Conversion StoriesPresbyterian & Reformed

Fr. Shawn Gould: Former Presbyterian

March 12, 2012 No Comments

Fr. Shawn Gould grew up in Western Michigan in the small town of Grant Haven.  It was an area with many Dutch immigrants.  Fr. Shawn and his family were active members in a Presbyterian USA church, though by high school, Fr. Shawn was becoming somewhat skeptical of religion.  He was gravitating to a more scientific approach to life.  And yet, as he near graduation, he was beginning to “be skeptical of his skepticism”.  Thus, with a more open mind, Fr. Shawn entered college at Notre Dame.  It was there, through his classes and interaction with knowledgable and practicing Catholic friends, that he began to explore some of the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism.  He also found himself attending Mass each week as a musician.  Onto law school at Berkeley and then followed by starting work as a lawyer in Milwaukee, Fr. Shawn continued his path to conversion to the Catholic Church, and ultimately, to the priesthood.