Coming Home

By William Hemsworth

Like most converts, becoming Catholic was the last thing on my mind. The first church I ever attended was Sunset Wesleyan Church in La Puente, CA.  I remember it like it was yesterday. My mom took my sister and me while my dad stayed home to watch football.  I wanted to stay, but when we walked in those doors. something clicked.  Like I was supposed to be there. The pianist started playing, and hymns were sung and this was the first time I had heard the gospel message.  Within a year I made a public profession of faith and was baptized. From the age of 13 through high school, I read the Bible every day, was youth group president, went to many conferences, and was a member of the Campus Life club in High School.

These groups had always taught that once you proclaimed Christ as savior that your salvation was set, and to a certain extent, I believed that. That is until I read such verses as Hebrews 6:4-6, which state,

For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,  if they then commit apostasy, since they crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold him up to contempt.”

In my adolescent mind, this brought up an apparent contradiction in the Once Saved Always Saved doctrine that I had been taught. When I asked about it there seemed to be apprehension from some. Some would just change the subject, or I would be told that they were not really saved to begin with.

First Mass in the Army

In the summer of 1998, I joined the Army and served over six years as a Chaplain Assistant. This was a job I truly loved, and it allowed me to have exposure to many Chaplains of different denominations. This is where I first experienced a Mass. I was working the sound system and was intrigued by the altar boys lighting the candles, the reverence when scripture was read, and amazed at how much scripture was read. Some of the Protestant services I worked during this time had only one verse being read.

I had heard all of the standard anti-Catholic comments from a coworker who was a former Catholic. He would say “Catholics do not read the Bible.” The irony was that this conversation would occur as we were making the Catholic bulletin and typing in the readings for the week!

RCIA surprises

I decided to attend RCIA in 2004 so I could learn more about the faith. I attended with my fiancé, now wife, who is a cradle Catholic. I was surprised at some of the similarities in theology that I held but was surprised that the Eucharist was considered to be the real body and blood of Christ. Like most Protestants, I was told that it was symbolic. The RCIA director made it clear that to become Catholic you must believe this. I made the decision to go through with the RCIA process all the while secretly believing that the Eucharist was still symbolic.

The grace of God intervened as I was not able to enter the Catholic Church that year. My fiancé and I had gone for premarital counseling, but due to a previous divorce, I had to get an annulment first. This also meant that I would not be able to enter the Church. I went through the annulment process, which at the time I found humiliating, but as I look back it was therapeutic. I joined the Church at Easter Vigil in 2006.

The Marian dilemma

I wish I could say that I was 100 percent on board with the declared dogmas of the Church. I blame myself for not asking enough questions, but I would eventually leave the Church in 2011 and enter Seminary at Liberty University. I researched Church teaching in all the wrong places, which included theologians such as R.C. Sproul and James White.

I attended Mass with my family every week while being secretly bitter about being there. I would help in the Church where I could try to convince myself that this was where I needed to be. The biggest area of conflict for me was the Marian Dogmas and specifically the Assumption. I wrote against it, did podcasts decrying it, and said it was pagan.  I read many books about it, except Catholic ones. One day on my Nook, an ad for the book “Behold Your Mother” by Tim Staples came up. I was intrigued. I bought it for the purpose of destroying it on the blogosphere.

Scott Hahn nails it

One by one my objections were answered in this book. Now I was terrified. I contacted the Coming Home Network, in which I was a member already, and was told that some resources were on my way to answer any questions on the Assumption. The final nail in my Protestantism was when I watched a YouTube video with Scott Hahn defending the Assumption. He laid out the objections he had, which just so happened to be mine, and answered each one of them.

It was a long journey with many pitfalls, but I am home. I am grateful for the opportunity to teach children and adults in my parish. I wasted a lot of time but learned much along the way. It is good to be home!

William Hemsworth began his Christian journey in the Wesleyan church at the age of 12. He joined the Army as a Chaplain Assistant where he had the opportunity to learn different Christian traditions. Here he was first exposed to Catholicism which began a winding journey of conversion and reversion. William is answering the call to go into full-time ministry as an evangelist, apologist and teacher. Learn more about William at williamhemsworth.com, the podcast on Know the Faith, Defend the Faith on Breadbox Media and  YouTube.