Coping with the Catholic Surge. What the young converts are looking for and how to prepare.

The parish of which I am pastor is in Greenville, South Carolina—affectionately known as “the Buckle of the Bible Belt.” When you move to Greenville one of the first things your new neighbors will ask as they hand you a casserole or a plate of cookies is, “Have you found a church home yet?” There are umpteen churches on every street it seems—churches of every Protestant type from Pentecostal to Presbyterian, Episcopal, Assembly of God, First Baptist, Southern Baptist, Second, Third and Fourth Baptist. Then there are all the latest “non-denominational” churches—do it yourself congregations meeting in former supermarkets, retail strips and renovated abandoned churches.

That’s the scene here and the fascinating thing for us Catholics is how many of the young Protestants are exploring Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. With my own unique pilgrimage from that world to the Catholic priesthood, not a week goes by that I do not get an email from a Protestant brother or sister asking for a meeting to discuss their spiritual journey. Today a young Pentecostal. Last week a middle aged Presbyterian, Our OCIA class (as it’s now called) numbers at nearly 100. We used to average 15 or twenty. We have so many lined up to come into the church that we will probably have two vigils. One for catechumens (those who have never been baptized) at Easter and a second one for candidates (those who are coming from other Christian traditions) at Pentecost.

We are not unique. The other parishes in town and across our diocese are reporting similar surges. So are parishes across the USA. And the UK. And Europe.

What is happening and are we ready for it to continue?

The reasons for the coming Catholic surge are multifarious, but I can begin to think it through. Firstly, the younger generation of twenty-thirty somethings have been brought up and educated in a relativistic, subjective culture—a culture therefore that is marked by the shallow, the ephemeral, the sentimental and the specious. They’ve lived in a Disneyland world where entertainment is supreme and the screen is ubiquitous. It is a superficial, empty, nihilistic world.

And who can live with that? Who can find satisfaction and meaning in a world where the only authorities have spent all their time and energy deconstructing all that once had meaning and purpose? To put it bluntly, they have looked into the dark and care not for the nihilism they have been given.

Then when they turn to the church at hand they find either the puritanical, dead and moribund traditional Protestant churches of their grandparents which
(like their grandparents) are shriveled and dying or they find hip hop megachurches where there is a (usually abysmal) pop/rock band, a cool preacher in skinny jeans sipping a latte and a message of either therapeutic, moralistic deism or the American prosperity gospel. If they try a traditional mainstream Protestant church they are likely to find a woke woman minister surrounded by rainbow banners and a coterie of soy boys who “welcome” everyone.

What these searchers tell me is that they are fed up church shopping and hopping. The ones who get up the courage to overcome the still predominant anti-Catholicism in our culture and make an appointment to see me are usually already well read. They’ve gone through C.S.Lewis and discovered Chesterton. They’ve already got their head and heart around the key issues: authority, the papacy, Marian dogmas and the Eucharist. They want to be Catholic.

Why? What are they looking for. Forget your criticism that they are weak minded, insecure individuals looking for religious certainties in an uncertain age. Yes, perhaps some are, but most are thoughtful, stable, serious Christians who, as the young man this afternoon said, “Just want more of Jesus.”

And they want “more of Jesus” through the mystical body of Christ, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. So while I attempt to encourage them and answer their questions I also challenge them to examine their expectations. They will not find the perfect church in the Catholic Church. We’re sinners. We have our problems.

The say they know that. They’ve already thought it through. The churches they’ve bounced from also had immoral preachers, corrupt elders, greedy pastors and hypocritical teachers. That’s life. That’s church.

So what are they seeking and is the Catholic Church in America (and the UK and Europe) prepared for them? They desire the Catholic Church to simply be Catholic. That means they want liturgy that is Catholic not a watered down imitation of Protestant worship. They want a Catholic Church that preaches the gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the fullness of the historic Catholic faith with compassion but without compromise. They want a Catholic Church that takes their questions seriously but provides answers carefully. They want a Catholic Church that will provide a home and an education and Christian formation for their children.

What do they NOT want? They don’t give two hoots about the synodality of the synod. They want a church that is inclusive and universal without being woke and governed by artificial DEI mandates. They want a church that is simply the historic, ever ancient ever new Catholic Church.

Is the American church ready for them? Are our priests ready to listen to them, answer their questions? Welcome them? Too many of the stories I hear are about priests and people ill equipped, indifferent and unprepared. Too many of the American Catholic parishes are still wallowing in the sentimental shallow of the 70s and 80s with watery, weak catechesis, music that imitates Broadway and pop culture, preaching that is about as content heavy and profound as a greeting card and a mindset that mistakes sentimentality for compassion and political correctness for profundity.

If I am right even a little in my perception how is such a dire deficit corrected? I think it can only be corrected by a return to radical Christianity. Remembering that “radical” means “to the roots” then I am not talking about radical in terms of revolutionary but radical in a way that is astonishing to those who take the worldly values for granted.

What does this radical Christianity look like? It is a community of prayer. Eucharistic adoration, rosary prayer groups, private prayer and public communal prayer. It is a community of sacrificial service to the needy, the poor, the homeless, the prisoners and the hungry. It is a community of sacrificial—really generous sacrificial financial giving. When a Christian community tithes it thrives. Faith grows through giving. Catholic pastors need to stop being so cowardly about this issue and preach hard about generous giving—then establish a finance council that spends the money wisely and generously to build the church.

The community—not just the priest—but the laity—need to sharpen their apologetic and shepherding skills. Sponsors for confirmation and those accompanying the candidates and catechumens must be radical Christians themselves.

Finally, where there are pastors and parishes that are “successful” the bishops should get them to help others, to train others and prepare to welcome those who want to come home.

My own feeling is that difficult times are ahead and the surge we are seeing now is simply the first signs of the tsunami to come. Pray and be prepared!