When Pope Benedict recently offered a place in the Roman Catholic Church to dissident Anglicans, some commentators said the move was reminiscent of a hostile takeover in the corporate world.
To be fair, the pope was simply responding to repeated requests of many members of the Church of England who are disenchanted with their church's acceptance of women priests and gay bishops.
What the pontiff offered was a place in the Catholic Church where the dissidents can maintain their traditions, their parishes, hymns, prayer book, and their married priests.
Similarly minded Episcopalians in the United States have taken a different route. They have transferred their allegiance from the American church to conservative Anglican dioceses in Africa.
These Christians do not consider themselves to be converts to another faith. Rather, they regard themselves as being true to the faith in which they were raised.
Strictly speaking, conversion is not just transferring among denominations. Conversion is literally a "turning around" from one's previous beliefs and behavior to something new. Echoing the call of John the Baptist, Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed, "You must change your hearts and minds -- for the kingdom of heaven has arrived" (Matthew 4:17).
For Christians baptized in childhood and reared in their parents' faith, there may be no single moment of this "turning-around" in their lives. But for evangelicals who have the experience of being "born-again," it can be highly emotional, even life-shattering.
The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life recently reported on what they call "the zeal of the convert." According to the survey, roughly half of all Americans admit that they have left the faith in which they were raised.
Compared to non-converts, converts say religion is very important to them (69 percent vs. 62 percent, attend worship weekly (51 percent vs. 44 percent), believe in God with absolute certainty (82 percent vs. 77 percent), pray daily (70 percent vs. 62 percent), share their faith with others (29 percent vs. 20 percent), and believe theirs is the one true faith (27 percent vs. 22 percent).
This increased commitment by converts is reported by all denominations with the exception of Mormons. The Pew study reports that "lifelong Mormons are significantly more religious than converts on two measures" -- church attendance and belief that theirs is the one true faith.
What the Pew study neglects to report is that, in their enthusiasm, converts can sometimes be annoying, proclaiming their new-found faith to those who have been convinced for a lifetime.
One such convert was playwright and Rep. Clare Booth Luce. Granted a papal audience when she converted to the Catholic faith, she regaled the pope with accounts of how wonderful it was to be a convert. At length the pontiff interrupted her: "Yes, yes, Mrs. Luce. I agree. You know, I'm a Catholic too!"
David Yount's latest book is "Making a Success of Marriage" (Rowman & Littlefield). He answers readers at P.O. Box 2758, Woodbridge, VA 22195 and dyount31(at)verizon.net.
AMAZING GRACE
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