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Fr. Jonathan Wilson, a priest of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, is the pastor of Saint Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Westerville, Ohio. This Easter his parish brought 67 individuals into full communion with the Catholic Church, including 37 baptisms. He was interviewed by Jayd Henricks via email.
WWNN: 67 people entering into full communion with the Church at Easter this year for your parish. That is extraordinary. What do you attribute this to?
Fr. Wilson: When I heard from our RCIA director that we were going to have a very large class, I was very surprised. This past fall the program quickly outgrew the room that we normally host RCIA in and we had to relocate it to our gym. The rise in numbers comes as a surprise to me. It is the surprise of grace. "The wind blows where it wills..." (John 3:8). With that said, there are some factors that certainly contributed. We have a wonderful Director of Parish Ministry, Mr. Andrew Burson, who assembled a very dedicated RCIA team and group of sponsors. A few years ago we moved RCIA from a Tuesday evening to a Sunday morning. We have started using "Credo," a program created by the Eastern Province Dominicans that offers clear content on our Catholic faith. I speculate that we are seeing some good coming out of COVID as some people began to ask fundamental questions and were shaken up by the pandemic. I am encouraged by the fairly large number of young adults who are entering the Church. They are seeking Truth and they know they have been lied to by the culture. I am also very inspired by those who had a strong faith background in a Protestant church and were open to the Lord leading them into the full communion of the Catholic Church. Some of our converts have entered the Church at a great personal cost. The RCIA program is starting to gain some momentum and so we see in some cases that recent converts have shared the gift of the Catholic Church with others and they have brought new converts to the Church. In the parish, we have been trying to spiritually feed the people. I am curious if some of our efforts and prayers for spiritual renewal have resulted in this. During the pandemic, in an empty Church, and feeling overwhelmed that we had closed our church for Easter Sunday, I enthroned the parish to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Divine Mercy Sunday, 2020. On August 22 of that year, the feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I consecrated the parish to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The parish belongs to Our Lord and Our Lady, the queen mother. From my perspective, all the graces we see are flowing from Him as the King of our parish and Mary as our Queen.
WWNN: Why do you think your parish is growing when so many others are struggling?
Continued below.
whatweneednow.substack.com
WWNN: 67 people entering into full communion with the Church at Easter this year for your parish. That is extraordinary. What do you attribute this to?
Fr. Wilson: When I heard from our RCIA director that we were going to have a very large class, I was very surprised. This past fall the program quickly outgrew the room that we normally host RCIA in and we had to relocate it to our gym. The rise in numbers comes as a surprise to me. It is the surprise of grace. "The wind blows where it wills..." (John 3:8). With that said, there are some factors that certainly contributed. We have a wonderful Director of Parish Ministry, Mr. Andrew Burson, who assembled a very dedicated RCIA team and group of sponsors. A few years ago we moved RCIA from a Tuesday evening to a Sunday morning. We have started using "Credo," a program created by the Eastern Province Dominicans that offers clear content on our Catholic faith. I speculate that we are seeing some good coming out of COVID as some people began to ask fundamental questions and were shaken up by the pandemic. I am encouraged by the fairly large number of young adults who are entering the Church. They are seeking Truth and they know they have been lied to by the culture. I am also very inspired by those who had a strong faith background in a Protestant church and were open to the Lord leading them into the full communion of the Catholic Church. Some of our converts have entered the Church at a great personal cost. The RCIA program is starting to gain some momentum and so we see in some cases that recent converts have shared the gift of the Catholic Church with others and they have brought new converts to the Church. In the parish, we have been trying to spiritually feed the people. I am curious if some of our efforts and prayers for spiritual renewal have resulted in this. During the pandemic, in an empty Church, and feeling overwhelmed that we had closed our church for Easter Sunday, I enthroned the parish to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Divine Mercy Sunday, 2020. On August 22 of that year, the feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I consecrated the parish to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The parish belongs to Our Lord and Our Lady, the queen mother. From my perspective, all the graces we see are flowing from Him as the King of our parish and Mary as our Queen.
WWNN: Why do you think your parish is growing when so many others are struggling?
Continued below.
Christocentric Parish Life
Fr. Jonathan Wilson shares why his church is thriving this Easter season
whatweneednow.substack.com
