Ellen Cole
Ellen Cole’s curiosity and search for the truth led her home to the Catholic church. Ellen was raised in a Protestant home, never having any previous understanding about the Catholic Church until started attending a Bible study with one of her sorority sisters. During her sophomore year, Ellen experienced Mass for the first time. She was awe-struck with the reverence and beauty of the Mass, but still only regarded it as a unique encounter with God. However, when a seed of truth is planted, curiosity can’t help but uproot. On a whim, Ellen decided to attended the Catholic SEEK conference for college students, and it was there where she truly encountered Christ and the truth within the Catholic church. After SEEK, Ellen sought answers to her questions about Catholicism through conversations with Fr. Kerry and her friends at St. John. “Through many fruitful relationships, regularly attending Mass, Bible studies and events at St. John, I started to see how I fit into the Church and began to see it as the full truth,” Ellen said. Ellen became a confirmed member of the church during the Easter Vigil 2018 and is eternally grateful to FOCUS, the St. John Catholic Student Center and the life-long friendships developed there. “Before becoming Catholic, practicing my faith often felt like flying blind because of a lack of guidance,” Ellen said. “I now feel like my faith is my own, and I have the means of seeking God through the gifts only presented to us by the Catholic Church.”
Abigail “Abby” Alred
Abigail Alred’s journey to the Catholic Church opened up a pathway of grace and rekindled an old high school friendship. Abby’s first experience with Catholicism was attending Mass with one of her best friends, Sam Weir, during high school. As they graduated high school and ventured into college, they both ended up at Oklahoma State. However, the busyness of life and their involvement in different organizations drug them in opposite directions. Although Abby didn’t know it then, going to Mass with Sam wouldn’t be the last time she’d step foot in the Catholic church. Abby caught the eye of her now fiancé, Luke Werth, who happened to be Catholic. At the end of her junior year, Abby started attending Mass at St. John with Luke and saw a familiar face sitting in the pews, her old friend, Sam Weir. Each time Abby attended Mass and had meaningful conversations with her friends and other students, she grew more and more intrigued with the Catholic faith. Her desire to learn more led her to taking Wednesday night RCIA classes at St. John. It didn’t take long for Abby to realize that she found her home within the Catholic Church and was confirmed during the Easter Vigil 2018. “RCIA instilled in me the passion to learn more about the Catholic Church, and an urge to grow within my faith,” Abby said. “The experience allowed me to reconnect with my high school best friend, while she served as my confirmation sponsor and welcomed me into a community of love and support.”
Jamison Roney
Jamison wasn’t raised Catholic and before coming to St. John, he’d never been to Mass or knew much about the Catholic faith at all. When his girlfriend started coming to St. John with a friend, it didn’t take long for Jamison to join them. As he became more familiar with the Catholic faith and the students at St. John, he recognized the unbelievable community it had to offer. The FOCUS missionaries and Fr. Kerry took the time to invest in him. After many conversations, he knew that he needed to take the next step. With a lot of prayer and consideration, Jamison decided to go through RCIA to learn more about Catholicism. “After two weeks of attending RCIA classes, I knew the Lord was calling me to become a member of the Church,” Jamison said. Since being confirmed at the Easter Vigil 2018, Jamison has seen God at work in his life in a mighty way. “I’ve found myself more willing to share my faith simply because I am so proud to belong to the traditions of the Catholic Church,” Jamison said. “I’ve developed some life-long friendships and encountered some incredible individuals, who I wouldn’t have met without St. John and RCIA.”
