This useful road map illustrating the fractured nature of Presbyterianism might help those unfamiliar with what you're discussing.
Posted on 03/22/2009 5:16:39 PM PDT by Titanites
When Steve Olmstead served as a Presbyterian minister in Juneau, he would often finish his duties on Sunday, close up the church and head to Mass with his devout Catholic wife and their children.
“I had a place to worship, which a lot of pastors don’t,” Olmstead said in an interview with the Anchor. “It was nice to go to a place and worship where I wasn’t the minister.”
The Anchorage Archdiocese’s newest seminarian grew up in a Presbyterian home and always had a strong spiritual life. When Olmstead entered adulthood, he felt called to serve as a youth minister, and was later ordained a minister in the Presbyterian Church.
Throughout his life, he said he had many positive contacts with people who were strong in the practice of their Catholic faith, including his wife of 22 years, Janet.
“I married the most devout and most amazing Christian I’ve ever met in my life,” Olmstead said, crediting her with his conversion to Catholicism. Before the two wed, he agreed to raise the children in the Catholic faith. Steve and Janet Olmstead were married in Juneau by then Bishop Michael Kenny.
He continued to serve in a Presbyterian church in Juneau, but over the years grew enamored with Catholicism.
“I love the devotional practices of the Catholic church, its prayers and devotions,” Olmstead said.
He says he was especially drawn to some core beliefs that are often points of contention between Protestants and Catholics; matters of faith like belief in the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and devotion to Mary.
“Ultimately those core beliefs created this tug that led me to the (Catholic) Church so that I would be more congruent with myself,” Olmstead said.
His family’s faith helped with that tug. In addition to Janet’s steady faith, the Olmsteads’ seven children, ages 2-18 years, helped play a part.
The Olmsteads have three older biological children, another three they adopted, and one foster child, which they hope to adopt soon.
“My older kids started asking me questions (like), ‘How come you believe this, but you aren’t teaching it,’” Olmstead recalled. “I had this inner conflict and I had to make that decision.”
Ultimately he did, and left his position at the local Presbyterian church in Juneau to officially enter the Catholic Church in 2006, a decision that brought Olmstead much peace.
“A huge thing for me is mystery,” he said. “I really need mystery and mystery in my faith. The Catholic Church (allows) me to have that mystery — Christ held that for me.”
Having served as full-time Protestant minister, Olmstead still felt a strong call to a minsterial or religious vocation.
Last year he participated in a 30-day Ignatian Spiritual Exercises retreat to investigate how God wanted him to serve in his new church, and he felt called to serve as a priest.
“At the end of that retreat, I realized that this is where God was calling me,” he said.
While celibacy is the rule for Latin rite Catholic priests, there are approximately 100 married former Protestant clergymen in the United States who have joined the Catholic Church and received Vatican permission to become priests.
Shouldn’t Protestants be protesting in the streets, calling him an infidel and making death threats against him?
After the conversion of towering Anglican Oxford intellectual prelate John Henry Newman to Catholicism its small wonder that remants of Protestantism still exist. I guess it’s a nice paying job for a married man (and now woman).
Old news.
“After the conversion of towering Anglican Oxford intellectual prelate John Henry Newman to Catholicism its small wonder that remants of Protestantism still exist.”
Maybe the “remnants of Protestantism” still exist due to that doctrine known as “justification by faith alone”(Romans 1:17, 3:24, Galatians 3:10-14, Ephesians 2:8-9)?
an gay one at that correct?
Newman was never gay.
no. i was not referring to Newman but to practices of allowing gays to lead the Protestant congregations.
I wonder if Mr. Olmstead was in the P.C.U.S.A.(which I have affectionally referred to as both the “Pagan Church USA” or the “Lesbyterian Church”) or in the B.P.C., P.C.A., O.P.C., E.P.C. or A.R.P.(Presbyterian denominations that actually believe in Biblical orthodoxy).
Oh Oh! Of course you are on target. The Scottish Church now have bishops who sodomize each other before service and the congregation cheers their partners.
A couple of the most loved/popular ministers in my neighborhood are at the Catholic and the Lutheran churches. The Catholic guy was once a Methodist, and the Lutheran pastor was raised as a Catholic.
Go figure.
Not so fast and not so simple:
Check out this explanation:
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=1464&CFID=669278&CFTOKEN=88969182
Our Pastor gave a wonderful homily this morning on this subject. In it, he referenced the Joint Declaration between the Lutheran and Catholic Churches.
I'd always considered 'good works' part of the faith life of Catholics, simply because of what Jesus taught us about how we should treat others who are less fortunate, and meet their needs, in His name.
**“I love the devotional practices of the Catholic church, its prayers and devotions,” Olmstead said.**
I think many people do love the prayers and devotionals. They just don’t admit it.
I don’t see how he could have been ordained in a body that subscribed to the WCF - his improper marriage should have forestalled that. So the most likely candidates are the PCUSA or the one of the Cumberland bodies.
I looked it up - PCUSA.
You wrote:
“Maybe the “remnants of Protestantism” still exist due to that doctrine known as “justification by faith alone”(Romans 1:17, 3:24, Galatians 3:10-14, Ephesians 2:8-9)?”
Strange how the only time “faith alone” is mentioned in the Bible it is rejected as a doctrine (James 2:24).
Hit the road.
This useful road map illustrating the fractured nature of Presbyterianism might help those unfamiliar with what you're discussing.
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