In the last three decades there has been a great increase in Protestant and Evangelical ministers giving up their pastorates to become Catholic laymen. Many people, especially non-Catholic Christians, may read that first statement and say, “WHAT?! Why the heck would they do that?” Let me tell you, because in Protestant and Evangelical circles this is one of those taboo topics that are usually not presented to Protestant and Evangelical laity. And if the subject is addressed, it is often misrepresented as some being "led astray." In the historical reality, it's all about getting back to historical Christianity!
Last Thursday my family and I drove 16 hours to Columbus, Ohio for this year’s Coming Home Network (CHN) conference. The conferences are titled “Deep in History, Deep in Scripture, Deep in Christ” in order to emphasize the original, biblical, and Christ-centered nature of the Catholic faith, matters often unrecognized by non-Catholic Christians.
CHN was founded in 1993 by Marcus Grodi, a former Presbyterian minister who, with the support of many other Protestant and Evangelical clergy converts, saw a needed resource for the many others who were still on the “Journey Home” back into the Catholic Church. CHN’s ministry is not about proselytizing people out of other church communities, but rather to be a resource of “stand beside” those who are considering the Catholic Church. In other words, CHN is merely there to assist those who, through their own academic and scholarly research, are coming to recognize that the Catholic Church is the “original church” founded by Christ and that what has separated Christians over the last five hundred years has been based upon the theological errors of individual men.
Catholics who are familiar with EWTN, the Catholic cable network, may know Mr. Grodi from his weekly program The Journey Home, where he interviews both clergy and laymen and laywomen who have come into the Church from various Protestant and Evangelical denominational backgrounds. He also interviews “prodigals,” those who have fallen away from the Catholic Church and have “come home.” Furthermore, Mr. Grodi interviews those who have become Christian from various religious backgrounds, like Judaism and Islam, and non-religious backgrounds, like atheism and agnosticism.
During the conference last weekend Mr. Grodi told the audience that since its founding in 1993 CHN has assisted over 1700 clergy from over 100 different Protestant and Evangelical denomination, whereby over 900 clergymen and clergywomen have become Catholic and the other half are still on the journey.
As a Catholic convert myself, I have a great appreciation from the beautiful testimony this brings to bear on Jesus Christ’s call to Christian unity (John 17:18-26) and Saint Paul’s condemnation of Christian division and faction as a serious sin (1 Cor 1:10, 12:25; Gal 5:20) as it causes great scandal to believers. These clergy, being academics and scholars, have a significant influence on the rest of the Protestant and Evangelical world. For to witness them entering the Catholic Church has continued to cause many to ask why.
The great division among Christians since the Protestant Reformation has caused much confusion among Christians asking themselves, “Whose interpretation is right?” Thus many Christians now “church hop,” looking for a denomination that sounds and feels the best for them as individuals. In contrast, as many academic and scholarly Protestant and Evangelical ministers have been coming to discover, ancient Christianity was not based on personal preference or individualism, but rather on object Truths revealed by God and an objective Church formed by Christ. In other words, Christianity is not a matter of “interpretation” but a matter of uncovering the objective Truths that Christ gave to the Church to “teach all nations” and ever protect.
In essence, what is the glory of the ancient Catholic Church that is now of great appeal to Protestant and Evangelical clergy and laity? In one word: stability. Even though there are many Catholics within the Church who act in defiance against the Church, those who are less rebellious of heart and more intellectual of mind see that the heart and mind of Christianity, the heart and mind of the Church, is that of religious truths whereby humanity can come together in loving unity. The stability of the Church, in its essence, is this holding of divine truth and the ability to unify souls under God. Thus, the Church is essentially the collective of humanity who Christ has drawn together in divine truth to purify souls and lead them to union with God for eternal life.
The great divisions that have come about due to the Protestant Reformation, where groups of people began breaking away from the Catholic Church, has caused strife within Christianity and broken down that brotherly love. Thus we often hear some within our church communities uncharitably mocking and criticizing those of other communities.
In contrast to the Protestant “Reformation,” there was also a “Counter-Reformation” made by the Catholic Church, whereby the Church sought to reform itself in appropriate ways. Herein, the Church recognized the Protestants’ legitimate concern for the need of reform within the Church, while at the same time preserving the doctrinal truths and unity of the Christian faith. At the time of the Reformation people began throwing out various truths of The Faith (like all 7 sacraments) and promoting their scandalous disunion with the Church.
Newman University, where I currently study theology, has the namesake of John Henry Cardinal Newman, one of those Protestant clergy converts who came into the original Church back in the mid-nineteenth century. One of his most famous quotes is, “To be deep in history is to cease being a Protestant.” In other words, when Christians become historically minded and historically educated they begin to see the continuity between Judaism and Catholicism; they begin to see the continuity between “one nation under God” - Israel - and the fulfillment of “all nations under God” - the Church.
The CHN conferences have always addressed specific topics of Christian concern. The first six conferences focused progressively on different eras in Church history, from "The Early Church" to the “Battle for the Faith: North America.” Now that the span of Church history has been covered this year’s seventh annual conference began the first of issue-based areas of Christian concern with the official role and authority of Christ’s Church.
This year's conference was titled, "The Pillar and Bulwark of Truth," a quote from Saint Paul in 1 Timothy 3:15 where he refers to the Church as "the pillar and bulwark of the truth." Many Protestants and Evangelicals who have stopped to consider those words are often startled. Paul refers to the Church as the upholder and foundation of truth, not the Scriptures. Why? Because the Scriptures need a guide to provide an appropriate understanding, such as was the witness of the deacon Philip (not the Apostle; see Acts 6:5) to the Ethiopian eunuch as described in Acts 8. The Church is the guide to the Scriptures, such as represented by a deacon, who explains the meaning of the Old Testament in light of Christ, and the meaning of the New Testament in light of what Christ has established through the teaching ministry of His Church.
Next year’s conference is titled "How Firm a Foundation: Authority through the Word of God" and will focus on the official role and authority of Scripture. Next year's conference will be October 22nd through 24th at the Hilton Easton in Columbus, Ohio.
For more information on the Coming Home Network or the conferences visit http://www.chnetwork.com/.