P
pablope
Guest
Thanks for your story, Chris…you may want to consider posting it here…chnetwork.org/converts.html
- Status
C
Chris_Rendall
Guest
I’ll definitely consider that.
L
Laurie_86
Guest
Chris - Congrats on joining the Church! I hope you have a great 1st Easter it is an experience to remember! 
Julie - Be patient with the journey it will take time. I encourage you to get “Rome Sweet Home” as others have said as well as “Catholicism for Dummies”. It sounds like a strange book but I found it very helpful especially if like myself you knew next to nothing when you started the process.
I grew up like quite a few of you in the Methodist church. I was very active in my faith from a young age in part thanks to my aunt who encouraged us to go to church with her. My parents were mainly Christmas and Easter Christians until I was in middle school. I joined a rather progressive thinking Methodist church when I was in middle school with my step-mom who became very active as well, and it was actually my youth pastor senior year who first introduced me to Catholicism. He was a hard core Methodist and slightly anti-Catholic so I know he would be horrified that his innocent talks about how to defend the Protestant faith against other faiths was instrumental in my conversion to Catholicism. lol But at the time I wasn’t ready to convert so the idea of Catholicism went on the back burner.
But after high school when I stayed in the area for college I was discouraged by the radical views they began to take on as well as their lack of a young adult ministry beyond high school. So I started church hopping to different denominations. I went everywhere from Methodist churches like I grew up in to non-denominational churches to mega Baptist churches with thousands of members. All of them varied so greatly in beliefs. I think what discouraged me the most was by one non-denominational church I went to with a good friend that stated if you were depressed, had severe headaches, or any health issues you weren’t praying hard enough or as one pastor of the church said you weren’t giving enough money. I knew at the time this was a small minority but they had thousands of members buying into this literally with both their attendance and money.
I also at this time began researching birth control as my sisters both got on the pill for medical reasons and i was encouraged to do the same by a GYN. When I found out that it didn’t prevent pregnancy but instead aborted the child I was very shocked. At the time I was still at the Methodist church I had grown up in so I told several members and a few church leaders only to be told birth control was not morally wrong and the right decision for Protestants. That frustrated me a lot to know the church I went to was “pro-life” in the sense that they did not support abortion and yet openly supported birth control.
I started researching alternatives thinking “maybe there’s a pill that doesn’t do this”. Nope none. And the only place I found that didn’t support birth control was the Catholic Church which at that point I had told myself I would never convert to. The idea of NFP at the time seemed crazy and I still couldn’t justify Mary, purgatory, and confession.
I started dating in college and told myself that I needed to find a man who would support my desire not to use birth control. I dated some very faithful Protestant men only to find they did not share my same convection about birth control and concerns about the varying beliefs on the Protestant faith.
Then 3 years ago I met my now DH.
He was Catholic and very active with his faith. This both intrigued me and made me nervous. I wasn’t going to convert still and made that clear from the start. He was very patient and never forced the option but made it clear our children would be raised Catholic. As we were dating I, of course, wanted to know why it was so important that they be raised Catholic. In the process of our first year of dating I not only fell in love with him and was engaged but also fell in love with the Church.
I still remember Labor Day weekend 2008 reading through the Last Supper as I had done many times that summer trying to reconcile the Eucharist when it hit me that when Jesus said “This is my body” and This is my Blood" he meant it. I also reread the teaching where Jesus was teaching in John 6 that he is the Bread of Life. I always wondered why the apostles were so concerned by this. If it was just a symbol why were they so shocked? This was no symbol I came to realize over that weekend. I realized then I needed to convert and began RCIA a week later. I still had doubts about the importance of Mary, purgatory, and confession, but realized Christ would guide me to them as he had guided me to understanding the Eucharist. And Christ never gave up on me despite the many times I nearly gave up on the journey.
This will be my 2nd Easter in the church and I am more excited than ever at being apart of it. Thanks for letting me share my story and to those of you still discerning where Christ is leading you be patient but open. The journey is worth it!
Julie - Be patient with the journey it will take time. I encourage you to get “Rome Sweet Home” as others have said as well as “Catholicism for Dummies”. It sounds like a strange book but I found it very helpful especially if like myself you knew next to nothing when you started the process.
I grew up like quite a few of you in the Methodist church. I was very active in my faith from a young age in part thanks to my aunt who encouraged us to go to church with her. My parents were mainly Christmas and Easter Christians until I was in middle school. I joined a rather progressive thinking Methodist church when I was in middle school with my step-mom who became very active as well, and it was actually my youth pastor senior year who first introduced me to Catholicism. He was a hard core Methodist and slightly anti-Catholic so I know he would be horrified that his innocent talks about how to defend the Protestant faith against other faiths was instrumental in my conversion to Catholicism. lol But at the time I wasn’t ready to convert so the idea of Catholicism went on the back burner.
But after high school when I stayed in the area for college I was discouraged by the radical views they began to take on as well as their lack of a young adult ministry beyond high school. So I started church hopping to different denominations. I went everywhere from Methodist churches like I grew up in to non-denominational churches to mega Baptist churches with thousands of members. All of them varied so greatly in beliefs. I think what discouraged me the most was by one non-denominational church I went to with a good friend that stated if you were depressed, had severe headaches, or any health issues you weren’t praying hard enough or as one pastor of the church said you weren’t giving enough money. I knew at the time this was a small minority but they had thousands of members buying into this literally with both their attendance and money.
I also at this time began researching birth control as my sisters both got on the pill for medical reasons and i was encouraged to do the same by a GYN. When I found out that it didn’t prevent pregnancy but instead aborted the child I was very shocked. At the time I was still at the Methodist church I had grown up in so I told several members and a few church leaders only to be told birth control was not morally wrong and the right decision for Protestants. That frustrated me a lot to know the church I went to was “pro-life” in the sense that they did not support abortion and yet openly supported birth control.
I started researching alternatives thinking “maybe there’s a pill that doesn’t do this”. Nope none. And the only place I found that didn’t support birth control was the Catholic Church which at that point I had told myself I would never convert to. The idea of NFP at the time seemed crazy and I still couldn’t justify Mary, purgatory, and confession.
I started dating in college and told myself that I needed to find a man who would support my desire not to use birth control. I dated some very faithful Protestant men only to find they did not share my same convection about birth control and concerns about the varying beliefs on the Protestant faith.
Then 3 years ago I met my now DH.
He was Catholic and very active with his faith. This both intrigued me and made me nervous. I wasn’t going to convert still and made that clear from the start. He was very patient and never forced the option but made it clear our children would be raised Catholic. As we were dating I, of course, wanted to know why it was so important that they be raised Catholic. In the process of our first year of dating I not only fell in love with him and was engaged but also fell in love with the Church.I still remember Labor Day weekend 2008 reading through the Last Supper as I had done many times that summer trying to reconcile the Eucharist when it hit me that when Jesus said “This is my body” and This is my Blood" he meant it. I also reread the teaching where Jesus was teaching in John 6 that he is the Bread of Life. I always wondered why the apostles were so concerned by this. If it was just a symbol why were they so shocked? This was no symbol I came to realize over that weekend. I realized then I needed to convert and began RCIA a week later. I still had doubts about the importance of Mary, purgatory, and confession, but realized Christ would guide me to them as he had guided me to understanding the Eucharist. And Christ never gave up on me despite the many times I nearly gave up on the journey.
This will be my 2nd Easter in the church and I am more excited than ever at being apart of it. Thanks for letting me share my story and to those of you still discerning where Christ is leading you be patient but open. The journey is worth it!
A
achmafooma
Guest
The short version –
I was a traditional Christian in a rapidly liberalizing denomination (the United Methodist Church).
I ended up as a Lay Delegate representing my church at the Virginia Annual Conference of the UMC for several years. As we debated various social issues, and observed the discussions and votes on those issues from the UMC General Conferences, it occurred to me that God’s moral laws don’t change, so how could we possibly change the moral doctrines of the church by simple majority rule? If something had been wrong for the last 2,000 years of Christian history, and thousands of years of Jewish history before it, who were we to decide it had suddenly become right?
Even though I was fairly confident that my view was the one in accord with Christian Scripture tradition, reason, etc., I knew many people who felt differently and with equal passion to my own. Obviously we couldn’t both be right, but in the UMC it is some average of our positions, determined through a democratic parliamentary procedure, that becomes the ‘law’ of the church. That just didn’t seem right. It seemed more likely to corrupt the church with worldly views than to maintain the church against the world.
So that got me looking for something that wasn’t so transient, something that recognized that majority rule at a conference can’t override the moral teachings of our faith.
At first I looked more toward the more ‘evangelical’ wing of the Methodist/Wesleyan branch of Christianity – Church of the Nazarene, Wesleyan Church, etc. – as well as toward other evangelical-type churches, but the relative lack of central authority didn’t sit well with me. I knew from the Book of Acts that the Church acted under a central authority, and I knew from reason that a non-democratic central authority was the only way to ensure that doctrine didn’t change based on what was popular at the time.
Before too long, it became clear that the only church in the world that had managed to maintain moral clarity through the ages, hold true to the moral teachings of our faith, and operate under a structure suited to maintaining that clarity into the future, was the Catholic Church.
So I started going to Mass (with my wife, who had gone through this whole process with me), and one by one researched my typical Protestant objections to the faith (They worship Mary! They worship statues! They pray to saints, instead of straight to God! They think the Pope is infallible! etc.) and watched them fall away under the patient guidance of the Holy Spirit. Then my wife and I both joined RCIA, went through the process, and entered into full communion with the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church!
–I was a traditional Christian in a rapidly liberalizing denomination (the United Methodist Church).
I ended up as a Lay Delegate representing my church at the Virginia Annual Conference of the UMC for several years. As we debated various social issues, and observed the discussions and votes on those issues from the UMC General Conferences, it occurred to me that God’s moral laws don’t change, so how could we possibly change the moral doctrines of the church by simple majority rule? If something had been wrong for the last 2,000 years of Christian history, and thousands of years of Jewish history before it, who were we to decide it had suddenly become right?
Even though I was fairly confident that my view was the one in accord with Christian Scripture tradition, reason, etc., I knew many people who felt differently and with equal passion to my own. Obviously we couldn’t both be right, but in the UMC it is some average of our positions, determined through a democratic parliamentary procedure, that becomes the ‘law’ of the church. That just didn’t seem right. It seemed more likely to corrupt the church with worldly views than to maintain the church against the world.
So that got me looking for something that wasn’t so transient, something that recognized that majority rule at a conference can’t override the moral teachings of our faith.
At first I looked more toward the more ‘evangelical’ wing of the Methodist/Wesleyan branch of Christianity – Church of the Nazarene, Wesleyan Church, etc. – as well as toward other evangelical-type churches, but the relative lack of central authority didn’t sit well with me. I knew from the Book of Acts that the Church acted under a central authority, and I knew from reason that a non-democratic central authority was the only way to ensure that doctrine didn’t change based on what was popular at the time.
Before too long, it became clear that the only church in the world that had managed to maintain moral clarity through the ages, hold true to the moral teachings of our faith, and operate under a structure suited to maintaining that clarity into the future, was the Catholic Church.
So I started going to Mass (with my wife, who had gone through this whole process with me), and one by one researched my typical Protestant objections to the faith (They worship Mary! They worship statues! They pray to saints, instead of straight to God! They think the Pope is infallible! etc.) and watched them fall away under the patient guidance of the Holy Spirit. Then my wife and I both joined RCIA, went through the process, and entered into full communion with the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church!
S
stormy99
Guest
I needed something more in life. There was a void. I knew it was spritual so I thought a long time about it. My grandparents were Orthodox and I would go to church with them. I loved the church, the incense, the pictures, the altar. I was sent to a Presbyterian church with my friends by my Mom. It was a cold church and no one tells you if you aren’t predestined to go to heaven you won’t get there.
No more church for years and years.
But there was still something missing. I knew it. I called our local RCC to find out when RCIA classes started. Then I went. It was like I was drawn to the church. After the intial period we went to part of the mass every week for the readings and discussions. There was never pressure to join. But I knew I would from the first time I stepped into the church. There was no question in my mind. Each class passed and I felt like I was home. It was a comforting feeling. With my husband going through cancer and he still is… it held me together. The more I learned the more I wanted to be Catholic.
First confession was daunting and I had a lot of sins to confess and some big ones. But afterwards, well it was like I was lighter and free and happy again.
My priest said, I listened to what the Holy Spirit had tried to tell me for years. To come home to the Catholic Church but this time I heard him.
stormy99****
No more church for years and years.
But there was still something missing. I knew it. I called our local RCC to find out when RCIA classes started. Then I went. It was like I was drawn to the church. After the intial period we went to part of the mass every week for the readings and discussions. There was never pressure to join. But I knew I would from the first time I stepped into the church. There was no question in my mind. Each class passed and I felt like I was home. It was a comforting feeling. With my husband going through cancer and he still is… it held me together. The more I learned the more I wanted to be Catholic.
First confession was daunting and I had a lot of sins to confess and some big ones. But afterwards, well it was like I was lighter and free and happy again.
My priest said, I listened to what the Holy Spirit had tried to tell me for years. To come home to the Catholic Church but this time I heard him.
stormy99****
T
Theodosia33
Guest
Mine was a lifelong search for truth. I was rarely taken to church as a child but I longed to go worship God. My family were believers in name only though. When I was around 9 I saw the pope on TV. All of a sudden I had an epiphany that he was our (protestants) pope too! It was so powerful I went outside and just gazed up at the sky. At 13 I asked to be baptized in the family United Methodist church and kept seeking. I studied many religions and denominations and later in life my friend and I attended various churches, except Catholic of course because we “knew they were wrong.” However, I always thought that the Catholic Church was the most beautiful establishment on the planet and I even had a strong affinity for Mary (but I knew better to ever pray to her). I even read every book I could find on her visitations.
I knew that the truth had to exist in a church so I kept seeking. Then I starting attending a cell church. It was a fundamentalist church that believed in the gifts of the Spirit. One night after a service one of the members said he had a “word” for me. He told me to stand up, then he laid his hand on my head and told me that I was going to take a spiritual journey in a few months that would change my life forever. I felt absolutely nothing about this revelation, and was really just hoping to get out of there and get a smoke. But then, for no reason at all I started weeping and my whole body started shaking. The folks there had to lead me back to my chair because my legs were so weak I couldn’t walk. They said your face is glowing! What is going on?? I said I have no clue.
A guy I met on the internet had attempted to convert me to Catholicism months earlier. He failed miserably but he did send me Hahn’s Rome Sweet Home which I decided to now read. Then I kept reading more and more about the Church. During this time I would ask the Lord to answer questions I had and, so help me it never failed, the answers would always come by day’s end. Sometimes the answer would come via Scripture, or a book I was currently reading. Or sometimes it was even on TV. And sometimes it would just come to me. It was spiritually invigorating to say the least. I felt so blessed.
Three months later after leaving the cell church I was in RCIA. That word I was given had come to pass. A year and two months later I was confirmed. I literally knew the meaning of ‘Rome Sweet Home’ then because I kept feeling like I was HOME. It was so wonderful. That night, while I was lying in bed, I heard a Voice and It said “Welcome Home”. I know with every fiber of my being that It was the Holy Spirit.
I know this sounds like fiction or pretentious fluff, but it isn’t. (I’m the most practical no nonsense person you would ever meet). I actually experienced this just as it is written.
And I can tell you, to be a Catholic is the greatest blessing in the world. God bless.
I knew that the truth had to exist in a church so I kept seeking. Then I starting attending a cell church. It was a fundamentalist church that believed in the gifts of the Spirit. One night after a service one of the members said he had a “word” for me. He told me to stand up, then he laid his hand on my head and told me that I was going to take a spiritual journey in a few months that would change my life forever. I felt absolutely nothing about this revelation, and was really just hoping to get out of there and get a smoke. But then, for no reason at all I started weeping and my whole body started shaking. The folks there had to lead me back to my chair because my legs were so weak I couldn’t walk. They said your face is glowing! What is going on?? I said I have no clue.
A guy I met on the internet had attempted to convert me to Catholicism months earlier. He failed miserably but he did send me Hahn’s Rome Sweet Home which I decided to now read. Then I kept reading more and more about the Church. During this time I would ask the Lord to answer questions I had and, so help me it never failed, the answers would always come by day’s end. Sometimes the answer would come via Scripture, or a book I was currently reading. Or sometimes it was even on TV. And sometimes it would just come to me. It was spiritually invigorating to say the least. I felt so blessed.
Three months later after leaving the cell church I was in RCIA. That word I was given had come to pass. A year and two months later I was confirmed. I literally knew the meaning of ‘Rome Sweet Home’ then because I kept feeling like I was HOME. It was so wonderful. That night, while I was lying in bed, I heard a Voice and It said “Welcome Home”. I know with every fiber of my being that It was the Holy Spirit.
I know this sounds like fiction or pretentious fluff, but it isn’t. (I’m the most practical no nonsense person you would ever meet). I actually experienced this just as it is written.
And I can tell you, to be a Catholic is the greatest blessing in the world. God bless.
W
Wandering_Home
Guest
WOW. These are some amazing stories on here about conversions. I think so many are similar in nature in being led “home” which is a wonderfully comforting fact. The Holy Spirit is powerful and when our minds and hearts are open no telling where it could lead.
I
icamay
Guest
Wow, that’s what recently happened to me! It’s almost impossible to explain to my non-Catholic friends and family, and they always want to know “why?”…my Catholic friends and family just smile and accept that I have received God’s testimony. I can tell you that I have never felt more fulfilled spiritually, but it is very confusing for those who know me as not approving of the Catholic beliefs or traditions.I’m really struck by how similar some of the themes are with what I’m going through right now. I would describe myself as having been anti-Catholic at times and pretty hostile about the Catholic Church. For reasons that I **cannot ** explain or even begin to explain, I began to feel God calling me to the Catholic faith…
After reading David Currie’s “Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic”, I can finally understand why God called me to the RCC. I’m starting on Scott Hahn’s books next…first will be “Rome Sweet Home”.
T
Theodosia33
Guest
Love that book! Currie’s book helped me more than all of them. I also got a lot from the Surprised by Truth series by Patrick Madrid.
S
Stavros
Guest
As a history, I was raised LDS (Mormon) in Texas by LDS converts. My town was very Catholic, and my father worked most of his careers in Catholic hospitals like St. Benedict’s and Santa Rosa hospital in San Antonio. However, we lived an “in the world, not of the world” existence.
I was LDS in college as well, and my college boyfriend converted as well. As we made plans to get married, we got a hold of some anti-Mormon literature and left the church. My parents stayed active LDS members. I was inactive for most of my 20s. At 27, I decided to give the LDS church one more shot. After much prayer, and callings, and going through the LDS temple ceremonies, I realized that the church was not what it claimed to be. So I stopped going. Two months later I met my husband and we married shortly after.
My husband was baptized Catholic as a child but only to appease his mother’s mother, and was not raised any particular denomination.
About 6 years ago, my husband and I went to a Catholic wedding. As I sat there, absolutely awed by the beauty of it, I had this realization. I loved being in a Catholic church. And if I want, I could be Catholic. And I could go to church every single day if I wanted. The next week I started RCIA and the journey took me to getting baptized 5 Easter Vigils ago.
I don’t know how to describe it, but I was inexplicably drawn to the Eucharist. I wanted to be near it, to partake of it, to adore it. Before I really learned any of the doctrines of the church, I knew that I had an attraction to something about the Eucharist. I knew that it was transubstantiated, but I never “knew” until that moment during the consecration at the wedding. My favorite part of church is still praying in front of the tabernacle, or during the consecration.
I was LDS in college as well, and my college boyfriend converted as well. As we made plans to get married, we got a hold of some anti-Mormon literature and left the church. My parents stayed active LDS members. I was inactive for most of my 20s. At 27, I decided to give the LDS church one more shot. After much prayer, and callings, and going through the LDS temple ceremonies, I realized that the church was not what it claimed to be. So I stopped going. Two months later I met my husband and we married shortly after.
My husband was baptized Catholic as a child but only to appease his mother’s mother, and was not raised any particular denomination.
About 6 years ago, my husband and I went to a Catholic wedding. As I sat there, absolutely awed by the beauty of it, I had this realization. I loved being in a Catholic church. And if I want, I could be Catholic. And I could go to church every single day if I wanted. The next week I started RCIA and the journey took me to getting baptized 5 Easter Vigils ago.
I don’t know how to describe it, but I was inexplicably drawn to the Eucharist. I wanted to be near it, to partake of it, to adore it. Before I really learned any of the doctrines of the church, I knew that I had an attraction to something about the Eucharist. I knew that it was transubstantiated, but I never “knew” until that moment during the consecration at the wedding. My favorite part of church is still praying in front of the tabernacle, or during the consecration.
C
Chris_Rendall
Guest
Wow, that’s amazing and quite beautiful.
- Status