Have you been away from the regular practice of our Catholic faith? Have you been inactive in the Catholic faith for many years? Have you left the Catholic Church and joined another church? Are you married to a Catholic and want to know more about Catholicism. Has the Lord Jesus been tugging at your heart and conscience, calling you to join Him in the celebration of the Eucharist and become an active member of a world-wide biblically-based community of believers that has an unbroken line of historical connection to Jesus Christ as our founder and the apostles as the architects of Catholicism? Are you Catholic and want to go deeper in your knowledge of our faith?
Some people have been hurt by a priest, religious sister, parish staff member or fellow parishioner(s). Some feel the Church just has too many "rules," which seem old-fashioned and out of date. Some feel their lives are just too busy to add "one more thing" to their schedule right now. Some have been told that the Church isn't biblical, and are redirected to a "Bible-teaching" church to find a "personal relationship with Jesus Christ".
No matter if you have been away from the Catholic Church, want to become Catholic, or desire to grow in a deeper knowledge and appreciation of Catholicism, this webpage is a great resource for you.
Let's start by taking a new look at the Catholic Church.
- Catholic Coming Home - If you used to be Catholic and want to know why you should come "home" to the Catholic Church, if you are not Catholic and have questions about the Catholic faith, and if you are Catholic and want to learn more about our faith, click on this link: www.catholicscomehome.org
- Catholic Returning Home - If you have been away from the Catholic faith for a while and you think you might want to start investigating the possibility of returning to the practice of our faith, our parish has a wonderful, compassionate and informative program called "Catholics Returning Home." To inquire about this program and when we offer it throughout the year, please contact our coordinator Jill Newell at or the parish office at 740-965-1358 ().
- Rite of Christian Initiation For Adults (R.C.I.A) - this is a very helpful and informative educational and spiritual program for adults who would like to know more about the Catholic faith and/or want to become Catholic. If you want to know more about it, please click on this parish link: www.saintjohnsunbury.org/rcia/
- Rite of Christian Initiation for Children (R.C.I.C) - many times when parents return to the practice of the Catholic faith or join our church, their children need to be enlightened by gospel values. Click on these parish links to learn if your child should join R.C.I.C. www.saintjohnsunbury.org/rcic/ or our Parish School of Religion (PSR) www.saintjohnsunbury.org/psr/.
- Adult Religious Education and Faith Formation - There are all sorts of opportunities in our parish to grow in a relationship with Christ, to learn more about our beliefs and practices, and develop the spiritual dimensions of your life. For a listing of these opportunities, please click this parish link: www.saintjohnsunbury.org/timeandtalent/
- Catholic Mass Revealed - Many times when folks start returning to the Catholic Church or coming for the first time, their first step is coming to Mass. Many comment that they feel lost at Mass with all of its prayers and gestures, rituals and symbols. Here is a great little walk-through of the Mass offered by Fr. Sizemore in video, text and PowerPoint presentations: The Catholic Mass Revealed. Plus, the church hymnals in the pews of St. John Neumann Church have all the Sunday scripture readings and all the prayers of the Mass. You can also print a copy of the order and prayer of the Mass at: catholic-resources.org/ChurchDocs/Mass.htm. If you would like to watch a streaming video beautifully explaining all the parts and prayers of the Mass, please click on this link: www.livingeucharist.org
- History of the Catholic Faith - Often a stumbling block for inactive Catholics to return to the Catholic Church or non-Catholics to properly understand the Catholic Church is the history of the Catholic Church. In fact, many Catholics don’t even know their own church’s history. Our history is quite colorful. If one is going to tell any history, the telling has to be truthful: the good, bad, ugly and beautiful. This link will take you to a 6 part History of the Catholic Church that will go a long way in clarify the history of our faith, taught by a former Baptist minister, who came to the Christian faith while an atheist studying history and came to the Catholic Christian faith while working on his Ph.D. in church history. Dave Griffey is a parishioner of St. John Neumann and a frequent speaker and facilitator in our parish’s Adult Religious Education program. Here are outlines of his 6 part presentation: History of the Catholic Faith
We hope that you have found this webpage helpful. If there is anything that we can do to help you on your journey to (or back to) the Catholic faith, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are a very welcoming and Christ-centered community of believers.