Robert Auten:
CLASS OF 1969
Covina High SchoolClass of 1969
Covina, CA
Robert's Story
Robert is from Covina, California. Robert's schools include Covina High School. Robert later attended CSULB. Robert works(ed) at Citrus Valley Health Partners, Calvary Chapel Bible College - Costa Mesa, Calvary Chapel Payson.
Music Robert likes includes Phill Collins, The Doobie Brothers, Crosby. Books Robert likes include Catechism of the Catholic Church, Catholicism and Fundamentalism by Karl Keating, Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. Movies Robert likes include Jesus of Nazareth, Passion of the Christ, Les Misérables. TV shows Robert likes include Sienfield, Anderson Cooper 360, Bill O Riley.
One of Robert's favorite quotes is:""You have made us for yourself O Lord, and our hearts are restless untill they find their rest in Thee" St. Augustine - Bishop of Hippo, N. Africa".
More about Robert:"I am a Christian first, and everything else is second (at least when I am living consistently with my true soul that is). I was Baptized as a Presbyterian on Easter in 1953 and I loved the Lord as a young child. After an adolescent rebellion in Junior High and High School, I experienced a profound conversion in 1971and I spent the majority of my adult years in non-denominational evangelicalism. I gravitated to Calvary Chapel and in 1982 I was ordained as the founding pastor of Calvary Chapel of Payson, Az. After 4 years I resigned under some pressure and I took a position teaching at Calvary Chapel Bible School in Twin Peaks, Ca. This did not last very long. I was actually fired from a job that I loved - and I had to return to my career in clinical laboratory science to support my family. In 1987 I graduated with an M.A. in Theology from Fuller Seminary. After that, nothing seemed to work out in the different ministries I tried to become involved in and so I have never again held a paying position in any church. At that point I became discouraged and cynical. That led to a period of disillusionment and a time of living as a practical non-believer. After about 7 years of that, the Lord granted me a great grace of repentance. Over the next 3 years I reexamined my faith from the very basics on up. I studied the Apostles' Creed and the written prayers of St. Francis of Assisi. Encouraged by what I had learned about the "communion of saints" in the Creed, I tried praying to St. Francis in my desperation to get my faith back. Next I even tried praying to the Virgin Mary. At that point I felt I was venturing into unknown territory so I wanted to find out more. I got a copy of the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church and I read it from cover to cover, thinking I would find fault. I found things that were not explicitly spelled out in the Bible but I didn't find anything that contradicted the Bible or anything I disagreed with. I began to understand that I had been gradually becoming more and more catholic in my...Expand for more
faith for about 20 years without realizing it. I just said to myself I was becoming more "orthodox." In 1998 I entered an RCIA class with the intention of joining the Catholic Church because by this point I was convinced that it was the true church. I believed God was calling me to become Catholic and I knew that if I had refused to join it I would have been closing my mind and heart to what He was doing in my life. I woud have slipped back into the cynicism and worldly lifestyle that God was finally bringing me out of during this long period of adult repentance and conversion. So, at the Easter vigil in 1999 I was received into the Catholic Church, confirmed and received my 1st Holy Communion. I've been happily catholic ever since. My conversion came with quite a lot of personal cost, but I have never regretted it. I see my Christian life now in completeness: beginning with my Presbyterian baptism, growing in my many years as an evangelical, and now finally completed but still growing as a Catholic Christian. It was the same Jesus all along and I love him and serve him now more than ever. Currently I teach a weekly Catechism Class at Chino Institution for Men and an adult Bible study at my parish in Covina. I've been a member of the Legion of Mary since 2002 and I've been involved in many other ministries. In 2010 I was married to another member of the Legion. We had become very good friends over a period of years and without even thinking we were "dating" that is what we actually began! So, now Beulah is the love of my life and her sweet, loving and gentle Philippina-Cebuana spirit is my daily joy. My Dad and my Mom and my three sons: David, Jeremy and Joel have not followed me into the Catholic faith but I encourage them to follow Christ in the honesty of their own hearts in their own fellowships. I've been given 4 wonderful grandchildren; both my parents are still alive and living nearby; and I have been able to go to part time status in the Blood Bank, where I have been the supervisor for 20 years. I still enjoy my work and I enjoy my days off. I am greatly blessed. For me, finding my true home in the church of all time was serendipity: I never expected to find anything very good in the Catholic Church but what I found was better than anything I ever could have expected!
PLEASE NOTE: I have nothing but respect for Chuck Smith and many of the other non denominational pastors I knew and learned from over the years. My experience in Calvary Chapel was a great and positive influence in my life and I am thankful to God for it. But I am more thankful to finally be a Catholic Christian.
If you would like to know more about "My Journey from Calvary Chapel to the Catholic Church" from a more theological point of view I will e-mail anyone who sends me a request a copy of my Conversion Story.".
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