From evangelical Protestant to Catholic deacon

From The Salem News in Massachusetts:

If the deacon is a different sort of religious figure for the church, then Chuck Hall, 62, is a different sort of deacon. He came of age as an evangelical Protestant. Only slowly did he gravitate toward conversion, drawn by, of all things, the priest abuse scandals.

As one damaging headline followed another, he sensed an imbalance in the treatment of the church. Moreover, he saw the Roman church as at the very foundation of Christianity. While he never faulted the press for following the story, the fierce hostility brought on by the scandals seemed to him an attack on Christianity itself.

“It made me go back and study some church history. … I let the church speak for itself,” he said. The more he studied and understood, the more he began to feel that the conflicts always cited between Protestants and Catholics were overdrawn: “‘Do you worship Mary?’ No.”

The lessons of inclusion brought by Vatican II, the “inspirational” writings of G. K. Chesterton, also a convert, and the courage of Pope John Paul II eased Hall’s path.

“I went to my first Mass,” he said. The very interior of the church shouted of difference — the stained glass, the bright colors of the priest’s vestments, the statuary.

“A lot of things about being Catholic take some getting used to,” he laughed. But Hall began to see the beauty in these things and, sitting recently in the bright, soaring interior of St. John the Baptist, he smiled at the thought that God can be seen in such beauty.

“Art is a great gift,” he said. “The creative life is when we most imitate God.”

There is an added irony in Hall’s attraction to Catholicism. When he married 25 years ago, his wife, Mary, was teaching the Catholic catechism. As he was drawn toward her religion, however, she was drifting away. She currently worships in the Anglican church. Yet, he says, “She has been supportive of everything I’ve wanted to do.” They have no children.

The article has much more on deacons. Check it out. 

Photo by Gregory L Tracy / The Boston Pilot