Church still attracting converts: CHN at record levels

A personal note: The phone rang the other day and the gentleman on the other end identified himself as Jim Anderson from the Coming Home Network. He said he had a message from an old high school friend. Who might that be, I asked, and he gave the name: Dion Berlowitz.

Anderson told me the Coming Home Network, with which I was not familiar, helped Protestants come into the Church, and that Dion was on his way in.

I hadn’t heard from Dion in more than a decade, even though we were best friends at Williamsville South High School, outside Buffalo, sharing several interests, including cartooning and comic books. Raised Jewish, Dion became a born-again Christian in his junior year of high school as his parents’ marriage broke up, and spent hours, days, weeks, and months trying to convert me into a Bible-believing Christian.

In 1971, Dion went on to the University of Buffalo to study literature and I went on to Eisenhower College to study history, and our paths never crossed again until a call out of the blue came from him around 1990, when he told me he was a Presbyterian. We have had no further contact since, though I suspect and hope that will change.

In this initial conversation, Anderson told me that so far, this year, the Coming Home Network has helped 94 Protestant ministers of various denominations, along with many other Protestants, come into the Church. Some, like Dion, are on their way in. This is the largest annual crop since the CHNetwork was founded nine years ago.

Here, in a year in which the Catholic Church in the United States and around the world has been wracked by scandals, we do have good news indeed.

What would prompt a Protestant, especially a minister with a wife and family, to leave his tradition and often his livelihood to come into the Catholic Church, especially when there are so many broken-hearted Catholics embarrassed by the past ten months of sordid revelations involving clerical sexual abuse, bishops’ resignations, episcopal cover-ups and pay-outs? Not to mention the ongoing abuse of authority by bishops to hammer the lay faithful who object to dissidents and heretics speaking in parishes and education conferences.

"For Protestants," says Jim Anderson, "the scandals are a non-issue. Among the hundreds of people I have talked to who are thinking of coming into the Church, the scandals just aren’t an issue. Of all the people who have contacted me, only three or four have mentioned them, and that was only at my prompting.

"To a man, these men are intellectually convinced that the Church is a divine institution established by Christ, and bishops are only human — and, besides, they say, ‘These things are going on in our own denominations — only in our denomination they are not being addressed.’

"They see this as the Holy Spirit cleaning house. The judgment of the Lord begins with the family of God. They view the present scandals as a terrible tragedy; they want justice like everybody else. But as far as the truth of the Catholic faith is concerned, it is a non-issue. It’s sin; it needs to be addressed. And that’s it.

"These men," he continued, "are educated people. Most have master of divinity degrees and doctorates. They are aware of the problems, but once their hearts are converted and they see the Church as Jesus Christ’s, they know Christ will keep His promise. They have experienced troubles in their own denominations, but they know that when they are in the Church, God will prevail."

On average — based on the first ten months of this year — Anderson hears from a Protestant minister every three days who has made the decision to become Catholic.

Most, he says, are drawn to the Church for two reasons. Either they have come to understand the dead end to which the Protestant doctrine of sola scriptura leads, and they want to settle, in their own minds, the issue of authority in the Church; or they have been led to the Church by its doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and they want to receive Jesus.

What many Protestants are coming to understand, even at a time when many Catholics and non-Catholics lament the apparent breakdown of authority in the Church, Anderson explained, is that the Church’s authority "is set by God."

"Those who take their faith and Scripture and God seriously," he said, "see the Catholic Church as being the answer to the chaos of the Protestant condition: Sola scriptura is a dead end, is unhistorical and unworkable. They understand this and so they have a crisis of faith and they enter the Catholic Church. And this is occurring across the Protestant spectrum. A lot of people contacting the Coming Home Network are ‘higher church’ Episcopalians or Lutherans, but we do get calls also from ‘low-end’ Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, and Assembly of God ministers.

"To speak, as some Catholics do, about a ‘crisis of authority’ in the Church doesn’t make a lot of sense," Anderson said. "There is a ‘crisis of obedience to authority,’ but that has always been the case, just as there has always been a ‘crisis of obedience to the authority of God’ on the part of many men and women. The authority is there, and it is working; it is just not obeyed."

The Coming Home Network was founded in 1993 out of the experiences of several Protestant clergy and their spouses. Upon leaving their pastorates to enter the Catholic Church, these clergy and their families discovered they were not alone. To help others come into the Church — and to deal with some of the tremendous personal and professional obstacles they faced — they began the organization as a support network.

Catholics, Anderson suggested, should understand some of the challenges these ministers face once they have made the intellectual decision to "cross over" to Rome.

"They go through tremendous struggles. They think, ‘I’m losing my friends, my family, my community, my church, and people think I’m crazy and I’m apostatizing from Christianity.’ Often the most serious conflict is with spouses, who not only have to deal with the change of religion, but have practical problems as well, such as, ‘What about me and the children?’ ‘How are we going to survive?’ ‘What will our friends think?’ ‘Have I been following the wrong religion all my life?’

"Most of these people have M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees, and so they are not employable in the world. It’s a difficult decision for these men to give up their work, their careers, and their livelihoods. Nevertheless, 94 this year have entered, or are on their way into, the Church."

One former minister, Anderson recalled, gave up his role as a prominent, prestigious minister for his community to work as a greeter at WalMart. For him, the blessing of being able to receive the Eucharist more than compensated for what he had to give up.

Anderson is well-prepared for his work helping Protestants come into the Church. Reared as a Methodist, the 47-year-old Anderson became a Lutheran at 19. As a history major specializing in medieval Europe at Ohio University in Athens, he knew he was on his way into the Church.

Three years after graduating, he entered evangelical Ashland Seminary in 1980, interested in pursuing studies in ecumenical dialog. In his freshman year, he made the decision to join the Catholic Church, and on July 25, 1981, the Feast of St. James, he was confirmed. His wife, Lynn, who entered the Church in 1983, now teaches in a Catholic school.

Contrary to popular stereotypes, he said, the biggest roadblocks would-be converts confront are not such "hot-button" issues as contraception, papal infallibility, or women’s rights, but the Church’s doctrines concerning Mary.

Many Protestants, he said, "are scandalized by the liturgical craziness. They try to get around it by seeking out a Byzantine rite, or seeking out orthodox parishes. And usually, if they come into the Church, having been good Protestants, they have church-hopped enough to have found a parish where they don’t have to deal with abuses."

But, he added, many look beyond the abuses, because "they are attracted to Christ in the liturgy. For a lot of the converts, there are many who have intellectually convinced themselves already that they must join the Church before they ever attended Mass. And when they finally start going to Mass, often there is a culture shock, especially if they come from a small, intimate, loving Baptist church, and go into a parish of 2,000 people who aren’t particularly friendly. So there is this bit of culture shock — and that doesn’t include the shock of liturgy."

Asked to name the leading intellectual sources Protestants are reading to find their way into the Church, Anderson named familiar names.

"The intellectual sources are, certainly, Cardinal Newman, G.K. Chesterton, Bishop Fulton Sheen, Scott Hahn, and Catholic Answers.

"But most often, it is the fathers of the Church. When Protestant ministers encounter the fathers, they realize they were lied to and betrayed, because they were taught the Protestant Reformation cleansed Christianity of the barnacles on the Barque of Peter and the Reformers recovered ancient Christianity. Then they go back and read the apostolic fathers, especially Ignatius of Antioch who is preaching the Real Presence, the authority of bishops, and all these many Catholic things, and the conclusion is the words of Jesus, who says: ‘I will be with you always.’

"Either Jesus kept His promise, or the Church went to Hell in a hand basket after the death of St. John.

"When they start studying the early Church fathers, they are blown out of the water."

The Coming Home Network’s executive director is former Presbyterian minister Marcus Grodi, who, captured the feeling and beliefs of many fellow Protestants who came into the Church in his book, Journeys Home (Queenship Publishing 1997).

"[T]he biggest thing that opened my heart to the truth of the Catholic faith was not all the apologetic arguments that convinced me of the trustworthiness of Catholic truth, but the realization that the Catholic Church, with all of her saints and sinners, was exactly what Christ had promised.

"The majority of complaints against the Catholic Church over the centuries have been aimed at the decisions and actions of bad Popes, or immoral clergy, or ignorant laity, or corrupt Catholic nobility, and the correct answer to this is, ‘But, of course! The Church is made up of wheat and tares, from the bottom to the top, sinners in need of grace! This is no reason to leave and form a new church, for any church made up of human beings is made up of sinners.’

"All true conversions to the Catholic faith from any other starting point carry with them complications, primarily because this conversion must be rooted in and thereby an extension of one’s conversion and surrender to Christ. If becoming a Catholic does not involve this, I don’t believe it is a true conversion. It might be a change of convenience or even possibly for some sort of personal gain or aggrandizement.

"But only when one recognizes or painfully discovers that to be fully a follower of Jesus Christ, and thereby have the full potential of growing in union with Him, one must also be in union with the Church He established in and through His Apostles, can one be truly converted.

"These conversions by definition must involve some extent of leaving behind and rejecting part of what a person once held very dear. Some things can be joyfully brought along, others can be cautiously tolerated, but yet there are ideas, practices, and sometimes even relationships which must be severed.

"It of course never means that we cease to love those we may need to leave behind, or who choose to turn their backs on us. In fact, we are called all the more to shower our now confused or indignant friends and family with the all-forgiving, all-accepting love of Christ. However, we must not let the emotional trajectories of our loving glances turn our attention off of the fullness of truth found only in union with the Catholic Church."

For more information about the Coming Home Network, go to its web site, www.chnetwork.org, or call 740-450-1175.

Well, "most" doesn't mean "all." I fully realize that I read the Word in the context of my faith.

I am truly glad to hear this. It is a vital step in realizing the full economy of salvation, the entire gift which God has left us.

If someone were to convince me successfully that the Catholic Church was the authoritative interpreter of Scripture, then I would have to change my context. No one has convinced me yet.

Rather than looking out at the Catholic Church, perhaps at this point you would do best to look in at what formed and motivates this faith you have, which provides the context to your Scripture reading. Where did it come from? How was it formed?

Always" is an exaggeration. And even in the Bible, the individual Christians disagreed often. Even Paul and Peter disagreed with one another.

The early Christians were able to come to a consensus. It is this lack which I cite among sola scriptura Christians today.

But but but but but, how can you make this argument? You know full well they didn't believe in him, let alone that John was the only one there.

I think we can tell from Jewish custom and practice that failure to believe your brother is the Messiah does not free you from your obligation to take care of your parents.

The words were “Woman, behold thy son”. And it was Christ addressing Mary.

Catholics view “behold thy mother” as Jesus commissioning His mother to be the Mother of all Christians, and by giving her to John who personifies the Christian people, He commands us to accept her as our own mother.

Matthew 12:
[48] But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"
[49] And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!

Many mothers, many brothers.

The principle of sola scriptura IS one of those extra-scriptural principles that affects how we read the text.

I am glad that you admit that "sola scriptura" is an extra-scriptural prinicpal. In other words, it is not God's own word that that Scripture alone is the rule of faith, it is not God's own word that all that is necessary to be believed for salvation is found in scripture. Rather, this prinicple, "sola scriptura", is a principle of human reason. It certainly is not self-evident, and I cannot think of any really obvious truths from which to deduce it. So why believe it, why use it as your lens, as you admittedly do?

I, on the other hand, recognize that I have a tradition, but I am confident that both the tradition from which I learn to understand Scripture aright and the Scriptures themselves proceed from God -- Jesus Christ brought both into being. I believe that both the Scripture and the tradition are from God for because grace unveiled for me the divine origin of the Catholic Church's kerygma, and included within the Catholic Church's kerygma is a self-description of how the Church and her members form their beliefs. I assented, in a non-inferential way, to the Church's kerygma -- its proclamation of Jesus Christ-- and included within the proclamation of Christ is the claim that "Jesus Christ left us, His Church, the Scriptures, which we understand in light of the sacred tradition He intitated with the apostles, with the service provided by the Magisterium that He established". I assent to the Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and Magisterium, all at once, without dividing them from each other according to my own thinking, because I think I have a better plan for Christianity. I assent to them at the same time that I assent to Chrict as Lord and savior. In assenting to Christ I assent to His Church and vice-versa. Thank God...

Many mothers, many brothers.

Are you suggesting, then, that the Apostle John, after the Crucifixion, took in a great crowd of people and cared for them?

Of course not.

Many verses, many interpretations.

I am sorry if I have harmed you, but I do not apologize for calling selfishness what it is. You said something incredibly selfish and I identified it. That you used such a statement to cut off any discussion of the role of the saints shows you have some way to go.

Typical SoothingDave "Christian Love" at work. As a matter of fact, you once again turned a personal attack into a general attack on "Protestants". (Something you consistently deny).

(SD) We see on parade here the utter selfishness of the Protestant position. We envision a communion, a family, of all Christians, all Members of the Body. We care about one another.

Only the Pope and you call themselves "we" and you are both wrong. You; however, are also supremely arrogant.

Typical SoothingDave "Christian Love" at work. As a matter of fact, you once again turned a personal attack into a general attack on "Protestants". (Something you consistently deny).

Only the Pope and you call themselves "we" and you are both wrong. You; however, are also supremely arrogant.

Is this how you show your "Christian love?" Nice, Mr. Kettle.

For the record, when Protestants show their selfishness, I call a spade a spade.

***I am glad that you admit that "sola scriptura" is an extra-scriptural prinicpal. In other words, it is not God's own word that that Scripture alone is the rule of faith, it is not God's own word that all that is necessary to be believed for salvation is found in scripture. Rather, this prinicple, "sola scriptura", is a principle of human reason. It certainly is not self-evident, and I cannot think of any really obvious truths from which to deduce it. So why believe it, why use it as your lens, as you admittedly do?***

Well, it is a little disingenuous to suggest that all that is necessary to be believed for salvation is not contained in the Bible. The authors laid out clearly what one must do to be "saved." Most importantly, Jesus's message was one of salvation, and is laid out in detail in the Gospel books.

I believe in the Reformation and Sola Scriptura because I believe the men who led the Catholic Church during that time were corrupted by their incredible sociopolitical power and perverted the message of Christ for their own personal gain. That's not to say that all Catholics today are corrupt or trying to pervert the Word of God -- but it does make me wary of allowing mere sinful men to interpret God's Word for me, and, based on those interpretations, create entire authoritative doctrines that I must follow.

Which Bible do you read? - the word "Pope" appears everywhere!! But most pertinently it occurs in the passage of scripture which Jesus took as the context for His institution of Peter as the first Pope of the new Davidic Kingdom - "Pope" means "Father". I think you will find the concept of fatherhood sprinkled rather liberally throughout scripture.

Yes, and Jesus told us who to call "Father". In order to forestall the anticipated argument; no, I never called my father "Holy Father".

Matthew 23:
[9] And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

Only the Pope and you call themselves "we" and you are both wrong. You; however, are also supremely arrogant.

Good grief why are you always in such a sour mood? How about providing the documentation I requested in post 179 so we can discuss how the paths of Protestantism and Catholicism have diverged at various points in history, but not all at once.

I believe in the Reformation and Sola Scriptura because I believe the men who led the Catholic Church during that time were corrupted by their incredible sociopolitical power and perverted the message of Christ for their own personal gain.

Interesting. So the fact that the Church was successful in the world, led it to become corrupt. Is that what you are saying?

That's not to say that all Catholics today are corrupt or trying to pervert the Word of God -- but it does make me wary of allowing mere sinful men to interpret God's Word for me, and, based on those interpretations, create entire authoritative doctrines that I must follow.

Excepting yourself, of course.

Only to those who believe Mary is the one and only "Blessed".

Who would that be? That Mary is blessed is a given. That she is the only one is not.

What we object to is the fatuous Scriptural interpretations that believe simultaneously that Mary will be called blessed by all generations and that Jesus was dissing her later in the same Scripture. "Yeah, yeah, she's my mom, but y'all are really my mom and brothers."

Or the equally disturbing claim that this woman, blessed by all ages, is referred to later in Scripture as "the other Mary."

Yes, and Jesus told us who to call "Father". In order to forestall the anticipated argument; no, I never called my father "Holy Father".

Matthew 23:8 “ But you are not to be called ‘rabbi,’ for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren.”

So we’re not to call anyone teacher either huh? A proper understanding of the scripture would help. Christ was using hyperbole to show the scribes and Pharisees how sinful and proud they were for not looking humbly to God as the source of all authority and fatherhood and teaching, and instead setting themselves up as the ultimate authorities, father figures, and teachers.

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