Catholic Convert

Jewels Green

Raised Lutheran, convert Jewels Green is a former abortion clinic worker turned ardent human rights advocate.

I grew up fatherless in a multigenerational household. Being surrounded by extended family – all the time – was a great comfort to me as an only child, as was attending Sunday School every week at the ELCA Lutheran church where my mother and her seven siblings were all baptized, where I was baptized, and where later my three sons would all be baptized as well.

I loved Sunday School and singing in the children's choir at church. The music of worship always made me feel happy, at peace, and closer to God. My favorite hymns of childhood still bring me such joy. I remember in one of the classrooms at Sunday School hung a beautiful painting of Jesus, surrounded by children, and I thought “it would be wonderful if He were my dad!” When the teacher explained that He was my spiritual Father, well, that suited me perfectly.

As the years went on, I embarked upon a bumpy road through a stage of adolescent rebellion, though I still went to Sunday school. I attended every Sunday, even with a shaved head and heavy black eyeliner – until I was sixteen. That's when my faith got shaky, then disappeared completely for a spell. I'd ‘fallen in with the wrong crowd’, which meant I'd fallen out of my religion.

Lutheran Convert

Ron Doub

Ron Doub was a life-long Lutheran but after 15 years of trying to convert his Catholic wife to Lutheranism, the tables got turned. Now Ron, a former computer-industry professional, evangelizes the faithful organizing parish pilgrimages to Catholic shrines in the US and throughout the world. In addition to his pilgrimage ministry, Ron also promotes Lighthouse Catholic Media CDs and the EWTN Media Missionary program in parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He is also a member at both the Legion of Mary and a Catholic men’s group at St. Mary Catholic Church in Hagerstown, Maryland.

Why Am I Catholic? Well, it was never my intention but I always tell people that the Holy Spirit has a great sense of humor and I’m living proof! Here’s my story!

PART I – A LUTHERAN’S JOURNEY TO THE CHURCH

I was born and raised in a wonderful Lutheran (ELCA) family in Williamsport, Maryland, a small town in western Maryland. My parents were very active in the Lutheran church teaching Sunday school, confirmation, vacation bible school and more. In fact after my father’s death, my mother went to Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary and was ordained a Lutheran pastor in 1985.

I was also very active in the Lutheran church throughout my high school years, which culminated in me being confirmed and becoming the president of the church youth group, the Luther League, for two years.

Agnostic Convert

Chad Torgerson

Once cynical of Catholicism, Chad's journey to the Catholic faith was difficult, but it led to intense study and deep personal reflection which brought him home to the Catholic Church. He now hopes to share the lessons he learned and the beauty of the Catholic Tradition with those around him.

Solid Foundations

Growing up in a suburb of Chicago, my parents raised me in the Lutheran faith. My parents were not the most spiritual of people, but they wanted to make sure that my siblings and I were "exposed" to faith. Basically, the concept was to introduce us to Christianity but allow us to make our own decisions. After being confirmed, I never went back.

For years, I was agnostic at best. Based on what I was learning in school, religion did not make any sense to me. Science had become my religion of sorts, and science seemed completely opposed to what I had learned in Sunday school. My analytic mind led me closer to science, and further from faith. To believe in God, I needed proof that he existed. Not finding it, by the time I left high school, I went from agnostic to full-blown cynic.

Lutheran Convert

JoAnna Wahlund

JoAnna is married and has four children. This is her story as a lifelong member of the Lutheran church to Catholicism.

I was born to lifelong Lutherans (ELCA) who, of course, baptized all their kids Lutheran. I was baptized on December 28, 1980 -- a date that I realized, soon after my conversion, as the Feast of the Holy Innocents. I sometimes wonder why I wasn't baptized sooner given that I was born six weeks prematurely, but I suppose that in Lutheran circles baptism isn't considered crucial for newborns, even premature ones.

Lutheran Convert

Nicole Motsch-DeMille

Nicole Motsch-DeMille was a graduate of Lutheran schools and an active member of her Lutheran parish until some casual research led her and her family into a major life change . . . and into the Catholic Church.

I am a forty-one year old wife and mother, former high school English teacher and native New Yorker who converted to Roman Catholicism after living my entire life up to that point as a devout and active Lutheran.  I attended private Lutheran schools from Kindergarten to twelfth grade.  I served Communion at my Lutheran parish.  I wrote and taught Confirmation curriculum.  I married in the Lutheran Church and baptized both of my children there.  I cannot say I was unhappy as a Lutheran, but I did have questions and unresolved issues, Scriptures that didn’t square with what my pastors and religious instructors taught, and a longing for something “more.”  

Lutheran Convert

George M. Sipe

George is a husband of 30 years and father of one daughter. A life-long, single denomination Protestant he was as surprised as anybody to find himself becoming Catholic. Since 2006, he runs his own company creating and managing the web presence of small businesses.

How I Became an Ex-Lutheran

I have many fond memories growing up in my Lutheran LCA church. Our congregation was small but tight-knit. Our church building was of an older, majestic style located in a small city that once saw greater numbers on Sunday. My parents were married there. My brother and I were baptized there.

While no one would have called us "bible thumpers," we were quietly religious.

Lutheran Convert

Richard Lane

Richard is a full time Catholic lay evangelist and frequent guest on various Catholic television and radio programs. Richard is the proud husband of Donna L. Lane and a beautiful daughter, K. Alexandria Lane

I was born in 1965 to Mary Lane (Alexander), now a retired Educator for the Highland Park, Michigan School district. My mother was famous in her own right. She was actually the first African-American female model that Coca-Cola ever hired in 1956.

My father was arguably the greatest Cornerback in National Football League (NFL) History; drafted as a free agent walk on in 1952 by the Los Angeles Rams, it was in his rookie year that he set an NFL record (that still stands throughout the 2010 NFL Regular Season) for most interceptions in one season. That was when they had 12 game seasons and played REAL Football; leather helmets, not a lot of padding and no face masks. In 1953 he would be traded to, at that time they were called the Chicago Cardinals, and played with them through the 1959 Season. In 1960 he was traded to and finished his career in 1966 with the Detroit Lions. In 2009, I believe Sports Illustrated and ESPN ranked the 100 most feared men to ever play the game of Professional Football, and my father came in SECOND… only to the great Dick Butkus. In 1974 my father received the highest honor to be bestowed upon anyone ever affiliated with the NFL, he was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame; his name was Dick “Night Train” Lane.