What a glorious testament to the Holy Spirit’s movement in history! Here is a solid list of notable pastors and ministers who converted to the Catholic Church, along with their former denomination:
✝️ Pastors & Ministers Who Converted to the Catholic Church
🔥 The Most Well-Known
1. Scott Hahn — Presbyterian (PCA) Pastor
Scott Hahn was a PCA minister who became Catholic in 1986. He had been militantly anti-Catholic but was self-driven to seek the truth — which ultimately led him into the Catholic Church. He went on to become one of the most influential Catholic apologists and biblical theologians of the modern era.
2. Marcus Grodi — Congregationalist & Presbyterian (PCUSA) Pastor
Marcus Grodi was a former Presbyterian pastor who heard God calling him into ministry as a young man; and when he heard that same voice calling him home to the Catholic Faith, he knew he and his family needed fellowship and support to make that journey. Marcus Grodi was received into the Catholic Church in 1993. He is the founder of the Coming Home Network and host of EWTN’s The Journey Home.
3. Alex Jones — Pentecostal (Nondenominational) Pastor
At Easter Vigil, Jones, his wife Donna, and 62 other former members of Detroit’s Maranatha Church were received into the Catholic Church. For Jones, becoming a Catholic marked the end of a journey that began with the planting of a seed by Catholic apologist Karl Keating.
4. John Bergsma — Christian Reformed Pastor
Former Protestant pastor John Bergsma once considered Catholic teachings as obstacles to ever becoming Catholic himself. Over an eighteen-month spiritual journey, Bergsma was stunned again and again by the biblical support he found for even the stickiest teachings of the Catholic Church. He is now a theology professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville.
5. Richard John Neuhaus — Lutheran Pastor
Richard John Neuhaus (1936–2009) was a former Lutheran pastor, writer, theologian, and founder and editor of the journal First Things. He converted to Catholicism and was ordained a Catholic priest.
6. Ulf Ekman — Charismatic (Word of Life) Pastor
Well-known and highly influential Christian leader Ulf Ekman converted to Roman Catholicism. Ekman had served for many years as pastor of the charismatic church, Word of Life, in Uppsala, Sweden.
7. Dr. Norman McCrummen — Presbyterian Pastor
Former Presbyterian pastor Dr. Norman McCrummen shares twelve reasons he decided, after much prayer and discernment, to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit into the Catholic Church.
8. Kenneth J. Howell — Presbyterian Pastor
Kenneth J. Howell is a theologian and philosopher of science, convert from Presbyterianism, and former pastor. He became a prominent Catholic apologist and author.
9. Leonard Klein — Lutheran Minister
Leonard Klein was a priest and former editor of the Lutheran Forum and Lutheran minister who converted in 2003 from a Lutheran background and was ordained a Catholic priest in Wilmington, Delaware, in 2006.
10. Msgr. Ronald Knox — Anglican Minister
Msgr. Ronald Knox (1888–1957) was a theologian, convert from Anglicanism, and former Anglican minister. He became one of the most celebrated Catholic writers of the 20th century and produced his own celebrated translation of the Bible.
11. Max Thurian — Swiss Reformed Theologian/Minister
Max Thurian was a prominent continental Reformed theologian who converted to Catholicism in 1988 and became a Catholic priest.
12. Jeff Cavins — Protestant Minister
Jeff Cavins is among a number of convert clergy, including Scott Hahn, Steve Wood, and Al Kresta, who became involved in lay apostolates after coming into the Church. Cavins is now a renowned Catholic Bible teacher and apologist.
13. Steve Wood — Protestant Pastor
Wood became pastor of a new Protestant church in Venice, Florida, where he would serve for nearly ten years before converting to Catholicism. He went on to found Family Life Center International.
14. Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson — Anglican (Episcopal) Bishop
The Coming Home Network partnered with the St. Paul Center to host a Clergy Convert Conference, with speakers including Dr. Scott Hahn, Dr. John Bergsma, Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, and founder Marcus Grodi. Msgr. Steenson was formerly an Episcopal bishop before entering the Catholic Church.
15. Keith Nester — Methodist Pastor
Nester went on to become a Methodist pastor. Then, in 2017, the Iowa native converted to Catholicism. He has since become known nationally as a lay evangelist through his Cedar Rapids-based “Down to Earth” ministry. His story is especially powerful because he then became an instrument for the conversion of others.
The thread running through nearly every conversion story is the same: authority, the Eucharist, and Church history. When pastors begin to read the early Church Fathers with honest hearts, they consistently find themselves walking toward Rome.
If some of the most learned Protestant scholars — men who spent their careers defending sola scriptura — ultimately concluded that the Catholic Church is the Church Christ founded, what would it take for you to follow the same trail of evidence they followed?
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