Convert Program
An Adult Catechism Course is a spiritual journey for many different kinds of people at various places in their personal faith journeys.
- Converts: people who want to become Catholic Christians, whether they are baptized or not
- Reverts: former Catholics who want to return to the Catholic Church or complete their sacraments
- Introverts: Catholics who want to grow more deeply in appreciating their Catholic Christian Faith
- Extroverts: Catholics who want to learn how to share their Faith more confidently with others
Even if you do not fit into any of these categories or groupings, you are most welcome to attend anyway. Please come and join us!
Parish convert programs consist of regular attendance at Sunday Mass, participation in the life of the parish community, and Adult Classes. The goal is to encounter Christ personally in our lives, to establish our Catholic Christian identity in community, and to foster authentic Catholic Christian lifestyles as Intentional Disciples of Jesus Christ. We welcome you to pray, learn, and serve with us as Catholic Christians!
Convert Courses are sometimes called RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) or, more recently, OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults). Whatever you want to call it, we are all called to ongoing conversion in our lives. While conversion is a turning-point in our spiritual lives, ongoing conversion keeps us faithfully on the path of discipleship. So, once a convert, always a convert. Welcome to Catholic Christianity!
Sunday Mass is the foundation for a daily prayer life that centers on Christ as our Savior and our God. Worship is essential to our lives of ongoing conversion. Check your local parish’s Mass schedule for information.
Parish Community provides the context for knowing, loving, and serving Christ as a faithful Catholic Christian. For information about the programs and activities of your parish, go to your local parish website.
Adult Classes provide the instruction in Catholic teachings and values, so that we can not only understand them, but apply them to our daily lives. Please contact your parish office for more information.
Timing. Although parish convert programs regularly begin each September, the actual celebration of the sacraments is discerned with the pastor when each participant is spiritually ready to continue on their next step. This is all part of our parish continuing religious education program, a lifelong journey of prayer, learning, and service. While the annual Easter Vigil is a privileged time to celebrate the sacraments of Christian Initiation, it is not always the right for each individual person in their faith journey. Through a process of spiritual accompaniment, we will prayerfully discern God’s will for us in this regard together.
Summary. The first step to joining the church is to regularly attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass each Sunday. For a helpful summary of our traditional Catholic Christian beliefs and values, please click here. For those seeking to return to their Catholic Christian faith, please click here to learn more about the way back home. We are prayerfully waiting for you! But, even more importantly, Christ is warmly expecting you with open arms. Come to Jesus! To know him is to love him, and to love him is to serve him, and to serve him is to share him with others as well. Let everyone come to Jesus Christ as their Savior!
Please reach out to the parish office or introduce yourself to the pastor after Mass for more information about our Convert Program and to enroll in it. In the meantime, please explore the following websites: MyCatholic.Life, CatholicChristian.org, CatholicsComeHome.org, and Catholic.com. But, above all, remember to pray daily, to read the Scriptures regularly, and to attend Sunday Mass weekly, as the foundation for parish Convert Programs.
We are looking upward in faith, moving forward in hope, and leading onward in love to new life in Christ. As a faith community of prayer, learning, and service, we invite you to join us as intentional disciples of Christ. For more information, please check out the many spiritual resources provided at the CatholicChristian.org website. Together, let us embrace faithful Catholic Christian lifestyles for the new apostolic age of church history.