January 24, 2008 4:32 PM
Evangelical to Catholic: my journey #15
For those of you following my spiritual journey - which was originally called WIBAWIB because my first post in the series was called Where I've Been and Where I'm Bound - a lot is going on. I have a notebook where I've been recording bits and pieces of ideas I want to share.
Two things have been limiting my sharing for the past month:
Time - a big one!
Consideration of others - I just haven't known how to talk about this journey without possibly offending my evangelical friends.
Last week I went to my old evangelical church, but it was obvious that things will never be the same. When the service was ended, the girls said, "Dad's not here, so you have to get out to the car with the kids, can't hang out and talk like you usually do." I said, "I don't think that's a problem anymore." I felt pretty much invisible.
I am really in between two worlds. Feel like I'm on a ship waving goodbye to my friends on one shore while eagerly stepping into a wonderful new world - a world made richer because of the perfect start I got in the place that nurtured my faith to begin with.
Anyway, I have decided as in one of my favorite movies - Meet the Robinsons - to Keep Moving Forward.
I have changed the title of the WIBAWIB series to Evangelical to Catholic: my journey. You can access them from the beginning here.
And I will be writing more installments in the week ahead - I've got a lot to catch up on!
Posted in Catholicism, My life | Permalink
Comments
Oh Barbara. . .It's hard to know if I should give you applause or a hug. What a journey you are on indeed. When my husband converted he lost all. . .ALL. . .of his friends from his previous church. The "word" was that he was headed for the pagans, but nobody even attempted stopping him beyond snide remarks and hushed gossip. It was hard. 10 years later, it still is. These are good people. Some even in the ministry, but mostly just good people who love Christ. I just wish they acted like they loved the Lord more than they disliked Catholics.
On a happier note, during my husband's conversion he heard an analogy that really resonated what he was feeling--not unlike your seashore. For him it was like standing on the shoulders of his loved ones and telling them what he could see and knowing he couldn't see those amazing things without those shoulders. It's just hard when those shoulders are no longer available. . .
Posted by: Fran | January 24, 2008 6:33 PM
I just want to say loud and clear that your Evangelical friends will not be offended by your search for Truth, and by what Almighty God, through His Precious Holy Spirit is doing in your life. Your Evangelical friends will rejoice with you/for you. Your friends will continue to love you and trust you. Your friends will continue to pray for you and your family. Your friends will be there come what may. Your friends count you as a gift and thank God for you as we are sisters and mothers and daughters in Christ. I know, because I am one-always.
Posted by: Greta | January 24, 2008 7:41 PM
Barbara, thank you for being honest and open with us. Because of your obedience to follow where Christ leads, you have stirred me to seek out the history of my faith. I'm finding lots of answers to questions I never had answered within Protestantism. The missing puzzle pieces are being found and put into place and the picture is getting clearer by the day. Keep obeying Him, and trust Him to work all things together for good.
Posted by: K. | January 24, 2008 9:12 PM
I experienced a similar scenario two years ago. I switched from a LARGE non-denom church to a much smaller church (started by the former senior pastor). There was quite a bit of excitement surrounding his departure from the large church, but that happened two years before I chose to leave.
I made my decision to leave only after praying about whether I should leave, as I believe that our placement in a specific church body is a calling and should not be taken lightly. Without having formed a formal decision in my mind and while still attending both churches, members of the large church "formally" withdrew from group Bible study. I was confounded! I was one of only three women in a 10 person group who was faithful to regular meetings!
Later, at an affiliated church camp, I ran into some of the women from the larger church. While they did greet me, many made very snide remarks when they heard where I was now attending. Not a single one wanted to hear about my experience and call to the new church. The same people who should have been loving me and seeing that God was pushing me to grow, judged me!
How often we fail the world as reflections of Christ!
Posted by: Ceci | January 24, 2008 10:52 PM
Barbara,
I've been reading with interest your journey to the Catholic Church, as I'm on a similar journey myself. I've been an evangelical ever since I converted almost 12 years ago, but recently have felt God leading me to investigate both the Catholic and the Orthodox Church. And you know what? I feel like I'm coming home. I don't know which I'll end up in, but I do know I can't be a Protestant anymore. I look forward to reading more of your journey!
Posted by: teachergirl | January 24, 2008 11:23 PM
Barbara,
How neat to come to your site for the first time tonight (someone on Five in a Row recommended your article on avoiding foreclosure) to see that you also are blogging your conversion story! I have just yesterday received Surprised by Truth 1 and 2 by Patrick Madrid and am LOVING the stories in it (I am a cradle Catholic whose husband converted in 99). You will be in our prayers as you make this journey. Welcome home!
In Our Lord and Lady,
Hollee
Posted by: Hollee | January 25, 2008 11:03 PM
Barbara, you commented once that after coming to Christ you would point out Catholic churches to your children as "dead churches". You believed that was true. and even though you have changed your beliefs, these people who are giving you the cold shoulder haven't. In their minds you have abandoned truth for a lie. How can they fit your actions into their belief of once saved always saved? Perhaps they feel their own faith is threatened. After all if someone as devout an Evangelical as you can change their mind - maybe what you have is catching & they don't want to catch it.
I am sure many Catholics, including myself have distanced ourselves from Catholics who announce they are leaving the Church because we don't want to condone what they are doing - which we think is putting their salvation in jeopardy. We still love the person but don't know what to say or how to act. That dynamic may at least be a part of what is going on.
Before Vatican 2 in the 60s, such shunning behavior among Catholics was common. Now there is a great emphasis on the inviolability of the human conscience and our need to respect the conscience of one in error. It isn’t relativism or the belief that everyone has “their own truth”, just the recognition that a human conscience is sacred and a person must decide things freely and not under even well-meaning coercion
Posted by: Judy | January 27, 2008 2:53 PM
