Catholic Connection – Sept 4, 2023 – Hr 1
Best of “Catholic Connection” with Fr. Dwight Longenecker and Deacon Michael Houghton.
Segment 1 & 2 – There and Back Again: A Somewhat Religious Odyssey
“This story of one man’s amazing journey from Protestant fundamentalism through the Church of England to the Catholic priesthood offers an inspiring tale of God’s providence, and the truth that “all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” Fr. Longenecker joins us. (Originally aired August 22, 2023)
Father Dwight Longenecker, raised in an Evangelical Protestant home, attended 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.
Segment 3 – Teresa’s Two Cents
Judge Rejects Maryland Parents’ Plea to Restore Opt-Out for LGBTQ Books
(Originally aired August 25, 2023)
Segment 4 – New ministry, UTG at Work, will help professionals share their faith at work
“The average person will spend 90,000 hours at work during their lifetime — approximately one-third of their working life. That means each person has approximately 3,750 days to Unleash the Gospel and be a missionary disciple while working 9 to 5. To help lay Catholics do that, UTG at Work, a new nonprofit launched by Deacon Mike Houghton and Mary Martin, will serve as a center to help ‘women and men understand their identity as missionary disciples, equip them to discover their unique mission from God, and support them as they joyfully deliver faith and witness to Christ and the Gospel in the workplace,’ according to its mission statement.” (Originally aired August 17, 2023)
Deacon Mike Houghton was ordained a Catholic deacon in October of 2012. He is the Executive Director of UTG at Work. For the past ten years he has served as deacon at St. John Vianney in Shelby Township, Michigan, a parish in the Archdiocese of Detroit. He is also the author of “Restructuring for Mission: The Journey to Families of Parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit.”
