Most people that I know in the SDA church don’t think that people are leaving the Adventist Church because they are growing closer to God. But that is exactly what has happened with my wife and I, and several others, as we have found.

I am a fourth generation Adventist, my parents, grandparents, and so on...are all Adventist. I was raised SDA, I got very interested in Adventism in my teens, and wanted to become a pastor. I was pretty orthodox until my early 20’s, in fact possibly a little legalistic.

My wife Tara was also raised Adventist. Her parents and siblings are Adventist, her grandparents are Adventists, and so are aunts and uncles. Most of her elementary school days were spent in Adventist school. In seventh grade, however, her brothers and her relocated to the local public schools, only later to switch back to SDA Schools, including Southern University.

“Where did this come from?” was what we were usually asked when finding out we were converting to Catholicism. If you had told either one of us 5 or 10 years ago that we would be joining the Catholic Church we would have thought it too ridiculous to even contemplate.

Our conversion process started out with a critical look of our own Adventist religion not long after we were married. We were both raised Adventist and thus had a common ground to start from, and it helped us grow close together when we first met. We spent enormous amounts of time reading to each other from the bible, from SDA writers, and from Ellen G. White. As time progressed we began to realize that not everything we were taught or had studied made sense.

We began a journey to locate a religion we believed was correct. We studied Baptist beliefs especially end time events and the rapture, as well as most other mainstream protestant religions. We found that most were close enough to each other, that there really was not a point to not be Adventist, and few taught the Sabbath.

I got a book on the rapture (Rapture Trap) from a Catholic viewpoint at Barnes and Noble one day. As I read this book, I came to a clear understanding regarding the doctrine of the Trinity for the first time; it was explained and put forth in a way I had never seen. It was then that we began a real study of Catholicism. We did not go to the Catholic Church for at least a year after we began studying.

As we studied through the doctrines that we thought Catholics had in common with Adventism we learned so much more than we ever thought possible. It opened up a world to us, spiritually, that we never realized existed with such depth. We found the depth of spirituality that comes with the history of the Church and her liturgy.

We strongly believe it was because of Adventism and its strong emphasis on proving the truth from scripture that we finally came into full truth through Catholic teachings, we found the fullness of God’s Word in the Scriptures, Tradition, and Authority of the Church Christ founded.

My advice to other SDA’s who are investigating Catholicism, no matter you’re your motives may be… is this:   Please take the time to find out what the Catholic Church truly believes. I would bet that what you think it believes is not always accurate. Visit a mass and try to understand the service. It is completely centered on Christ and scripture, and the experience will be one you wont soon forget. Finally, if you ever have any questions, or something doesn't make sense.. Just drop us a line, we would love to hear from you!

Brandon and Tara