Brandon Vogt says if a conversation about faith provokes anger, everybody losesHas your child left the Church? Do you wish he or she would return? Brandon Vogt has a game plan for helping you be a catalyst for that. In this first video of his new 16-part series, RETURN, Vogt, an evangelist and new media expert, lays out practical tips and strategies for how to bring loved ones — especially adult children — back to the Catholic faith.
Vogt launched RETURN after traveling around the country and hearing from parents who were deeply pained about their children’s separation from the Catholic Church. In a recent interview with Aleteia, Vogt said:
I think it’s the pivotal problem in the Church — so many of our young people have been baptized, many have been catechized, but few have been evangelized. They’ve never encountered the Lord Jesus in the Catholic Church. Some of them leave the Catholic Church and encounter the Lord in Protestant communities, but many never encounter him at all. So I think the biggest problem for us today is helping people to encounter or reencounter the Lord … I want to approach the issue though the angle of parents as I think they are in a privileged position to help their children. There is something about the parent-child relationship, a certain bond and trust there. Even if that relationship is damaged, there are ways of recovering it that can make it a fruitful avenue for a child to return.
In Vogt’s first video, he highlights simple but effective tips to help you discuss faith with your child, and discusses a special kind of question you should ask your child to spark deeper thought and fruitful conversation. Vogt’s suggestions don’t just work for parents; what he talks about would equip any person who wants to be better at sharing the Catholic faith with others.
Zoe Romanowsky is lifestyle editor and video content producer for Aleteia
