-baptism, per se. Some churches practice it commonly, while for others it is quite rare. At my church, it was occasionally done but typically only when someone came from a church in which they were baptized as an infant (eg. Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopal, etc.)
After this point, I never looked back, though there have been times where I’ve been angry at God and turned away from Him, without fully denying Him.
About a year later, during my junior year of high school, I began investigating the Catholic Church because the girl I was dating (and who would later become my wife) was Catholic. I don’t like it when people say that I converted “because of her” because (to my ears) that implies that I converted without regards to the truth, but only for pragmatic purposes when it was clear we wanted to get married. (That being said, I do acknowledge that if she were something else -such as Seventh-Day Adventist with the rest of her extended family- I would have likely researched SDAs instead.)
Ever since my second baptism there was a nagging thought in the back of my head. The pastor of my Baptist church had said baptism is merely a symbol, and outward profession of faith. It doesn’t do anything to the soul. It does not wash our sins from us. This bothered me, because I remember explicitly being taught as a child that it does was our sins from us, literally. It wasn’t until later that I learned that almost all Baptists believe it is a symbol, and very few believe it is more than that. Nevertheless, I wanted to know: which is it? If it is a symbol, then it is not that important to be baptized. If it literally washes away our sins, then everyone needs to be baptized!
It also bothered me how I could be taught one thing as a child, then a couple of years later, be taught something else. My interpretation for what happened was that there was a change in pastors. I don’t know if that is wholly true, but from experience I do know that the dynamic and beliefs of an individual Baptist church is largely dependent on the pastor, deacons, and other elders/leaders of the church.
Truly, if there is any one thing that convinced me to become Catholic, it was not the Pope, or Mary, or even the Eucharist, but rather continuity. Soon after I first began reading up about Catholicism and compared it to Protestantism, I was shocked at the continuity of Catholicism and the discontinuity of Protestant denominations! I believed strongly that truth does not change, because Jesus, who is truth, “is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow” (Heb. 13:8). So I concluded that for a Christian denomination to be legit, there has to be continuity in teaching throughout history.
It was at this point, as a senior in high school, when I had only been to Mass twice (both times a daily Mass), that I knew I wanted to become Catholic. I didn’t want to rush into the decision, however. So I continued to read more. I started going to Mass regularly (every week) beginning Christmas 2001. Every Sunday, I would go with my girlfriend and her family to Mass at 8am, and she would come with me and my family to the Baptist church at 10:45. Ultimately, my first year in college at Texas A&M I signed up for RCIA and was confirmed at the Easter Vigil, on April 19, 2003.
O
october_baby
Guest
I came to the realisation not long after I converted to catholicism, that God had led me to
catholicism. Let me explain. When I became a christian in 2001, I knew nothing about Jesus
or christianity. I joined a pentecostal church, they did not have a christian teaching program,
so I read everything I could christianity and started reading about the bible and reading the
bible. Now,I found out that Catholicism was the first church, but came to the conclusion
that somehow over time that it had gotton things wrong. But I noticed that there was a disconnect on protestant theology (ie sola scriptures, sola fide, and once saved always saved.) I was confused, who was right, who was wrong? I didn’t consider catholicism
because I thought it had gotton things wrong. So in desperation I prayed to God to
lead me to the one true church. Well, to make a long story short, after 3 pentecostal
churches later, in 2004 I broke down and started RICA. About mid-way through the class,
I realized that everything I thought about catholicism was wrong and that God led me to the catholic church.
catholicism. Let me explain. When I became a christian in 2001, I knew nothing about Jesus
or christianity. I joined a pentecostal church, they did not have a christian teaching program,
so I read everything I could christianity and started reading about the bible and reading the
bible. Now,I found out that Catholicism was the first church, but came to the conclusion
that somehow over time that it had gotton things wrong. But I noticed that there was a disconnect on protestant theology (ie sola scriptures, sola fide, and once saved always saved.) I was confused, who was right, who was wrong? I didn’t consider catholicism
because I thought it had gotton things wrong. So in desperation I prayed to God to
lead me to the one true church. Well, to make a long story short, after 3 pentecostal
churches later, in 2004 I broke down and started RICA. About mid-way through the class,
I realized that everything I thought about catholicism was wrong and that God led me to the catholic church.
1
1ke
Guest
Because it holds the fullness of truth.
M
Melissa
Guest
I’ll try to keep it relatively short.
I grew up in a non-denominational Christian household. I fully subscribed to those beliefs that I had been taught. I was the very model of what everyone would think that a good Christian girl should be … but it was hollow. That hollowness was no doubt part of what brought me into a situation which I now know would be described as being in the state of mortal sin. Suddenly, I just could not believe that God would just throw a vat of dye over my sins and call it all good. I wrestled mightily, and made it part way … I became Episcopalian.
I went on to marry a man who was nominally Catholic (I say nominally because, to be brutally honest, his Catholicism was something that got brought out if it was useful, but he’d ignore anything inconvenient). But I began to feel some tugs toward the Church.
So, in May 1997, I began the month by deciding that I was going to pray the rosary every day. I had been working in receiving, and honestly talked a lot like the truck drivers … so I offered the rosary for control of my tongue. Within two weeks, I was no longer using or thinking those words. At the same time, I was being mightily bothered by the Church’s teachings and that I wanted to be Catholic except that I just didn’t believe in the whole teaching re: contraception. So, I decided I would pray my rosary for the intention of “understanding” the teaching. Now, mind you–I honestly thought that it was impossible to understand because it didn’t make sense, and that impossibility was my “out” against obeying. Well, on the third day of this, I was alone in the house when I heard a Voice. The Voice tells me “Obey.” I’m kind of hard-headed, and I protest, “but I want to understand!” The Voice replied, “I want obedience.” Whoa. May 17, 1997, the day I ceased to be Protestant. In that one moment, I saw with a new clarity that disobedience and pride marked all of the divisions within Christianity, and that if I were to obey, there was only one place for me–the Catholic Church.
I still had to go through the pro forma means of conversion, and so I entered the Church officially on April 11, 1998.
Oh, and as a p.s.–a short time later, the issue of Catholic Dossier arrived, and happened to be devoted to the subject of contraception and Church teaching on that topic. So I got the understanding after beginning to obey.
I grew up in a non-denominational Christian household. I fully subscribed to those beliefs that I had been taught. I was the very model of what everyone would think that a good Christian girl should be … but it was hollow. That hollowness was no doubt part of what brought me into a situation which I now know would be described as being in the state of mortal sin. Suddenly, I just could not believe that God would just throw a vat of dye over my sins and call it all good. I wrestled mightily, and made it part way … I became Episcopalian.
I went on to marry a man who was nominally Catholic (I say nominally because, to be brutally honest, his Catholicism was something that got brought out if it was useful, but he’d ignore anything inconvenient). But I began to feel some tugs toward the Church.
So, in May 1997, I began the month by deciding that I was going to pray the rosary every day. I had been working in receiving, and honestly talked a lot like the truck drivers … so I offered the rosary for control of my tongue. Within two weeks, I was no longer using or thinking those words. At the same time, I was being mightily bothered by the Church’s teachings and that I wanted to be Catholic except that I just didn’t believe in the whole teaching re: contraception. So, I decided I would pray my rosary for the intention of “understanding” the teaching. Now, mind you–I honestly thought that it was impossible to understand because it didn’t make sense, and that impossibility was my “out” against obeying. Well, on the third day of this, I was alone in the house when I heard a Voice. The Voice tells me “Obey.” I’m kind of hard-headed, and I protest, “but I want to understand!” The Voice replied, “I want obedience.” Whoa. May 17, 1997, the day I ceased to be Protestant. In that one moment, I saw with a new clarity that disobedience and pride marked all of the divisions within Christianity, and that if I were to obey, there was only one place for me–the Catholic Church.
I still had to go through the pro forma means of conversion, and so I entered the Church officially on April 11, 1998.
Oh, and as a p.s.–a short time later, the issue of Catholic Dossier arrived, and happened to be devoted to the subject of contraception and Church teaching on that topic. So I got the understanding after beginning to obey.
L
lutherlic
Guest
I maintain a good resource on this here. There are links to stories of bloggers converts, to other good archives and to books.
C
CleverUserName
Guest
Because it is the Truth.
B
brb3
Guest
1.) Historical record verified CC as the first and last Church of Apostles.
2.) The Sacraments are most efficacious, esp. the Eucharist
3.) The recent Popes have been awesome minds & tremendous servants of Christ. And JP2 was greatest evangelist for CC in last 2 centuries. John Paul the Great !!
4.) CAF played a large role …esp. Apologetic& Sacred Scripture forums.
5.) Christ via HS …was daily pointing to the CC, as the one, universal Church where all races met together to worship in faith & reason.
6.) The writings of ECF’s were unmistakably Catholic
7.) Council of Trent was crucial testimony
8.) Recent Papal Encyclicals were overpowering testimony to truth
9.) The CCC, in its original Vaticano Edition 1992, is w/o error …and next to the Bible, the greatest book & testimony to Christ & his Church ever written ! It is the guidebook for Catholics in the 21st century …and, will accomplish Ecumenicism goals of CC, if a copy is placed in every Protestant’s hands.
10.) No other ecclesial church values the Saints as fully as the CC.
11.) No other church is found so widely, in every land, and accessible to any new convert.
12.) No other Church is the complete package, …only the CC can fulfil the role of the KINGDOM HAS COME UPON YOU…the fulfillment of GreatCommission, and while she has stumbled…she has never failed, over the entire 2 Millennia.
2.) The Sacraments are most efficacious, esp. the Eucharist
3.) The recent Popes have been awesome minds & tremendous servants of Christ. And JP2 was greatest evangelist for CC in last 2 centuries. John Paul the Great !!
4.) CAF played a large role …esp. Apologetic& Sacred Scripture forums.
5.) Christ via HS …was daily pointing to the CC, as the one, universal Church where all races met together to worship in faith & reason.
6.) The writings of ECF’s were unmistakably Catholic
7.) Council of Trent was crucial testimony
8.) Recent Papal Encyclicals were overpowering testimony to truth
9.) The CCC, in its original Vaticano Edition 1992, is w/o error …and next to the Bible, the greatest book & testimony to Christ & his Church ever written ! It is the guidebook for Catholics in the 21st century …and, will accomplish Ecumenicism goals of CC, if a copy is placed in every Protestant’s hands.
10.) No other ecclesial church values the Saints as fully as the CC.
11.) No other church is found so widely, in every land, and accessible to any new convert.
12.) No other Church is the complete package, …only the CC can fulfil the role of the KINGDOM HAS COME UPON YOU…the fulfillment of GreatCommission, and while she has stumbled…she has never failed, over the entire 2 Millennia.
J
jesuspsr
Guest
I love threads like this. No matter how long, I read every post. Thank you all.
God bless
jesus g
God bless
jesus g
M
michaelhager
Guest
I was raised Presbyterian, I married a Catholic girl. We raised our children in both churches, all three eventually chose confirmation in the Catholic church of their own accord, no pressure from Mom or Dad.
I will tell you that I became quite interested in the Catholic church and eventually even sang in the Catholic choir, two services every Sunday morning for four years. During that time, the Parish Priest who knew very well that I was not Catholic only asked me once if I had considered confirmation.
I told him that I declined because I did not agree with the practice that as a non Catholic I was not welcomed at communion, while in my Presbyterian churches nobody was ever turned away. My belief that Christ would not have turned me way at the last supper had I asked to join him.
Unfortunately, that priest accepted my reasoning and didn’t even try to explain the differences to me. He just thanked me for my gift of music and accepted me as I was.
Eventually we moved to another state and My wife suggested the Catholic Church in town for Christmas eve mass. We attended for the first time and the feeling of the congregation, the priest celebrating the mass and the contemporary Youth band at that particular mass just all felt like home.
We hadn’t even considered the idea of joining this church yet and my wife turned to me during the preparation song and said “You should join the choir here.”
I don’t know why but I joined that night after mass. I became active in the youth program, joined a Parish praise band that plays at venues for, and outside of the parish and was quite happy to be a non-Catholic member of the church.
In 2009 Michael Cumbie, a converted Baptist Pastor gave a three day talk at our church about evangelization and apologetics. During the course of the third evenings talk he discussed the Eucharist, reconciliation, transubstantiation, and the importance of being spiritually prepared to receive the most holy body and blood of Christ, and I finally got it.
I walked out of the talk, shook his hand and told him that he had laid the last brick on my road to conversion. I joined the next RCIA class, and accepted my conversion at Easter Vigil 2010.
I am still in the music ministry, although now leading the vocal section of the youth band, I am a member of the adult core team of the Life Teen program, I am the lead male singer in our praise band “Fish On Fridays”, I serve on the church communications committee and help my wife in our photography ministry that supplies photographers from within the parish to record ministry events throughout the year.
Oh, and lest I forget to mention… I LOVE BEING CATHOLIC!
I will tell you that I became quite interested in the Catholic church and eventually even sang in the Catholic choir, two services every Sunday morning for four years. During that time, the Parish Priest who knew very well that I was not Catholic only asked me once if I had considered confirmation.
I told him that I declined because I did not agree with the practice that as a non Catholic I was not welcomed at communion, while in my Presbyterian churches nobody was ever turned away. My belief that Christ would not have turned me way at the last supper had I asked to join him.
Unfortunately, that priest accepted my reasoning and didn’t even try to explain the differences to me. He just thanked me for my gift of music and accepted me as I was.
Eventually we moved to another state and My wife suggested the Catholic Church in town for Christmas eve mass. We attended for the first time and the feeling of the congregation, the priest celebrating the mass and the contemporary Youth band at that particular mass just all felt like home.
We hadn’t even considered the idea of joining this church yet and my wife turned to me during the preparation song and said “You should join the choir here.”
I don’t know why but I joined that night after mass. I became active in the youth program, joined a Parish praise band that plays at venues for, and outside of the parish and was quite happy to be a non-Catholic member of the church.
In 2009 Michael Cumbie, a converted Baptist Pastor gave a three day talk at our church about evangelization and apologetics. During the course of the third evenings talk he discussed the Eucharist, reconciliation, transubstantiation, and the importance of being spiritually prepared to receive the most holy body and blood of Christ, and I finally got it.
I walked out of the talk, shook his hand and told him that he had laid the last brick on my road to conversion. I joined the next RCIA class, and accepted my conversion at Easter Vigil 2010.
I am still in the music ministry, although now leading the vocal section of the youth band, I am a member of the adult core team of the Life Teen program, I am the lead male singer in our praise band “Fish On Fridays”, I serve on the church communications committee and help my wife in our photography ministry that supplies photographers from within the parish to record ministry events throughout the year.
Oh, and lest I forget to mention… I LOVE BEING CATHOLIC!
- Status