Deacon Alex has been a guest on the program before, to talk about how he, as a Pentecostal minister, came into the Catholic Church and brought a significant chunk of
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I was 51 years old, married for 15 years and without children, living on five acres in the woods of Southern Oregon, at the time of Pope John Paul II’s
George Butterfield was a shy kid who dreaded the coming-of-age public profession of faith that was customary in the country church he attended. It just so happened that when the
Acts 8:26-40 RSV: But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a
Maybe you’re like me. Maybe you grew up in North America and lived a sheltered, comfortable life, and God — although you would never say it, or consciously think it
Kurt Hoover accepted Jesus at age four, and was raised in a strong Christian family. When he was 16, he experienced Catholic Mass for the first time, and was captivated.
The process of conversion is a complex one that involves almost every aspect of a person’s life. This is the first article in a series of articles in which former Protestant pastor and seminary professor Dr. Kenneth Howell takes a deep look at “conversion.”
Becoming Catholic was never my dream or intent. It is still an all too vivid memory to me, sitting alone at age 40 in a half-lit basement, having resigned from the pastorate. I ached for having abandoned the weekly privilege of a pulpit from which to proclaim God’s truth. Would I ever have this privilege again? Will I ever again have a pulpit? Now they estimate that each week from the “pulpit” of The Journey Home television program I speak to a potential audience of over a billion viewers and listeners. In one night I speak to more people than I ever could have in my entire career as a Protestant minister. This is the humor of our merciful God. Before I converted I had no idea whatsoever how I would support my family let alone how I would continue in ministry. But this is getting way ahead of myself.
Here at The Coming Home Network International (CHNetwork), we spend a lot of time thinking about and praying for conversion. We share a sense that our faith is a profound gift… and that it’s perfectly suited to re-gifting.
In my 16 years as a Catholic, I have come to understand these words with an increasing appreciation of their wisdom and truth. Often wise priests console their penitents in the confessional to commit the past to God’s mercy, knowing that we cannot change what has already taken place. When we muse over our past sins or failures, such wise confessors encourage us to let go of our past and place it into the merciful hands of God.
The process of conversion to the Faith may be compared to the ascent to Jerusalem of the ancient Israelite pilgrims, who as they came nearer to the Temple uttered that cry of joy recorded in Psalm 122, “I rejoiced when they said to me, we will go into the house of the Lord.” This psalm expresses the gladness of heart experienced by so many converts as they embrace the Catholic Faith, sometimes after even a lifetime of study or wandering or doubt. But after our conversion, after we become members in fullness of His Church — what then? What is our next step?
“Most clergy converts remember and cherish the moment of their ordination, but, now as Catholics and no longer non-Catholic ministers, they sometimes wonder what, if anything, that ‘laying on of hands’ meant? Those who ordained us may not have had any sacramental apostolic authority to do so, yet the vows of our own hearts to serve Him were authentic and real.” Former Presbyterian pastor Marcus Grodi reflects on the way in which clergy converts must “seek ways to support their families through non-Church employment, and yet never give up their ‘call to ministry.’”
