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inept_apologist
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| Joined: | Sat Nov 11th, 2006 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 8 |
| First Name: | | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Roman Catholic |
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Posted: Sat Nov 11th, 2006 03:32 pm |
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I'm a 14 year old girl and I'm a new member here. I wanted to post something as sort of an introduction of myself and share my family's conversion story. I wrote this out for my Catholic apologetics blog that I started just a few weeks ago (which you can visit at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thecatholicapologist).
It’s been 2 years since my family left our wonderful Baptist Church to come home to the Catholic Church. Now, as I look back on that journey, I say a prayer of thanks to God for everything that He’s done for us. Although it was my parents who made the actual decision, I was impacted tremendously by it. In this blog I hope to show the reasons why we left Protestantism to join the Catholic Church, and how my faith has been so enriched by it.
Both of my parents grew up in faithful Baptist homes. They met at a Baptist college where they were both Bible minors. Not surprisingly, after they were married, they attended the Baptist Church across the street. As I was growing up, my dad never fully agreed with everything our Church taught doctrinally. Nevertheless, we didn’t want to leave because we didn’t want to cause any more splits in the church. During the 12 years that we attended, our family was very involved in all of the ministry there. Dad was a deacon and Mom was the Sparks director for AWANA. I was part of the choir, played piano for the youth orchestra, helped in Childcare, volunteered in the library…we were all very much a part of the life there. Because my siblings and I were homeschooled, most of the friends that we had were from church.
In the summer of my 12th birthday, my parents decided that they wanted to become Natural Family Planning (NFP) teachers. Throughout most of their marriage, they had been using this method as a natural way to space births. They believed that contraception was morally wrong and that it is a part of the culture of death. Before this point, none of us had really been exposed to faithful Catholics who followed this teaching of the Church. As for me, I viewed Catholics as just one more denomination that was way off the rocker. I would have never dreamed that we would later leave all of our Baptist friends to become Catholic! But I began to realize, along with the rest of my family, that the Catholic Church actually had some things right! The Catholic view salvation was the same view that we had held all along. See, our church taught something that my dad calls “moment salvation”. In Sunday School I was constantly asked over and over, “When were you saved?” As a young child, I didn’t know how to respond to that question. I couldn’t remember a time when I didn’t love Jesus. My teachers kept prodding me to find a specific point in time when I had prayed a certain prayer asking Jesus into my life. I didn’t know about any special prayer that I had said in the past, all I knew was that Jesus was my Lord and Savior NOW. There’s an analogy that I heard a while ago that helped me understand it better. When someone asks you if you have your socks on, you don’t rack your brain trying to remember how and when you put your socks on that morning, you know that you have your socks on because they’re right there on your feet. It’s the same way with the question, “Are you saved?” You don’t have to pin down a certain point in time when you “got saved” to know that you are saved now. If you must have a specific “moment of salvation”, you should point to Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice on the cross. That is a moment that transcends both time and space into eternity.
As we became more and more familiar with Catholic teachings, our Baptist church became more and more worried! My Sunday School lessons were suddenly focused on “different religions of the world”. It was only when a classmate of mine made the comment, “Well, Catholics don’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God” that I realized what a distorted view my friends and teachers had about what the Catholic Church really taught. That’s one of the main reasons that I wanted to start this blog. I like the way that Bishop Fulton Sheen described it:
“There are not a hundred people in America who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church— which is, of course, quite a different thing.”
In October 2004, we started attending Mass. My Dad stepped down as a deacon and my parents weren’t permitted to be in any teaching roles. We asked the pastor if he would allow the kids to finish their year in AWANA, but he didn’t think it was such a good idea. Instead, he sent out a letter to the church saying that we believed things that were unbiblical, and that the congregation should refrain from having contact with us.
That was one of the hardest things that I’ve ever had to go through. There was a long period where I felt like I had no friends…but I think God allowed me to experience that because He wanted me to draw closer to Him. Now, as a Catholic, I feel like the whole Christian faith has been opened up to me. There are saints and history and sacraments and traditions and so many other things that I was missing out on as a Protestant. What a gift the Church is!
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http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thecatholicapologist
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JillD
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Visalia, California USA |
| Posts: | 678 |
| First Name: | Jill | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | heathen, EvFree, Messianic, LC-MS, Catholic 2007 |
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Posted: Sat Nov 11th, 2006 03:50 pm |
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Well, welcome, IA! What a well-spoken testimony you have.
I've home schooled my girls, too. One is 18 and in her first year of college and the other is 15 and will go to college NEXT YEAR! Things can happen at an appropriate rate when you're home schooled, eh? She's a bright girl (as you are) and will be more than ready for college next year.
I am in the process of conversion to the Church, but my family is not along for the ride. I thank God, though, that I am not being impeded in my journey as some have, so I count my blessings. I'm sorry that you had to endure the ostracism of your Baptist friends, but I'm sure it has made you stronger and given you a powerful testimony. And kudos to your parents, too, for following through with what God had shown them.
Welcome to the forum here and I very much look forward to your input!
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"I praise you, for I am wondrously made. Wonderful are our works! You know me right well; my frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth." Psalm 139
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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 5080 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Sat Nov 11th, 2006 04:09 pm |
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Sylvia, you've been through quite a journey. Welcome to CHN and to the Catholic faith. Much of my ministry is to teens, so if I can help you in any way please let me know.
I like your blog, too!
One thing you didn't mention is how your family became attracted to the Catholic Church. Was it through the people in NFP? Baptist teaching so clearly contradicts much of Catholic teaching that I'm wondering what broke the barrier.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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inept_apologist
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| Joined: | Sat Nov 11th, 2006 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 8 |
| First Name: | | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Roman Catholic |
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Posted: Sat Nov 11th, 2006 04:43 pm |
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cajunrick wrote: One thing you didn't mention is how your family became attracted to the Catholic Church. Was it through the people in NFP? Baptist teaching so clearly contradicts much of Catholic teaching that I'm wondering what broke the barrier.
Well, a lot of things attracted us to the Catholic Church. We had to break quite a few barriers... One of the first things that opened us up to Catholicism was actually Mother Teresa. She was such an incredible example of a real genuine Christian, and yet she was a faithful Catholic. Nearly all of the Catholics that we had been exposed to were nominal, so it was easy to believe the misconceptions about Catholicism that we were taught in the Baptist Church. Also, my dad especially (since it was really him that led our family through the whole journey), was struck the by awesome authority of Paul VI in his encyclical Humanae Vitae, which was one of the required readings for becoming NFP teachers. And not only Paul VI, but John Paul II and all of the Popes. We needed an authority...and the Catholic Church had it.
But the big barrier breaker did come about through the people in NFP. We were staying at a family's home while at the teaching conference, and my dad was going on and on about how wonderful the Humanae Vitae was and how dead on the Church was on the teachings of salvation. The mother just looked at him and asked, "So, why aren't you Catholic?". Before that point...the thought of converting had never even entered into my dad's head.
As for me...I wasn't very enthusiastic about leaving our church. I understood the logic of why we were converting, but I didn't really want to join a new Church. When I started attending mass, I fell in love with it. Jesus was so much more real and tangible. He became even more of a "personal Lord and Savior" than He had been to me as a Baptist!
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http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thecatholicapologist
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BettyBoopToo
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | Camas/Washougal, Washington USA |
| Posts: | 538 |
| First Name: | Betty | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Fist Baptist/Calvary Babtist/Secular Confusion/ Roman Catholic |
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Posted: Sun Nov 12th, 2006 02:06 am |
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Sylvia:
What a pleasure it is to meet you, I too was a Baptist when I was young. I still have siblings that are devoted baptist also.
I hope to get to know you better and I'm happy you've come to visit with us.
I lost all my friends too, Still don't have many. Although I've never felt more at peace and so in love with Jesus.
I'm excited for tomarrow morning so I can go to mass. I feel so blessed that our Lord will let me receive him in such a special way. "Can't Wait"
Wow! Your parent's are amazing and brave people. I'm sorry that your pastor wrote that letter and acted like that to your family. When ever I hear of such stories I always think "Forgive them Lord, They no not what they do"
Here is a web-site of a Baptist convert to the catholic church, He's an author and has many apolagetic writing's on topic's you may enjoy.
http://catholicconvert.com/Default.aspx?tabid=83
Thank You for sharing your story
God Bless you & your family, Welcome Home to the Catholic Church, May the peace of Christ be with you and yours always.
Betty
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Patience
"Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent."
St. John of the Cross
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beachmoss
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| Joined: | Mon Nov 13th, 2006 |
| Location: | Simpsonville, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 270 |
| First Name: | Beth | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Catholic (raised Baptist) |
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Posted: Tue Nov 14th, 2006 12:36 am |
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Wow, IA! You have the wrong screenname! You are not an inept apologist! I am so impressed with your blog. You are so wise and mature beyond your 14 years!
I too am a covert from a Baptist Church, and I've lost several good friends. One of them is even married to a lasped Catholic! But she couldn't understand why I converted.
I wish you and your family the best as you settle into your new "home".
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Jo-Ann
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| Joined: | Tue Oct 24th, 2006 |
| Location: | Knoxville, Tennessee USA |
| Posts: | 14 |
| First Name: | Jo-Ann | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | RC, non-denom/PCA/other, now home sweet home (RCC) |
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Posted: Sat Nov 18th, 2006 10:45 pm |
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Wow! Reading all these posts, especially IA's, has been so encouraging! I will eventually post my story, working on the "reconversion" part - don't know how to explain what happened exactly.
Jo-Ann
____________________
"Feels good to be home again."
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Talithacumi
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| Joined: | Sat Sep 30th, 2006 |
| Location: | Eastern Ohio, USA |
| Posts: | 260 |
| First Name: | Cheri | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Cradle Catholic - Latin Rite |
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Posted: Sun Nov 19th, 2006 02:54 am |
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inept_apologist wrote: I'm a 14 year old girl and I'm a new member here. I wanted to post something as sort of an introduction of myself and share my family's conversion story. I wrote this out for my Catholic apologetics blog that I started just a few weeks ago (which you can visit at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/thecatholicapologist)...
And you're only 14??  After reading your post... not to call you a liar!  - but, geez! You seem like an awfully mature young lady...
Anyway, I enjoyed reading your post, and I checked out your blog, too. Fascinating. And I can tell Christmas is getting close because when I read where your pastor told the congregation not to have anything to do with your family, it reminded me of a scene in the classic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" - you know, that little Clay-mation show for kids (yeah, I confess I still like to watch the good old Christmas programs on TV. Makes me feel young again ). Anyway, I was thinking of the part where Dasher (or was it Donner?) finds out Rudolph has a red nose and turns to the other young reindeer and tells them that they won't let Rudolph play in any more of their games. Sounds like your pastor was kinda like that... oldest trick in the book: shun those who don't agree with you.
At any rate, Welcome Home and welcome to the Forums! Hope to hear more from you!
JMJ
- Cheri
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“We do not want a Church that will move with the world; we want a Church that will move the world.”
- G.K. Chesterton
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a46geo
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| Joined: | Tue Apr 3rd, 2007 |
| Location: | New Baltimore, Michigan USA |
| Posts: | 18 |
| First Name: | George | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | pentecostal / baptist / Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Apr 4th, 2007 07:46 pm |
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Sylvia,
This former baptist deacon (me) is very impressed with how articulate you are. The word inept certainly doesn't fit.
I am at the other end of the age spectrum and am excited about all of the things a young person like yourself can do in your lifetime to help influence the lives of others.
God bless you and thanks for being such an encouragement to your grandpa's generation.
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George
1 Peter 5:7 Place all of your cares on him, for he cares about you.
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jwashu
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| Joined: | Wed Apr 18th, 2007 |
| Location: | Arkansas USA |
| Posts: | 14 |
| First Name: | Joe | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Baptist, Presbyterian, starting RCIA |
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Posted: Wed Apr 18th, 2007 11:26 pm |
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What an AWESOME story and VERY well written. I grew up Baptist but left to become Presbyterian at age 16. It wasn't until my sister actually began refusing to go to Church that my parents finally left the Baptist Church. What you describe in regards to the alienation actually happens and not just when someone becomes Catholic but often when they need their Brothers and Sisters in Christ the most.
Praise the Lord for you and your family!
Joe
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