This is a pretty brave thing. This Swedish dude was pastor of what they call a mega-church. I don’t know what number you have to have to be considered “MEGA” but that’s what the news is calling it. It reportedly has about 3,000 members and 1,000 students in its school.
But this guy Ulf Elkman was on television all the time and he’d written dozens of books. He was the man. MEGA man, I guess. Anyway, a funny thing happened. He discovered the Catholic Church.
On a recent Sunday, the people at Sunday services got a little surprise.
During his Sunday morning service, Ulf Ekman announced the he and his wife, Birgitta, are converting to Roman Catholicism.
Ekman is the founder of Word of Life, a megachurch in Uppsala, Sweden. News reports and blogs coming out of the nation reveal the congregation was “partially stunned” after hearing what was packaged as a “special announcement.” The theme was “Follow the Lamb Wherever He Goes.”
“For Birgitta and me, this has been a slow process were we have gone from discovering new things, to appreciating what we have discovered, to approach and even learn from our fellow Christians,” Ekman says on his ministry website.
“We have seen a great love for Jesus and a sound theology, founded on the Bible and classic dogma. We have experienced the richness of sacramental life. We have seen the logic in having a solid structure for priesthood, that keeps the faith of the church and passes it on from one generation to the next. We have met an ethical and moral strength and consistency that dare to face up to the general opinion, and a kindness towards the poor and the weak. And, last but not least, we have come in contact with representatives for millions of charismatic Catholics and we have seen their living faith.”
I really do love conversion stories.
This is a pretty brave thing. This guy had a nice life and instead of just sitting back he desired truth. Pretty extraordinary.
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