Ten Commandments for Potential Protestant Converts

5. I know it seems like you’re “not getting fed.” Once you’re received into the church you’ll be fed alright: Fed the very Body and Blood of Christ. Be patient.

6. Stop imagining that there’s a perfect church somewhere. Utopianism is an American disease. Wrong expectations produce dissappointment. If you expect conflict and imperfection you won’t be so disappointed with the Catholic Church (or with life generally for that matter)

7. I know. I know. The first Catholic Church you went to seemed just as liberal as the local Lutherans. To tell you the truth, the Catholic Church is in an epic battle with the evil of modernism. Don’t just complain about fuzzy feel good sermons, comfort hymns and carpeted churches. Find a good parish and join those of us who are working to ‘reform the reform’ and play your part.

8. You wonder where the ‘fellowship’ is. That’s because a typical Catholic parish is huge and socially varied. Protestant churches tend to develop congregations from the same socio economic background. No wonder they have ‘good fellowship’–they all go to the same country club. In the Catholic Church you will find your ‘fellowship’ in one of a huge number of sub groups. Once you’ve swum the Tiber, join the Women’s Club or the Knights of Columbus or the Pro Life Group or the Carmelite Prayer Group, the Third Order Franciscans or the St Vincent dePaul Society. You’ll find plenty of friendship and fellowship within the smaller group.

9. Yes, we do read the Bible, but we read it within the tradition and prayer of the Church. The Scriptures are woven into the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. Be prepared to see the Scriptures you love in a totally fresh and exciting way, and you can still read your Bible every day and once you’re a Catholic why not bring that Bible knowledge into the church and start a home Bible study group? Your fellow Catholics will love you for it.

10. Ask why you are considering the Catholic Church. If you’re just church shopping you still have a long way to go. The big question is authority. If you have come to believe that the Catholic Church really is the fullest expression of Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, and that the Holy Father is the God-appointed successor of Peter, Christ’s apostle on earth, then get yourself into the Catholic Church as soon as you can. Everything else will follow.