Note to readers • This is the second installment in a special Salt Lake Tribune series about how and why Utahns convert to various faith traditions. Read the first story about “becoming Jewish.”

Samuel Smith never dreamed he would step foot into a Catholic church on Easter Sunday and be baptized.

Born into a Latter-day Saint family, he spent years in the Mormon pipeline — serving a mission, getting married, attempting a picture-perfect life.

But as a divorce ensued and faith questions arose, Smith began searching for answers across various Christian traditions. This spring, after months of study, he finally stood before a congregation at Bountiful’s St. Olaf Catholic Church and officially became Catholic.

“Having grown up Mormon, there was a lot of an emphasis on obedience,” he said. “Within Catholicism, it ends up being more about … getting into a state of grace.”

At last, Smith said, he found the balm that soothed his inner turmoil.

Plenty of others have discovered that peace as well. The 39-year-old Bountiful resident is one of thousands of Catholic converts in the United States this year.

Born in Washington state before moving to Utah, Smith described his parents as “very active” and devout members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He spent the larger part of his life growing up in Mormon culture and served a mission in South America.

“It was a good experience,” Smith said. “There was a lot that I learned from being down in Argentina, but, ultimately, I ended up getting very depressed within the first year that I was down there. I eventually got to a point where I just couldn’t function.”

He returned home, still committed to his faith in God, and then joined the Marines, where he served for four years.

“Even with being in the Marine Corps, I still held to the idea of no smoking, no drinking,” he said. “I was still very much about the Word of Wisdom and even kept myself chaste.”

Beneath that commitment to his Latter-day Saint roots, Smith recalled, theological questions were sprouting. It was during this time, he said, that life began to shake his faith.

In 2015, Smith married a woman he met at church and ended up adopting her child as well. Two years later, though, the couple started the process of divorce.

His withering marriage, Smith said, had a huge effect on him and his religious self.

“I was already starting to attend church less,” he said. “And part of it was because I wasn’t feeling any kind of inspiration from being at church and being involved in the Mormon faith anymore. Like, for me, I was just going there because I felt like I needed to be taking my kid to church.”

During this period of uncertainty, he encountered a number of theological questions that he felt couldn’t be answered in his current faith, particularly the emphasis on obedience.

“I felt like I believed in God, but I had no idea what direction I needed to go in,” Smith said. “I ended up concluding, ‘This is what I believed, but now what do I do with it?’”

So he started exploring other Christian philosophies to see what aligned best with his own feelings and life experiences.

In 2019, after his divorce was finalized, Smith shed his Latter-day Saint garments and began inquiring about Catholicism.

After countless hours of soul-searching, months of study and his Easter baptism, Smith said, he is now living in the state of grace he so desperately desired.

Now, he added, he is thinking less about the end of a religious journey and more about what comes next on his spiritual path.

Catholic converts are hardly rare

As one of the oldest institutions in the Western world, the Roman Catholic Church traces its history back some 2,000 years.

With a global population exceeding 1.4 billion, the Vatican reports, the church remains the single largest Christian faith in the world and one of the biggest in the U.S.

According to a Pew Research Center survey, Catholic converts account for 1.5% of all U.S. adults, or roughly 4 million Americans.

Converts also make up 8% of all U.S. Catholics. The remaining 92% are “cradle Catholics,” who were raised in the faith and still identify with it today.

The volume of new converts continues to grow. The Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City reports hundreds of converts every year.

How do you become a Catholic?

As he began searching online about Catholicism, Smith came across a Catholic YouTube podcast called “Pints With Aquinas.” He noticed that the show addressed many of his doctrinal concerns.

This digital encounter piqued his interest, so he reached out to the parish at St. Olaf Catholic Church.

Parishioners directed him to their chapter of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults — more commonly called the OCIA, the church organization that helps guide potential new converts toward full Catholic membership.

Participants in this initiation explore the gospel, study Catholic beliefs, learn spiritual practices, attend worship services, and integrate with local parishes.

The process starts with a period of time called inquiry. This is an informal setting in which religious seekers can ask questions about the faith and what it means to be Catholic.

Unbaptized initiates then can decide whether to continue toward conversion. If they proceed, they participate in the Rite of Entrance into the Order of Catechumens. They become known as catechumens, a term derived from a Greek word meaning “instruction,” and formally enter a period before full conversion.

After a few months of instruction, catechumens go through another liturgical ceremony called the Rite of Election. Going before their bishop, individuals declare that they desire baptism and have their names written in the Book of the Elect.

Finally, after months of prayer and study, the conversion process culminates with the Easter Vigil Mass, where initiates are baptized.

Last year, the Diocese of Salt Lake City reported 281 catechumens and 199 candidates for baptism. That’s down from 556 catechumens and 142 baptismal candidates in 2024.

Led by their son

Catholic converts Chandra Starks and her husband, Chad Starks, were baptized in the spring, two years after their teenage son converted.

Chandra grew up in North Salt Lake to a Latter-day Saint family while her husband came from a mixed-faith family.

After years of trying to reintegrate into the Mormon fold, the Starks family took a step back from faith.

“I always felt like it wasn’t really clicking for me,” Chandra said. “It didn’t feel like home, like Catholicism does.”

After Chad’s job took him and his family to Sandy, they enrolled their son CJ at Juan Diego Catholic High School in nearby Draper, where they enjoyed the community and the smaller classroom sizes.

Their son was intrigued by his theology classes and asked his parents if he could join the Catholic Church. They told him that if he kept taking those classes to be sure of his choice, they would convert as well.

And after a year of studies, CJ was baptized, followed by his parents the next year.

Chandra said she is proud of her son, describing him as a “true believer,” and is grateful that he helped the family members find a faith that worked for them.

The Rev. Andrzej Skrzypiec, pastor at St. Olaf, said conversion often “makes marriages and families stronger.”

“When we see that somebody from the family comes after them and wants to join, that’s a wonderful indicator of successful conversion,” he said. “But there is also a …willingness to contribute their gifts to the growth of the community.”

Seeking her shepherd

Murray resident Carlyle Ferrin was born in Ogden to parents who wanted nothing to do with organized religion. So she spent years wondering where she fit in the equation.

At age 16, Ferrin told her parents she wanted them to take her to a Christian church. She described the event as a “sheep hearing a shepherd’s call.”

This began her decadeslong quest for a faith that would not only align with her but heal her as well. She joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, studied Tibetan Buddhism and attended dozens of Christian churches.

In 2011, Ferrin said, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after experiencing a mental and physical breakdown. Ferrin said she fell incredibly ill, and felt overwhelmed and lonely.

“I could feel that I could not handle this alone,” she said. “It would topple me.”

Ferrin attended therapy for years, she said, but all the while felt her relationship with Jesus Christ deepening.

Eventually, after fighting illnesses, inner demons and countless other challenges thrown her way, Ferrin said, she turned to God and prayed, asking where she should turn for a blessing.

Her answer? The Catholic Church.

“Catholicism was not on my radar,” she said. “But my soul recognized I was in real trouble.”

So Ferrin feverishly studied Catholicism, entering the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults and officially became Catholic. She now attends St. Thomas More Church in Cottonwood Heights.

While the conversion process was redundant — she had studied it previously — Ferrin said that the sacraments became “banquets of graces” that she needed to become whole again.

Finally, she felt healed and at peace. But that isn’t the end of her story. At the end of August, Ferrin will join an Order of Christian Initiation of Adults team in helping initiates learn more about the Catholic faith.

After finding her flock, Ferrin hopes to help other sheep find their shepherd.

Note to readers • Dylan Eubank is a Report for America corps member covering faith in Utah County for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories.