Fr. Dwight Longenecker finally tells his epic spiritual journey to Catholicism from the Anglican church

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Carmel Communications
Aug. 8, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 8, 2023 /Christian Newswire/ -- There are only about 120 married Catholic priests in the United States and one of them, Father Dwight Longenecker, has finally released his entire conversion story in THERE AND BACK AGAIN: A SOMEWHAT RELIGIOUS ODYSSEY (Ignatius Press). An introvert by nature with a self-deprecating and honest sense of humor, Fr. Longenecker could see no reason to tell his tale. Yet, after speaking about it hundreds of times and writing more than a dozen books on theology, THERE AND BACK AGAIN went to print.

Fr. Longenecker was raised in an Evangelical Protestant home, attended the fundamentalist Bob Jones University, pursued further studies in theology at Oxford, and was ordained an Anglican minister. In 1995, he was received into the Catholic Church in England and, eleven years later, he returned to his native United States to be ordained as a Catholic priest. He now serves as pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church in Greenville, South Carolina.

THERE AND BACK AGAIN tells the incredible and wild tale of how he learned about the Catholic Church and its saints, met his wife and started his family, became an Anglican minister, and then made the decision to leave, along with 800 other Anglican ministers, due to the decision to ordain women.

The journey in THERE AND BACK AGAIN has no shortage of supernatural interventions, hilarious moments from Fr. Longenecker's self-described snobby Protestant fundamentalism through the Church of England, and inspiring moments of God's providence. Fr. Longenecker and his family have lived an irregular and unusual life that cumulated in his becoming one of the few married Catholic priests in the United States.

"Father Dwight has written one of the most comedic conversion stories I've ever read," said Marcus Grodi, host of EWTN's The Journey Home. "His thoroughly enjoyable autobiography is a rollicking read. Best read wearing a smoking jacket, with pipe and scotch in hand."

For more information, to request a media review copy, or to schedule an interview with Father Longenecker, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com) of Carmel Communications.

SOURCE Carmel Communications

CONTACT: Kevin Wandra, 404-788-1276, KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com