Megachurch pastor stuns congregation by announcing he’s converting to Catholicism

The Deacon's Bench ^ | March 10, 2014 | Deacon Greg Kandra

[NYer]

Details:

During his Sunday morning service, Ulf Ekman announced the he and his wife, Birgitta, are converting to Roman Catholicism.

Ekman is the founder of Word of Life, a megachurch in Uppsala, Sweden. News reports and blogs coming out of the nation reveal congregation was “partially stunned” after hearing what was packaged as a “special announcement.” The theme was “follow the Lamb wherever He goes.”

“For Birgitta and me, this has been a slow process where we have gone from discovering new things, to appreciating what we have discovered, to approach and even learn from our fellow Christians,” Ekman says on his ministry website.

“We have seen a great love for Jesus and a sound theology, founded on the Bible and classic dogma. We have experienced the richness of sacramental life. We have seen the logic in having a solid structure for priesthood, that keeps the faith of the church and passes it on from one generation to the next. We have met an ethical and moral strength and consistency that dare to face up to the general opinion, and a kindness towards the poor and the weak. And, last but not least, we have come in contact with representatives for millions of charismatic Catholics and we have seen their living faith.”

According to the Alethia blog and think tank, Ekman’s conversion is a news story that affects a relatively large part of Swedish Christianity. Word of Life has about 3,000 members and a staff of 12 pastors. The church’s school has about 1,000 students. Ekman also launched Scandinavia’s largest Bible school, constructed Scandinavia’s largest free church building, and rolled out a media program with TV on all continents, recorded teaching that has been spread around the world, books in 60 languages, and a strong engagement for Israel.

“We have as many know, followed Ekman’s steps towards Roman Catholicism since 2007, at times under a lot of ridicule from both members and leadership of the congregation, but also from others within the Christian Community in Sweden,” writes Andreas Glandberger, who operates the think tank. “Based on Ulf Ekman’s various articles, sermons, statements, and even type of organizations he decided to support financially, a painstaking puzzle has been laid in which the last piece of the puzzle now is in place.”

Glandberger went on to say that “shock, anger, sadness, despair and confusion” among the reactions to the news. Others, he writes, were relieved that Ekman’s long love affair with the Catholic Church finally was consummated openly, which is also a help in theological discussions.

Continue reading.

[NYer]

Ping!

[Salvation]

BTTT — still working on the duplicates on my good file of converts!

[for-q-clinton]

Maybe he likes the way they protected pedophile priests.

[fwdude]

More evidence of the great falling away.

Next, he’ll join Frances in tacitly approving homosexual unions.

[GreyFriar]

my first reading of the title was “Stuns with stunt...” However it looks like not a stunt.

[Alex Murphy]

PING!

Related thread:
Joel Olsteen Joins With Catholics To Convert Confused Protestants

[Veggie Todd]

He thinks it’s cool to be able to steal from the dead.

[mgist]

Welcome Home Brother

[escapefromboston]

Finally some good news.

While I shouldn’t, I have to admit how much I’m enjoying the protestant “christians” in this thread weeping and gnashing of teeth. I know I shouldn’t enjoy it, but I just can’t help myself.

[plain talk]

Thanks. I needed a laugh.

[metmom]

While I shouldn’t, I have to admit how much I’m enjoying the protestant “christians” in this thread weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Weeping and gnashing of teeth?

Which posts?

I do enjoy it when Catholics project, though.

[lurk]

Checked out his website and doctrine.
He just retired from his church.
His church website has no doctrinal statement.
His ministry is named after him. So you know he’s humble.
Wiki indicates he is a Swedish version of Osteen. Money, material prosperity and health are high priorities.

Congrats, church of Rome. You caught a real trophy.

[escapefromboston]

Well let’s not derail the good news of this thread but if you re-read this topic you’ll see a few cheap shots that are unrelated to the topic at hand.

[fwdude]

I cannot picture a money-laundering “mega-church” in Sweden, as much as I try. I always considered that cultural phenomena as purely North American.

[Gumdrop]

Protestantism in the Scandinavian countries has been a very weak faith. Hardly anyone there goes to church. Maybe the fact that Catholics are in a minority makes them more faithful in their Christianity there. That may be part of the reason why he was attracted to the Catholic Church in the first place. The Swedish Lutheran Church embraces modernism above being true to the Gospel of Jesus, IMHO. Obviously he felt a need to take this step toward the Catholic Church.

In the USA, we have a rather significant Catholic population who are still faithful Christians, and ditto for the Evangelicals. Among many of the other Protestant groups, it is rather hit and miss as to how much their faith really influences their lifestyles
Christian faith is in a state of flux, and those who are true believers will eventually be winnowed from the chaff.

[Gumdrop]

Thanks a lot for posting this about his website. As I wrote in a previous posting, that may be why he was attracted to a church which had more substance than what he had previously.

[lurk]

Substance?

[El Cid]

As I wrote in a previous posting, that may be why he was attracted to a church which had more substance than what he had previously.

But wasn't his 'previous church' the church he founded? I guess he'd be in a good position to understand that they weren't teaching good doctrine ... but it seems like he was the source of the problem.

[Gamecock]

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