Navigators in Catholic Church

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AServantofGod

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Who exactly are the navigators? I thought they were an evangelical group but now I hear that they have groups in the Catholic Church. If so, is their intent to convert Catholics or are they Catholics who want to help other Catholics have a closer relationship with Jesus Christ?
 
This is the first item in their statement of faith:

We Believe:
Code: 
* That the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are inspired by God and inerrant in the original writings, and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life.
They are sola scripture, which indeed makes one wonder how a Catholic could join them.

Blessings,

Gerry
 
It sounds to me like a sola scriptura group whose mission is to save souls including those poor Catholics who haven’t been taught any better. We’ve been asked to sponsor somebody but will have to say no.

Thanks all!
 
Unrelated, but FYI anyway,

When the term “Navigator” is used in Catholic circles, especially among Catholic men, the subject under discussion may be the presiding officer in a Knights of Columbus Fourth Degree Assembly, whose title is Faithful Navigator. This and other nautical titles for Fourth Degree officers is taken in memory of Christopher Columbus, the Catholic explorer who navigated the Atlantic and brought Christ to the New World. When in regalia, a Faithful Navigator or Past Faithful Navigator (unless he holds some higher office) wears a white cape and plumes.

As with all Knights of Columbus, Faithful Navigators must be practical Catholic gentlemen, so should not be confused woth sola scriptura adherents or the like.
 
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AServantofGod:
Who exactly are the navigators? I thought they were an evangelical group but now I hear that they have groups in the Catholic Church. If so, is their intent to convert Catholics or are they Catholics who want to help other Catholics have a closer relationship with Jesus Christ?
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The Navigators are USUALLY Protestant Evangelicals, of any denomination, who purpose together to memorize Scripture and to study it together. This being their primary purpose, it is entirely possible they have launched a Catholic wing of their group. The orientation of the organization as a whole may be rather more Protestant than Catholic but the local group may consist almost entirely of devout Roman Catholics who are faithful to your magisterium. You might want to check into this a tad more–it is also possible that someone has founded some sort of Catholic group which uses the name ‘Navigators’ for something unrelated to the larger ‘Navigators’ of which we have all been speaking.
 
I am a former evangelical who converted to the Catholic faith in 2003. I attended college in the early 1980’s and was a member of the Navigators. The Navigators are a campus ministry similar to Campus Crusade for Christ and InterVarsity. They typically have a young couple serving as staff at the university and they conduct on campus bible studies, train the students to do dorm evangelism and they encourage lots of bible memorization.

In the 1980’s they considered Catholic students as targets for evangelization. However this may be changing. I am still in contact with an old college friend that is now full time with the Navigators. In one of the recent newsletters they mentioned that they have staff at an Ohio Catholic University. It may have been Xavier. They mentioned in the newsletter that they are not trying to convert the Catholic students but rather are helping the Catholics better understand the bible through on campus bible studies. I was floored! This would never have happened when I was in school. This may be what you’re running across.
 
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AServantofGod:
Who exactly are the navigators? I thought they were an evangelical group but now I hear that they have groups in the Catholic Church. If so, is their intent to convert Catholics or are they Catholics who want to help other Catholics have a closer relationship with Jesus Christ?
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Never heard of them.
 
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GWitherow:
I am a former evangelical who converted to the Catholic faith in 2003. I attended college in the early 1980’s and was a member of the Navigators. The Navigators are a campus ministry similar to Campus Crusade for Christ and InterVarsity. They typically have a young couple serving as staff at the university and they conduct on campus bible studies, train the students to do dorm evangelism and they encourage lots of bible memorization.

In the 1980’s they considered Catholic students as targets for evangelization. However this may be changing. I am still in contact with an old college friend that is now full time with the Navigators. In one of the recent newsletters they mentioned that they have staff at an Ohio Catholic University. It may have been Xavier. They mentioned in the newsletter that they are not trying to convert the Catholic students but rather are helping the Catholics better understand the bible through on campus bible studies. I was floored! This would never have happened when I was in school. This may be what you’re running across.
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This is the group I’m running across through my brother-in-law (a born again Christian) and a friend of his. His friend, a navigator, feels that he and his wife were called to be in the Catholic Church. His intentions seem good; however, I wander if they are not misguided. For this reason we are looking into it further.

I am not quite sure what his beliefs really are. He says God called him. I think there is a basic feeling of, “here is another group lacking in Bible knowledge & correct understanding” rather than “here is the church that holds the truth”. What kind of questions can I ask to determine this?
 
Dear AServantofGod,

I guess you want to find out if this person is really a Catholic at heart? Here’s some basic questions that will clue you in real fast.
  1. Do you believe that Christ established only one visible Church, that being the Catholic Church?
  2. Do you believe the final authority in matters of faith and morals is the Bible only (i.e. sola fide) or Sacred Tradition and the Bible as interpreted by the magisterium of the Catholic Church?
  3. Do you hold to the teachings of the Catholic Church as defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church?
You probably won’t have to ask him anymore than these questions to determine if he’s an orthodox Catholic or a stealth Protestant in Catholic name only. Any wavering or hedging of his answers probably means he’s a Catholic not well formed in his faith and therefore probably shouldn’t be leading Bible studies until he’s better grounded.

God bless,
Greg
 
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GWitherow:
Dear AServantofGod,

I guess you want to find out if this person is really a Catholic at heart? Here’s some basic questions that will clue you in real fast.
  1. Do you believe that Christ established only one visible Church, that being the Catholic Church?
  2. Do you believe the final authority in matters of faith and morals is the Bible only (i.e. sola fide) or Sacred Tradition and the Bible as interpreted by the magisterium of the Catholic Church?
  3. Do you hold to the teachings of the Catholic Church as defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church?
You probably won’t have to ask him anymore than these questions to determine if he’s an orthodox Catholic or a stealth Protestant in Catholic name only. Any wavering or hedging of his answers probably means he’s a Catholic not well formed in his faith and therefore probably shouldn’t be leading Bible studies until he’s better grounded.

God bless,
Greg
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I agree this is a good test.

I’ve noticed an interesting trend of Protestants who are joining the Church, but on their own terms. They seem to think they can be Catholics in good standing, while rejecting some Church teachings and clinging to erroneous (Protestant) ones. In effect they are picking and choosing. Personally, I think it is a natural outgrowth of dissenting cradle Catholics who also want to be called Catholic while rejecting the Church’s essential teachings.
 
Would you also include a question as to their belief in the authority of the church and also a question on the real presence?
 
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AServantofGod:
Would you also include a question as to their belief in the authority of the church and also a question on the real presence?
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Actually the second question I suggested is focused on what they they the final authority on matters of faith and morals is.

A question about the real presence wouldn’t hurt but sometimes this can be murky as to what they mean by “real presence”. Luther had one definition, the Church has another.

I think the 3 questions I listed will clear the fog as to where they stand.

God bless,
Greg
 
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GWitherow:
Actually the second question I suggested is focused on what they they the final authority on matters of faith and morals is.

A question about the real presence wouldn’t hurt but sometimes this can be murky as to what they mean by “real presence”. Luther had one definition, the Church has another.

I think the 3 questions I listed will clear the fog as to where they stand.

God bless,
Greg
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Thanks!
 
I knew some Navigators from several years back. They were all devout anti-Catholics. If there is a Catholic group names ‘Navigator’ I have never heard of it inside the Catholic Church.
 
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