Raised Catholic, Kresta left the faith of his youth as a young man in the 1960’s. As he told CHNetwork in a 2019 interview, “My parents’ generation had extolled the virtues of wine, women, and song. And my generation didn’t mind that; but we preferred drugs, sex, and rock and roll.”

In the Spring of 1969, Kresta had a series of what he called “pseudo-mystical” experiences while using LSD. Beyond the recreational highs he’d been accustomed to seeking, he began to sense a supernatural reality that existed but was somehow inaccessible to him. During the last of these experiences, in May of that year, he felt a presence that he would later describe as Marian, and that caused him to take a fresh look at the world of faith and spirituality he’d abandoned.

Kresta’s search took him into conversations with New Age thinkers, and he regained an appreciation for Jesus, but only saw Christ as one enlightened teacher among many “ascended masters.” It wasn’t until his time at Michigan State University that he began reading the Bible on his own for the first time, and the picture of Jesus that began to emerge from the Gospels stood in sharp contrast to Al’s concept of Him as a mere sage. Al found himself bewildered, and unsure of what to do next.

One day, while walking down Grand River Ave toward the center of town, he met a man handing out Christian tracts. He took one, and was struck by the first line of it: “Do you want to know why some people have trouble understanding the Bible?” It was as though God was speaking directly to the question in his heart. As Kresta put it, that was the day that he went “from believing in the Jesus of the New Age, to believing in the Jesus of the New Testament.”

Kresta spent the next eighteen years in various capacities of Evangelical ministry, serving for five of those years as a pastor. But questions that arose about authority, the interpretation of Scripture, and a host of other issues eventually led him back to the Catholic Faith he’d walked away from decades before, and he returned to full communion with the Church in 1992.

However, as a former Protestant pastor becoming Catholic, he faced many of the issues that are common to clergy seeking a home in the Church, such as difficulty explaining the decision to leave Protestant ministry, experiencing the reality of being a member of a congregation rather than a leader of one, and wondering how to use the gifts and talents of a Protestant ministry background in a Catholic context.

Al shared his experience of journeying from cradle Catholicism through agnosticism, the New Age, and Evangelical ministry back to the Catholic Faith on CHNetwork’s flagship program, The Journey Home, which airs on EWTN television and radio and for many years was hosted by Marcus Grodi, who had also been a Protestant pastor before entering the Catholic Church. Al appeared on the show in 2004 and 2007, and also joined the program in 2017 for the show’s 20th anniversary special. He also appeared as a guest on Marcus Grodi’s radio program, Deep in Scripture.

In the weeks since Kresta’s initial diagnosis, the radio show that bears his name has continued, with Marcus Peter of Ave Maria Radio filling in as host. Peter, who was a guest on The Journey Home in 2021, shares a number of things in common with Kresta; he too went from cradle Catholic to unbeliever to born-again Christian and Protestant preacher before returning to the Catholic Faith. As such, he identifies with Al’s journey in a special way. “He and I shared such similar journeys, albeit in different ways. Having his influence was invaluable to me,” said Peter.

Peter also noted that Kresta’s mentorship helped him, as a convert with Protestant leadership experience, to see the world through a more thoroughly Catholic lens: “He challenged me to expand my capacities. I used to focus only on preaching the truths of Scripture for the salvation of souls. Al showed me how applying those same truths to history, art, politics, science, and current events had an equally powerful salvific effect in the lives of Christians.”

Please join the Coming Home Network in giving thanks for the extraordinary life and witness of Al Kresta, and praying for the repose of his soul and the consolation of his family.

May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, Rest in Peace.

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The following is a video testimony that Al recorded for CHNetwork’s Signposts series in 2019:

The post The CHNetwork Family Remembers Al Kresta appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

The Coming Home Network was established by lay and clergy converts to Catholicism as a means of fellowship, encouragement and support for those exploring the Catholic Faith, as well as those who have become Catholic and are learning how to be at home in the Church.

If that’s you, please reach out to us! We have tons of free resources for you, including over 1000 conversion stories, tons of articles and videos, and a free Online Community where you can connect with others like yourself who are finding a home in the Catholic Church.

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In the meantime, here were the Top 10 most popular videos that we published over the past year:

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10. The Healing Power of Confession – Lauren De Witt

As a Baptist preacher’s kid, Lauren De Witt struggled with the idea of “once saved, always saved,” because she constantly wondered if her patterns of sin meant she was never saved in the first place.

Her experience of professional therapy was extremely helpful to her in sorting out the practical details of how to address questions of mental health, but when she discovered the Sacrament of Confession in the Catholic Church, Lauren found it to be a powerful channel of grace that helped her deal in a unique way with both her sins and the feelings of guilt that stemmed from them. Watch Lauren’s video.

9. A Pentecostal Discovers Liturgical Worship – Fr. Michael Rennier

Fr. Michael Rennier grew up in a Pentecostal environment, and the worship services he went to focused on contemporary praise music, with a sermon as the centerpiece.

When he discovered liturgical worship, with Holy Communion at the center, he was both intrigued and uneasy; he wanted to know more, but wasn’t sure at first how to enter into it fully.

His Pentecostal formation led him to wonder if it were possible to experience the movement of the Holy Spirit in a structured liturgical setting; but as he began to explore it more deeply, he found an unexpected spiritual richness and freedom in the Mass that continued to draw him closer to Christ. Watch Fr. Rennier’s video.

8. Preaching John 6 as a Protestant – Dean Waldt

As a Presbyterian minister, Dean Waldt was committed to teaching the Scriptures. But when leading an adult Sunday school class on John 6, Dean came to a crossroads; it seemed clear that what Jesus was saying about Himself lined up much more with Catholic teaching on Holy Communion than it did with his Presbyterian understanding of the Lord’s Supper. Watch Dean’s video.

7. A Presbyterian Minister’s Journey to Catholicism – Dean Waldt

As a young Christian, Dean Waldt wanted to serve the Lord with his life, but his first experience of ordained ministry left him burned out, and he left to pursue a career in law.

When he revisited the idea of ministry through an opportunity to work with youth at his church, Dean discovered a new zeal for learning about the faith, and the more he prayed and studied, the more he realized that God was calling him toward the Catholic Church. Watch Dean’s story.

6. Catholic Ideas at a Protestant Seminary – Dr. Jason Reed

When Dr. Jason Reed was teaching philosophy and theology at an Evangelical seminary, he wanted to dive deep into questions of virtue, and the full implications of the incarnation so as to form his students in the best way possible.

But over time, he found that the resources that went most comprehensively into those questions were Catholic — so what was he supposed to make of that? Watch Dr. Reed’s video.

5. On the Journey with Matt, Ken, and Kenny – What is the Church?

Matt Swaim, Ken Hensley and Kenny Burchard explored what the Church teaches about what the Church is.

When Ken and Kenny were Evangelical pastors, what did they mean by the word “Church?” When Matt was attending different congregations, how did he understand them in relation to one another? Where did each of them get these understandings of what “the Church” is and how it works?

We were able to release 11 episodes of this series in 2023, and we’re excited to finish it up with a few more episodes in the New Year! Watch the series.

4. From the Prosperity Gospel to Catholicism – CHNetwork Presents

For many years, Lisa Cooper was deeply involved in the Word of Faith movement, led by such figures as Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, and Marilyn Hickey.

While others were mocking these televangelists for their over-the-top personalities and lavish lifestyles, Lisa was looking to them for spiritual guidance.

She talks to Matt Swaim about some of the nuances of that theological worldview: the role of language, the thinking around wealth and health, and the celebrity pastor culture.

Lisa shares how deconstructing from that form of Christianity led her to find a spiritual home in the Catholic Church. Watch the episode.

3. On the Journey with Matt and Ken – Three Protestants Go To Mass

All Christians talk about worship, but not all understand it in the same way. What is our goal in gathering together regularly as a community of believers? What should we be doing when we’re together? How does God ask us to worship Him, and how did the earliest Christians seek to honor Him when they gathered?

In a 10 part series, Matt Swaim, Ken Hensley, and Kenny Burchard compared their own experiences of leading Protestant worship gatherings with what they experienced when they discovered the Mass, and discuss the questions each of them began to ask about what true Christian worship should look like. Watch the series.

2. An Evangelical Seminary Professor Becomes Catholic – Dr. Jason Reed

Dr. Jason Reed’s desire to follow Christ led him to pursue academic study in theology and philosophy. He went on teach those disciplines at an Evangelical seminary, in hopes of helping to form pastors in the foundational principles that might best help them share their Christian faith.

Over time, he became increasingly frustrated at the lack of agreement among Protestant Christians on major theological issues, from justification to free will to baptism and beyond. That led him to ask the bigger question: what is the historic Christian faith that has been passed down through the centuries, and how did it become so splintered? Watch Dr. Reed’s story.

1. How a Seventh-day Adventist Minister Became Catholic – Norman bin Yazid

Norman bin Yazid had a strong foundation of faith in the Seventh-day Adventist tradition, and his love for God and desire to learn and share more about Him led him to pursue a call to ministry.

While serving in ministry, Norman began to ask questions about the relationship between beauty, truth and goodness, and was surprised to find that the Catholic Church — which his Adventist tradition was deeply suspicious of — had compelling things to say about the relationship between faith and reason, and what it means to know, love and serve the God behind it all. Watch Norman’s story.

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We were thrilled to be able to share so much wonderful video content in 2023! With the help of your generous support, we hope to continue to share a lot more of it in 2024. Happy New Year!

The post The Top 10 CHNetwork Online Videos of 2023 appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

According to site visits, social media activity and your feedback, here were the most popular Journey Home episodes from 2023:

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10. Jeremy Christiansen – Former Latter Day Saint

Jeremy Christiansen, author of From the Susquehanna to the Tiber, joined JonMarc Grodi to discuss his journey from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to the Catholic Church. He discusses the way he conceived of God from his earliest years, and how that concept formed over time and eventually helped him to develop a sacramental worldview. Watch Jeremy’s episode.

9. Sr. Julia Mary Darrenkamp, FSP – Former Evangelical Protestant

Sr. Julia was raised generally Christian, but became fascinated with the lives of the saints, especially young martyr saints like St. Maria Goretti and St. Agnes, by picking up books about them in a local library.  Hungry to know more, she began to read everything she could get her hands on, and when she finally visited a Catholic Church, it clicked with her that the people she saw in the stained glass windows were the same people she’d been reading about.

That’s only the beginning of her story, which also includes how she ended up a religious sister with the Daughters of St. Paul… Watch Sr. Julia’s episode.

8. Rachel Bulman – Former Pentecostal

Rachel Bulman was born in the Philippines and adopted by Pentecostal missionaries. She had a strong Christian identity growing up, but began to have questions about divisions in Christianity, and where her place was in all of it. When she began dating a Catholic, it was the first time she’d been confronted with the reality of anti-Catholicism, and she knew she needed to learn more. The more she explored, the more she fell in love with the Catholic Church, through the sacraments, the intellectual tradition, and through devotion to the Blessed Mother. Watch Rachel’s episode.

7. Lisa Cooper – Former Word of Faith

Lisa Cooper was baptized Catholic as a baby, but her parents quickly got into the Word of Faith movement, led by such figures as Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, and Marilyn Hickey. As a young woman, when she didn’t always feel emotional consolations in those Prosperity Gospel worship services, she wondered if God even loved her. Seeking spiritual stability, she started visiting Catholic parishes, and began to heal from the spiritual manipulation she’d been experiencing her whole life. Watch Lisa’s episode.

6. Mother Petra – Former Wesleyan

Mother Petra was raised in a family full of Wesleyan ministers, missionaries and church planters, and went on to study at Indiana Wesleyan. She became increasingly frustrated by divisions in Christianity over everything from Bible interpretation to worship practices, and at one point even stopped going to church.

When one of her sisters became Catholic, it opened up to her the possibility that there really was an authoritative way to understand the reality of what it meant to be a Christian. She entered the Catholic Church, and eventually religious life at a Byzantine monastery. Watch Mother Petra’s episode.

5. Kailash and Lily Duraiswami – Former Hindu, Atheist and Agnostic

As a young man, Kailash Duraiswami had left behind his Hindu roots for a hedonistic lifestyle after finding success in Silicon Valley, and his future wife Lily’s struggles to understand her purpose in life led her to wonder about the existence of God. At the heart of their journeys are the two questions that drive so many of us to consider faith: what is truth and where do I fit in the world? They share how those questions led each of them to the Catholic Church, and eventually to meet one another. Watch their episode.

4. Kathryn Whitaker – Former Evangelical Protestant

Kathryn Whitaker was baptized in a Methodist church as an infant in Texas, but after her pastor left, her family skipped around churches looking for a fit, including time spent with the Nazarenes and Disciples of Christ.

Visiting Baptist churches in college, Kathryn heard her first real anti-Catholicism from the pulpit, and it shocked her and made her want to learn more about Catholicism, which she poured herself into. This led her to Catholic friendships, and eventually to marry a Catholic. She ended up being confirmed Catholic and receiving her first Holy Communion an hour before her wedding rehearsal dinner! Watch Kathryn’s episode.

3. Lauren De Witt – Former Baptist

Lauren De Witt’s dad was a Baptist pastor, and growing up, her whole world revolved around the life of her church. However, as a young adult, she went through a lot of personal challenges, including an unplanned pregnancy, and it led her to completely re-evaluate her understanding of faith. She shares how those difficulties faced by her and her family brought them to consider the possibility of Catholicism, and what that might mean for them. Watch Lauren’s episode.

2. Sr. Diana Marie Andrews, O.P – Former Latter Day Saint

Sr. Diana Marie grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but dabbled in various forms of Evangelicalism before considering herself more “spiritual but not religious.” Her academic interests led her to the study of history, and when visiting her boyfriend in Rome in 2009, she saw the Pieta in person and found herself in tears. She began exploring the Catholic faith, and after entering, discerned a vocation to the Hawthorne Dominicans. Watch Sr. Diana’s episode.

1. Fr. Sebastian Walshe, O. Praem – Former Lutheran

Fr. Sebastian Walshe had a mixed religious background, with some Catholicism on his father’s side, and Judaism and Lutheranism from his mother. He shares the call he felt on his heart to find a spiritual home in the Catholic Church, and how that call found further fulfillment in his discernment of the priesthood with the Norbertine order. He also shares several insights for family members who have walked away from faith, and what we might do to invite them back. Watch Fr. Sebastian’s episode.

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Thank you for joining us for another great year! And we can’t wait to share another one full of great Journey Home episodes in 2024…

To support our work into the new year, please consider an end-of-year gift today!

View the Top 10 episodes from previous years: 2016 – 2017 – 2018 – 2019 – 2020 – 2021 – 2022

The post The Top 10 Journey Home Episodes of 2023 appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

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10. From CBN Producer to Catholic Convert – Andrea Garrett

“The megachurch trend exploded in the 2000s… Many friends and colleagues attended one of these large, non-denominational churches. At my Christian workplace, we began to adhere to a ‘lowest common denominator’ Christianity. Since there were so many different theologies floating around, we had to ‘agree to disagree’ on an ever- growing number of doctrines.” Read Andrea’s story.

9. Dressed Down by Three Pastors for Investigating Catholicism – Joe Ward

“Our meeting concluded with the resolution that I would no longer be allowed to perform on the worship team, while Catholicism was something I was still openly looking into. While this hurt me deeply, I understood where the Executive Pastor was coming from as the shepherd of his flock… I left the meeting feeling sad and confused, but most of all, curious.” Read Joe’s story.

8. Catholic to Baptist and Back – Rex Gehlbach

“While in college, I met a young lady who would later become my wife. She was from a Baptist background, and we got married within a year of my college graduation. I found her church to be different than mine, but it didn’t bother me. I became a Baptist, and we raised our children in the Baptist church.” Read Rex’s story.

7. A Oneness Pentecostal Minister Becomes Catholic – Michael Garcia

“In my teens, I slowly began to drift away from the Church by not receiving Communion and eventually not attending Mass at all. I always seemed to find an excuse for not going. After high school, I entered the United States Navy, and my church attendance eroded even more, but I always felt that God was somehow with me. At this time, my older brother was getting involved with a United Pentecostal Church (UPC), and I saw a change in his life.” Read Michael’s story.

6. A Protestant Pastor Stops Protesting – James Whittaker

“When I took Advanced Methodist Theology from a world-renowned Methodist scholar, I was told that the basic premise of Methodist theology was Catholic. To be sure, there were differences, but the theology definitely was not the anti-Catholicism of John Calvin. Methodists do not preach ‘once saved always saved,’ even if some in the pews believe that theology. I was dumbfounded and tried to argue against the premise, but could not.” Read James’ story.

5. Mail, the Donut Man, and the Priest – Kara McGee

“I was brought up in the Free Will Baptist Church and have many good memories from my childhood there. My grandaddy was a Free Will Baptist preacher. When he preached, he had a way of making Bible stories come to life, and I loved that! Grandma was very wise and had a great sense of humor. I am blessed to have such a godly heritage.” Read Kara’s story.

4. A Protestant Seeks Annulment – Pam Mings

“The Sunday came when I was to be confirmed into the Church. As I stood at the doorway of the nave, about to proceed down the aisle behind the priest, one of the deacons asked for the name of my patron Saint, as they write it on a sticker and put it on your chest. ‘My what?’ I asked.” Read Pam’s story.

3. Iconography Draws an LDS Missionary – Anthony Hansen

“The first time I attended Mass was shortly after I returned home from my mission, and it didn’t go the way I expected…” Anthony Hansen shares how his experience as an LDS missionary came into conflict with his wife’s experience of faith as a Catholic, and how he eventually came home to the Church. Read Anthony’s story.

2. From Bar Mitzvah to RCIA – Phillip Seeberg

I went to Hebrew School on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays from 4th through 7th grade, and while studying for my Bar Mitzvah, I also attended religious services Friday nights and Saturday mornings for two of those years. I remember walking to the synagogue after school in the afternoon. One day a week, the Catholics in my class went to CCD classes at St. Bede church, across the street from Beth Jacob synagogue. Read Phillip’s story.

1. How the Peace of Christ Conquered my Anxious, Atheist Heart – Peter Laffin

“It wasn’t just that I didn’t believe in God. It was that I hated even the idea of Him (it took me years to realize that hatred implied belief). I hated his arbitrary rules and his apparent indifference toward evils like the bomb and childhood cancer. I hated the idea of his perfection, and most of all his perfect goodness… Of course, I had no idea what the Church meant by the word ‘God.'” Read Peter’s story.

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As you can see, there were many powerful stories to share in 2023! And this list only scratches the surface. To view our full archive of written stories from the past year and beyond, visit chnetwork.org/story.

You can see our top 10 written stories from last year.

And if you’re interested in submitting your own written testimony for us to review and see if it’s a fit for our readership, please let us know! You can find our written story submission guidelines here.

The post The Top 10 CHNetwork Written Conversion Stories of 2023 appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

According to site visits, social media activity and your feedback, here were the most popular Journey Home episodes from 2022:

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10. Dr. Tim Gregson – Former Presbyterian music minister

Dr. Tim Gregson came from a wonderful Christian family, and when he started attending a Mennonite school, a couple of things happened: first, he fell in love with choral music, and second, he began to become acutely aware of the divisions in Christianity.

He went on to become a music minister, but nagging questions about the nature of worship led him to explore early Christianity, and what he found there drew him more and more toward the reality of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church. Watch Dr. Gregson’s episode.

9. Dr. Ian Murphy – Former Baptist minister

Dr. Ian Murphy returned to the show, having recently written his memoir, Dying to Live: From Agnostic to Baptist to Catholic.

Dr. Murphy grew up Christian, but became agnostic as a teenager before having a born again experience. A controversy over him mentioning his faith in a graduation speech developed in him a boldness to preach, eventually leading him to Baptist ministry before he began to discover the beauty and truth of the Catholic Church. Watch Dr. Murphy’s episode.

8. Norman bin Yazid – Former Seventh-day Adventist minister

Norman bin Yazid had family roots in both Islam and Seventh-day Adventism, but was always drawn more to Christianity.

He pursued a call to ministry in an SDA context, but began to be troubled with some central tenets of their theology, and wondered if there might be another way to view the Scriptures than through the teachings of Ellen G. White.

Norman began to think and pray more deeply on the question of faith and reason, the meaning of beauty, and a proper view of Christian history.

Those questions would eventually lead him home to the Catholic Church. Watch Norman’s episode.

7. Mick Souza – Catholic revert

Raised Catholic by his mother and grandmother, Mick Souza was one of the smallest kids in his neighborhood, so he began working out, winning every athletic competition he entered, and eventually the Mr. Universe title in 1992. 

Along the way, he got caught up in money, and sins of the flesh, but none of it satisfied, because he had drifted far from faith.

When his mother passed, it was a turning point, and Mick knew more than ever that he needed the Lord back in his life.

Mick shares the many ways since that initial turning point that the Holy Spirit has been continuing to mold him and make him more of the man that God always intended him to be. Watch Mick’s episode.

6. Fr. Andrew Jones – Former Baptist

Fr. Andrew Jones came from strong Baptist roots, including many pastors and missionaries on his dad’s side of the family.

As a kid, he was fascinated by the Lord’s Supper, but always felt like there needed to be more to the celebration of it.

A trip to Greece and Italy just before college got him fascinated with icons, and the more he studied and prayed, the more he felt drawn to the ancient beauty of the Catholic Church and Her sacramental life. Fr. Andrew is a priest in the Diocese of Mobile, Alabama. Watch Fr. Andrew’s episode.

5. Fr. Gaurav Shroff – Former Hindu

Fr. Gaurav Shroff was born in India, and spent part of his childhood in the United States before moving back.

His grandmother was the most observant Hindu in his family, and he remembers her devout prayers, as well as the various festivals he would celebrate with his extended family.

His love of classical music eventually led him to polyphony and Gregorian chant, and captivated by its beauty, he began to study the world that had produced it.

That led him to a powerful encounter with Jesus at a Good Friday service, and began in earnest his path to the Catholic Church and the priesthood. He now serves as a priest in the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Watch Fr. Shroff’s episode.

4. Mallory Smyth – Catholic Revert, former non-denominational Christian

Mallory Smyth was raised in a strong Catholic family, but questions about the Church’s moral teaching, and her own frustration with bad parish experiences, led her to stop going to Mass once she got to college.

After finding life without God to be empty, Mallory started to give Christianity another try by exploring nondenominational congregations, but over time, came to realize that the Catholic Church, despite all of its broken and flawed members, was her true spiritual home. Watch Mallory’s episode.

3. Melissa Slagle – Former Baptist

Melissa Slagle was raised Baptist, but really began to be proactive in her relationship with Jesus through the mentorship of a high school teacher.

Later, when one of her daughters announced she was becoming involved with United Pentecostals, who didn’t believe in the Trinity, it led Melissa to wonder who had the correct interpretation of Scripture.

The quest to understand that dilemma led her first to a thorough re-reading of the New Testament, and eventually to the claims of the Catholic Church, which had preserved the interpretation of Scripture from the time of the apostles. Watch Melissa’s episode.

2. Dr. Jennifer Frey – Former Atheist

Dr. Jennifer Frey grew up in a moral family, but her parents rejected organized religion because of their negative personal and political experiences, and she herself became a convinced atheist in high school.

Dr. Frey went on to study philosophy as an undergrad, and was surprised to discover that there were intelligent people in that field who also believed in God.

It raised a number of questions for her about how to best do philosophy, and those questions eventually led her to take seriously the claims of the Catholic Church. Watch Dr. Frey’s episode.

1. Katie Jacobson – Former Evangelical Protestant

Katie Jacobson grew up with experience in Baptist and Lutheran churches, and when she met people from even more denominations in Bible college, it really made her wonder about which church was the True Church.

Her quest to find out even led her to try membership classes with Latter Day Saints and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

A visit to Theology on Tap opened up a million questions about Catholicism for her, and started her on a journey to undo years of myths and misunderstandings about the Church, which she eventually came to realize was her true spiritual home. Watch Katie’s episode.

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What a year! And we can’t wait to share another one full of great Journey Home episodes in 2023!

To support our work into the new year, please consider an end-of-year gift today!

View the Top 10 episodes from previous years: 2016 – 2017 – 2018 – 2019 – 2020 – 2021

The post The Top 10 Journey Home Episodes of 2022 appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

To catch up on some of that content, here are the Top 10 videos that we published over the past year:

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10. Pentecostal Preachers, Catholic Converts – CHNetwork Presents

The road from Pentecostalism to the Catholic Church is more direct than you might think!

In this episode, Matt Swaim talks to Marcus Peter and Kenny Burchard, who both had radical conversions to Christ in the Pentecostal movement, and later became convicted to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading into the Catholic Church.

They discuss how questions of freedom, authority, and the nature of the Holy Spirit led them through the discernment process. It’s a great conversation! Watch the episode.

9. Preachers’ Kids Who Became Catholic – CHNetwork Presents

There are many stories out there about what happens when a Protestant pastor decides to become Catholic.

But what happens when it’s their children who are the ones who feel called to the Church?

Dr. MaryJo Burchard and Denise Bossert both had dads who formed them strongly in faith, and whose work as Protestant pastors had a profound impact on them as they grew up.

They share the unique experience of what it was like to grow up as “PK’s,” and how living in that world uniquely formed them to ask the kinds of questions that would one day lead them to the Catholic Faith. Watch the episode.

8. A Brazilian Pastor Becomes Catholic – Eduardo Faria

In Eduardo Faria’s experience as a Presbyterian pastor in Brazil, he was deeply in love with his faith and passionate about teaching it.

But when some significant questions about the nature of the early Church and Christian authority led him to explore Catholicism, it also raised many questions about what this might mean for his ministry, his family, and where God might be calling him now after years of Protestant ministry. Watch Eduardo’s story.

7. Protestant Services and Catholic Mass – Kenny Burchard

As a pastor in the Foursquare Church, Kenny Burchard planned countless Sunday services, which were usually a mix of hymns and praise songs, a sermon, and a few other elements.

When he first started exploring the Catholic Mass, he found a few of those same elements there.

But he also discovered an internal logic to Catholic liturgy that told the whole story of salvation history, and connected him with Christians around the world, and even throughout the centuries. Watch Kenny’s video.

6. A Baptist Mom’s Journey to Catholicism – Melissa Slagle

Melissa Slagle was raised Baptist, but really began to be grow in her relationship with Jesus through the mentorship of a high school teacher.

Later, when one of her daughters announced she was becoming involved with United Pentecostals, who didn’t believe in the Trinity, it led Melissa to wonder which version of Christianity had the correct interpretation of Scripture.

The quest to understand that dilemma led Melissa first to a thorough re-reading of the New Testament, and eventually to the claims of the Catholic Church, which had preserved the interpretation of Scripture from the time of the apostles. Watch Melissa’s video.

5. Understanding the Mass – On the Journey

All Christians talk about worship, but not all understand it in the same way. What is our goal in gathering together regularly as a community of believers?  How does God ask us to worship Him, and how did the earliest Christians seek to honor Him when they gathered?

Matt Swaim, Ken Hensley, and Kenny Burchard did a series of episodes comparing their own experiences of leading Protestant worship gatherings with what they experienced when they first went to Mass, and discuss the questions each of them began to ask about what true Christian worship should look like.

Be sure to catch the conclusion of this series in early 2023! Watch the series.

4. Martin Luther’s Story – On the Journey

Ken Hensley and Matt Swaim did a series earlier this year looking at the life and thought of Martin Luther, and how his experiences shaped him to become the initiator of the Protestant Reformation.

They begin by looking at Luther’s early years, and how his family life and his time leading up to entering the monastery formed him to understand God.

From there, they follow Luther through to how he came to the ideas that would spark the Reformation, and the consequences of those ideas over time. Watch the series.

3. A Foursquare Pastor Who Started Agreeing With the Catholics – Kenny Burchard

Kenny Burchard makes a lot of appearances on this year’s list!

Kenny was a Foursquare pastor for a number of years, but even becoming Christian in the first place as a teenager was a source of conflict in his family, because of his parents’ complicated feelings toward religion.

During his time as a pastor, he began to make several discoveries about Christology, Scripture, history and the sacraments and found himself agreeing with Catholic thought on more and more questions.

Kenny shares how he came to the conviction that it wasn’t enough for him to just agree with the Catholics on all these things; he needed to join them in their communion with Christ. Watch Kenny’s story.

2. A Protestant Bible Scholar Discovers Catholicism – CHNetwork Presents

The Bible is God’s Word. But what should be the criteria for interpreting it correctly?

Matt Swaim talks to Dr. Vern Steiner, who was a Protestant pastor and seminary professor about the value of his Protestant formation in Scripture, as well as its limits, and what led him to enter the Catholic Church and create a Catholic Bible Institute to continue his work in exegesis and Biblical scholarship.

Dr. Steiner has the unique distinction of having founded both a Protestant and a Catholic Bible institute! He has some excellent insights to share. Watch the episode.

1. Understanding Mary – On the Journey

In our most popular video series of the year, Matt Swaim and former Baptist pastor Ken Hensley were joined by new OTJ contributor Kenny Burchard, a former Foursquare Church pastor, for a series of episodes discussing what led each of them to embrace Catholic teaching on Mary.

They spend time talking about how they each understood Mary’s role in salvation history as Protestants, then walk episode by episode through the core Marian dogmas, and discuss the key arguments that factored into their journeys along the way as they came to appreciate Our Lady more and more. Watch the series.

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2022 was our biggest year yet for video content! With the help of your generous support, we hope to continue to share a lot more of it in 2023. Happy New Year!

The post The Top 10 CHNetwork Online Videos of 2022 appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

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10. Thankful to be Able to be Thankful – Jeff Miller

“As a child, there was no point during which I thought there was a God — never a time when I had some belief in a transcendent being or took this idea seriously. Discussions about faith or talking about God never occurred in my household. I knew that there were different religious belief systems among my school friends, my neighbors, and the world. Nevertheless, this was a subject that did not come up in my home.” Continue reading.

9. God Leads Us One Step at a Time – Nick Alexander

“I came to know Christ personally in 1984, when I was 14 years old. I had attended a summer youth retreat in New England, where I became convinced of the reality of the existence of a personal God. Afterwards, I returned home to an apartment in New York City, with a new reality before me, a newfound zeal. My love of Christ disrupted our family dynamic.” Continue reading.

8. Catholicism Was My Enemy – Marc Lozano

“I landed a dream job at the NBA in their business operations department. I also started actively investing on my own in the stock market and made some good financial moves. At this point, I was well versed in philosophy, religion, and theology. I had admitted to myself that I was intellectually a Christian. But being convinced that Christianity is the truth did not excite me.” Continue reading.

7. The Sacrifice That Brought Me Home – Dan Venezia

Dan Venezia’s whole identity was wrapped up in being a pro baseball player, but when he got released by the Twins after a rough stretch, he felt as lost as he’d ever been. He shares what he learned from that experience, and the series of struggles and trials that led him from twice-a-year Mass attendance to being on fire for his faith. Continue reading.

6. Facebook Made Me Catholic – Megan Foshay

“The straw that broke the camel’s back came when I made a post about baking cookies and listening to Christmas music. It was as if World War III broke out on my Facebook wall. I was messaged by people in various Christian sects asking me why I was celebrating ‘pagan’ Christmas? Why wasn’t I following Mosaic Law any more? Why was I wearing makeup? Had I spoken in tongues to know I had received the Holy Spirit and been saved?” Continue reading.

5. The Most Difficult Way Possible – Lydia Bertrand

“When I met Mike, he was in his first year of seminary, preparing to become an Episcopal priest. My friends and family, who were mostly non-religious, were surprised that I was dating a seminarian, but when they saw that we had a healthy relationship, they accepted him with open arms. Mike gave me a Book of Common Prayer, and I loved it.” Continue reading.

4. Catholic Church, Here’s My List – Jennifer Southers

“I started RCIA, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, on September 1, 2019. I met with the priest, Fr. Brian, early in the process. I took him a list of questions that I had. He said that they would be answered through my classes, and if not, he would specifically make sure to answer them for me. Some of the questions I had for Fr. Brian were…” Continue reading

3. A Wandering Pentecostal Returns Home – Lisa Wheeler

“Once a year our preacher would conduct in-depth church training. In 2018, the topic was counterfeit gospels, into which he lumped Catholicism. Consequently, I understood the Catholic Church in the light of a fundamentalist, Calvinist viewpoint, and accepted the view that Catholics lacked assurance of salvation, which we at the Bible church had, and they therefore needed to be evangelized.” Continue reading.

2. From Communes to Christ – Sheila Stephanis

“I’ve always said that God has a great sense of humor. I left the Church while attending a Catholic college and came back while living in an atheistic commune!” Sheila Stephanis has an incredible story of God reaching out to her and bringing her back to the Church through the most unlikely of means.” Continue reading.

1. Peace Be With my Soul, Too – Nora Jensen

“(My mother) introduced me to Tarot cards, and we frequented a New Age store with bumper stickers on the wall. One sticker there caught my attention. It said: ‘Too Many Christians, Not Enough Lions.’ I asked my mom what it meant, and she told me about the persecution of early Christians and how they were thrown into pits with hungry lions. I bought the sticker and hung it on my bedroom wall.” Continue reading.

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We’ve had so many great story submissions from our members, and this is only a sample of them! To view our full archive of written stories from the past year and beyond, visit chnetwork.org/story.

And if you’re interested in submitting your own written testimony for us to review and see if it’s a fit for our readership, please let us know! You can find our written story submission guidelines here.

To keep us sharing stories into 2023, please consider an end-of-year gift today!

The post The Top 10 CHNetwork Written Conversion Stories of 2022 appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

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10. Kenny Burchard – Former Foursquare pastor

Kenny Burchard wasn’t raised Christian, but accepted Jesus when he met some YWAM missionaries outside a Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City. He decided to go wherever God called him, which meant first the Navy, and later ministry in the Assemblies of God and the Foursquare Church. He worked as a church planters for 12 years before stepping down due to questions of authority, Church history and the proper interpretation of Scripture. After a long process of prayer and discernment, Kenny and his wife MaryJo were received into the Catholic Church in 2019. Watch Kenny’s episode.

9. Bo Bonner – Former Evangelical Protestant

Bo Bonner came from a strong Christian family in the Baptist tradition, and always loved Jesus, but when he was part of a church that went through some difficulty, he stopped attending on Sundays and began to read every book about philosophy that he could get from his local library. He pursued philosophy further at Oklahoma State and Duke Divinity, and as he dove into the works of Aquinas and Augustine, he was compelled by them not only as thinkers, but as lovers of truth, and leading lights on the path home to the Catholic Church. Watch Bo’s episode.

8. Craig Alexander – Former Methodist

Craig Alexander’s dad was an alcoholic who left his family behind, but Craig’s mother took him to the Methodist church, where Craig came to faith in Jesus. Through his high school years, into his time in the Marines, that faith took a backseat, and he began to live for himself, going through a very short marriage, and indulging all kinds of sins of the flesh while serving active duty. When he came back from the Marines, he felt a powerful and unexplained call on his heart to go to Mass, and when he did, he had an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist that would change everything for him. Watch Craig’s episode.

7. Christine Flynn – Former Agnostic

Christine Flynn wasn’t raised with faith, and her experiences with Christians in middle in high school made her extremely negative toward Christianity. Vivid dreams that she kept having led her to explore New Age ideas, and she considered herself “spiritual but not religious.” But that worldview was ultimately unsatisfying to her, and when she married her husband, an atheist, she became an atheist also. After the birth of their first child, Christine’s husband began to be open to faith, and Christine started to explore Christianity for herself, eventually embracing Jesus, and later, the Catholic Church. Watch Christine’s episode.

6. Dr. MaryJo Burchard – Former Nondenominational Missionary

Dr. MaryJo Burchard came from a long line of missionaries and pastors, and she was inspired through their witness to want to follow Christ wherever He called her. She was serving as a missionary in Okinawa with YWAM when she met her husband, and they went into ministry together. However, divisions in Christianity bothered her, so she began working a doctorate in Ecclesiastical Leadership from Regent University. That study caused her to look at historic Church leaders like St. Benedict and St. Francis, and to realize that she didn’t have to constantly reinvent “church,” but rather, join The Church. Watch MaryJo’s episode.

5. Adam Crawford – Former Nondenominational Pastor

Adam Crawford was raised in a strong Christian environment with a  “Bible Alone” approach to faith. When he got into his teens, he began to question that a bit, as he started to hear different takes on the Scriptures that were at odds with each other. Later, when he became a pastor and started to teach a class on Church history, he slowly began to realize that there was no way to teach it without showing that the early Church was unmistakably Catholic. Watch Adam’s episode.

4. Jim Wahlberg – Catholic Revert

Jim Wahlberg came from a big Catholic family in Boston. But while his brothers Mark and Donny were having successful careers in music in film, Jim was serving prison sentences for drugs and home invasion. He eventually started doing janitorial work for the prison chapel, and when Mother Teresa visited his prison during a trip to the United States, Jim felt like she was speaking directly to him, and for the first time, he really heard the message that God loved him and wanted a relationship with him. That started a fresh journey of faith with Jim that would lead him back to full participation in the Catholic Church. Watch Jim’s episode.

3. Dr. Bill Saunders – Former Evangelical Protestant

Dr. Bill Saunders had a Methodist upbringing, but as he went through law school at Harvard, he felt compelled to re-examine his Christianity, and in the course of it, became deeply convicted to serve Christ by defending human rights around the world. That work took him to Sudan, where he encountered the powerful witness of Catholics who had lost everything but still had their faith. That’s also how he discovered the incredible story of St. Josephine Bakhita, and her example and intercession were crucial in his journey to the Catholic Church. Watch Dr. Saunders’ episode.

2. Joelle Maryn – Catholic Revert

Joelle Maryn had strong faith as a child, but when a house fire claimed the life of her sister a week before Christmas, she felt like that direct line she’d had to God was somehow disconnected. She never stopped believing in God, but after experiencing that level of tragedy, she decided she didn’t trust Him anymore. She threw herself into acting and the fashion industry, and found great success there, but still felt empty inside. That experience of coming to the end of herself led Joelle to cry out to God, and was the first step back to a real relationship with Him and a reconnection to the sacraments. Watch Joelle’s episode.

1. Nikki Kingsley – Former Muslim

Nikki Kingsley was born Muslim in Pakistan to a loving family whose faith focused more on the virtues of Islam than its rituals. When an arranged marriage put her into a family with a much more strict approach to Islam, everything began to crash down around her, and she ended up escaping to the United States with her children. Safely in America, her prayer focus shifted: no longer was she praying so much for God to save her, but rather to know who He truly was. And through the persistent leading of Mary, Nikki found herself coming to believe that Jesus, who she’d previously thought of as only a prophet and healer, was truly the Son of God. Watch Nikki’s episode.

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What a year! And we can’t wait to share another one full of great Journey Home episodes in 2022!

View the Top 10 episodes from previous years: 2016 – 2017 – 2018 – 2019 – 2020

The post The Top 10 Journey Home Episodes of 2021 appeared first on The Coming Home Network.