The evangelical converts - preaching to each other?

[rien]

I heard a program from CRI where jesse Romero is lauding the new evangelical converts like hahn and Wood and madrid.

Problem is, this seems to have become a business in a way. The same dozen or so individuals, former Protestant pastors mostly, starting ministires, giving confersnces and making tapes and books. And money of course.

But it is the same names over and ovr again. I suspect it most the same folks attneding these conferences over and over. I have seen no practical effect of this lauded infusion of evangelical converts. They all seem to be working in a close circle and having no effect on the growing exit of Catholics from the church.

To clarify, I am sure most are sincere in their new found faith and efforts. I just think the great hopes expected a decade ago from thse conversions have not materializaed.

Hahn sems like a great Scripture scholar and all but is that all EWTN has to talk about. Or Wood, Grodi, Cavins?

 

[kage_ar]

A cradle Catholic once told me, Protestants become Apologetists and Cradle Catholics become religious. With Fr. Groeschel, Fr. Pacwa to name only two, EWTN has it’s share of cradle Catholics from what I see…

For your comment about making money, well, those who devote their lives to spreading the Faith do need to pay bills and eat just like the rest of us. What does Scripture say about a servant being worthy of his wages?

 

[puzzleannie]

how would you suggest that a former Protestant pastor, married with children, as are Hahn, Cavins, Grodi etc., support himself and his family when they become Catholic and thereby lose entirely their entire mode of living and earning, their degree and credentials become worthless, and they are without any visible means of support save what the wife can earn? That is precisely why Marcus Grodi founded the Coming Home Network. The reason there is a “short list” of good speakers and presenters for conferences is that there are so many problems with “mainstream” cradle Catholic presenters and speakers, including sadly many priests and religious, who do not speak the truth and spread misinformation if not outright heresy.

 

[Fidelis]

I hear this gripe from many rock-ribbed Traditionalist types who seem to resent the popularity of convert Catholic speakers because they think their styles or ideas too Protestant. These folks seem incapable of acknowledging that Protestants are better than we Catholics in doing certain things or that we can learn a thing or two from them.

If the work of these convert apologists and Bible teachers has had less effect than it seems they should, could it be that it’s because the rest of us haven’t followed through either because of laziness or because we have faced resistance from our fellow Catholics entrenched in old ways of doing things or fearful of giving up control of their “turf”?

I personally have seen much good fruit come out resources from these folks, including in my own apostolates. I prefer to part of the solution rather than to pitch and moan or to become part of the problem.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

I heard a program from CRI where jesse Romero is lauding the new evangelical converts like hahn and Wood and madrid.

Problem is, this seems to have become a business in a way. The same dozen or so individuals, former Protestant pastors mostly, starting ministires, giving confersnces and making tapes and books. And money of course.

But it is the same names over and ovr again. I suspect it most the same folks attneding these conferences over and over. I have seen no practical effect of this lauded infusion of evangelical converts. They all seem to be working in a close circle and having no effect on the growing exit of Catholics from the church.

To clarify, I am sure most are sincere in their new found faith and efforts. I just think the great hopes expected a decade ago from thse conversions have not materializaed.

Hahn sems like a great Scripture scholar and all but is that all EWTN has to talk about. Or Wood, Grodi, Cavins?

I agree that they have become businesses. However Monasteries and convents (St. Peter’s fishing lures) run businesses also to pay bills. They have the right to support their families from their work. I have no idea what kind of car or house any of them have. Do the additional $$ go to support the ministry, the Church? I don’t know, I would hope so.

 

[FrancisMonica]

I heard a program from CRI where jesse Romero is lauding the new evangelical converts like hahn and Wood and madrid.

Problem is, this seems to have become a business in a way. The same dozen or so individuals, former Protestant pastors mostly, starting ministires, giving confersnces and making tapes and books. And money of course.

But it is the same names over and ovr again. I suspect it most the same folks attneding these conferences over and over. I have seen no practical effect of this lauded infusion of evangelical converts. They all seem to be working in a close circle and having no effect on the growing exit of Catholics from the church.

To clarify, I am sure most are sincere in their new found faith and efforts. I just think the great hopes expected a decade ago from thse conversions have not materializaed.

Hahn sems like a great Scripture scholar and all but is that all EWTN has to talk about. Or Wood, Grodi, Cavins?

I have a couple of cradle Catholic friends who have been brought back to the Church through the apostolates of the men you speak of. As a convert myself, I have learned so much through their writings and talks and I don’t have a problem with them earning a living from the work that they do.

EWTN has many different kinds of shows. I just finished watching a wonderful show called “The Great Heresies”, Fr.Mitch Pacwa (cradle Catholic) on “Theshold of Hope” goes through the Encyclicals, you can watch Mass, “The Abundant Life” with Johnette Benkovic (cradle Catholic) offers interesting interviews about all sorts of things, “The World Over Live” with Raymond Arroyo will keep you updated on the news the world over from a Catholic perspective, Fr Corapi (cradle Catholic) teaches straight from the Catechism. I could go on and on but I just wanted to point out that many shows on EWTN are not hosted by convert biblical scholars. By the way, I’m pretty sure Patrick Madrid is a cradle Catholic.

 

[ppeter]

The original comment makes me wonder what sort of results we expect from conversions of Protestant ministers. I don’t think anyone suggested they were the solution to all of our problems.
It also makes me think about how laughable the idea of married Catholic clergy is; I think many Catholics begrudge these laymen with families a fair compensation for their work because we’re so used to getting something for nothing. Just let Sister do it. Scott Hahn and the others are certainly not getting rich off of dollar-a-Sunday Catholics.
As I have said before on this forum, I have seen how Catholics are sometimes offended by the zeal of converts or are quick to call into question their authentic Catholicity. If their style is not to our liking, we are quite free not to buy their books and tapes.
Maybe some Catholics’ concerns about how they use the Bible would be allayed if they actually read and accepted Dei Verbum.