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Welcome Home!

Parishes around the diocese are reaching out to lapsed, confused and angry Catholics.

LINDA REEVES | FLORIDA CATHOLIC PALM BEACH BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 01.25.08

To learn more about the Welcome Home ministry at Holy Family, call 772-335-2385.
For details about St. Helen’s program, Re-Membering, call 772-567-5129.
For other programs, check with a parish in your area for information.

PORT ST. LUCIE | Deacon Bob Golden of Holy Family Parish gave up his pleasure boat and headed for shore when he discovered his perfect port of call.

“I had some issues with the church after Vatican II,” he told the Florida Catholic. “I was living in Pennsylvania. I got married and we moved to Florida. I bought a boat and spent my weekends out on the ocean. I wasn’t a good Catholic and didn’t go to Mass.” Time went by, measured out between cruises and a career.

Fifteen years ago, though, Deacon Golden experienced what he called “a strong conversion experience” and felt a call to come back to his ‘home port’ — the Catholic faith. He now helps others come back to the Catholic Church through the “Welcome Home” ministry at his parish.

“I made a deal with God. I would come back if he allowed me to learn my religion again at my own pace. He kept up with his side of the bargain, but he accelerated the pace,” Deacon Golden said.

After talking to parish priests at Holy Family, Deacon Golden, a former real estate and mortgage broker, began Scripture study and religion classes. This led to greater involvement, participation and study. Soon after, “I became a deacon,” he said. He founded the Welcome Home ministry to help other Catholics come back to the faith, just as he did.

Deacon Golden was ordained in 2006. Now 70, he serves Holy Family Parish.

“I started this program because there are so many fallen Catholics out there,” he said about the ministry that first began in 2000. “I was touched with a need to evangelize,” he said.

Holy Family’s Welcome Home program consists of three weekly sessions, and is patterned after Re-Membering, a similar program that began at St. Helen Parish in Vero Beach.

Deacon Joseph DiMauro of St. Helen’s is working to revamp the original concept of Re-Membering.

“Many parishes are offering programs around the diocese. We are doing it now on a one-on-one basis instead of in sessions as a group. We offer it all year. All a person has to do is get in touch with St. Helen, and they will contact me. We have a lot of Catholics who are very upset and confused. We can help them,” said Deacon DiMauro.

Deacon Golden said his sessions are “quick and to the point, and there is no fooling around,” noting that their records indicate a high success rate.

“We have had more than 150 go through it,” he said.

Of the number, a majority have resolved their issues and returned to the faith community, he said.

Holy Family parishioners are supportive of the deacon and his volunteers.

“I think it is a wonderful program,” said Marie Lawrence, a Holy Family parishioner and member of the parish’s Council of Catholic Women. “I brought a young man (to the program) and I sat in. I was impressed how people were encouraged to explore their feelings. Everyone was welcomed. It was a wonderful experience for me as an onlooker.”

The sessions are on Sunday nights at 7 p.m. in the church. A team of six to 12 volunteers plays host each evening.

“I call them ‘companions.’ Most of them were fallen Catholics at one time. They tell their stories about why they came back to the church. We are open to listen to anyone who comes. We answer questions. We want to help them,” Golden said.

Holy Family pastor Father Thomas Cauley Jr. attends each program. At the conclusion of the third session, he offers the sacrament of reconciliation for those interested.

“I think it is a very good idea because there are a lot of people harboring ill feelings against the Catholic Church,” said parishioner Julie McAminley. “We need to have someone hear what they are feeling. Sometimes people have misconceptions and these misconceptions have to be corrected and explained. They need to have someone hear what they are feeling in their hearts.”

An application distributed to Welcome Home participants asks several questions: How long have you been away from the church? How long have you been struggling with an unresolved Catholic issue? Which item has created difficulty in a relationship with the Catholic Church? Deacon Golden collects data and feedback.

“About 50 percent have issues concerning marriage,” said Deacon Golden. “It might be divorce, remarriage or birth control.”

The program attracts people of all ages and walks of life.

“The average time away from the church for people is about 22 years,” he said.

Golden has his own ideas about why lapsed Catholics return.

“People get beat up as they go through life. They remember their Catholic faith. They feel they need the comfort of the church,” he said.

When Joe Martin came back to the church after more than 20 years away, his homecoming had a ripple effect.

“My grandchildren started school and received the sacrament of holy Communion,” he said. “I went to Mass with them, but I couldn’t receive the sacrament. It was a funny feeling to see them there. In 2001, I went to a Welcome Home program before Easter. I came with my wife. She was a non-Catholic. After the program, I joined the (parish) and she became Catholic. She became a Catholic because of me. I have been on the Welcome Home team since then.”

Martin is also a member of the parish Knights of Columbus and men’s club and helps out at the parish when there is a need.

“Sometimes all a person needs is to be welcomed back,” said parishioner Mary Colombo. “Sometimes a person wants to come back, but is waiting for an invitation.”

Deacon Golden wouldn’t comment on his conversion experience, but he did point out that leaving the church when he did had a lasting effect on him and his family.

His wife, Patricia, who taught at St. Joseph School in Stuart for 22 years, kept nudging her husband to return.

“I would come along to satisfy her from time to time. I feel like leaving the church is one of the biggest mistakes of my life. Because of my being away from the church, my children were not well-grounded in their Catholicism. It affects them to this day. They are 42 and 40,” he said.

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