"Return" by Brandon Vogt, now available through Word on Fire, addresses the crisis of disaffiliation in the Catholic Church

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Word on Fire Catholic Ministries
Feb. 11, 2021

IRVING, Texas, Feb. 11, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- Bishop Barron's Word on Fire Catholic Ministries has released Brandon Vogt's book "Return: How to Draw Your Child Back to the Church." The book's release is accompanied by a free small-group study guide produced by Word on Fire for parishes, families, and other small groups to use while reading the book together.

The statistics are troubling: 6.5 people leave the Catholic Church for every one that joins, and 50% of young people who were raised Catholic are no longer Catholic today. The Catholic Church is hemorrhaging young people. Behind these statistics are countless stories of wounded families. Millions of mothers and fathers are longing for their prodigal children to come home to the Church, crying: "Where did we go wrong?"

The passive wait-and-see approach is no longer an option. "Return" looks at the real reasons why our young people drift away and offers a game plan to bring them home.

Brandon Vogt is the Senior Content Director at Bishop Robert Barron's Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. He's the author of ten books, several of which have been #1 Amazon bestsellers and have earned First Place awards from both the Catholic Press Association and the Association of Catholic Publishers. He also hosts the weekly Word on Fire Show podcast with Bishop Barron, as well as "The Burrowshire Podcast" with Fr. Blake Britton. Vogt's work has been featured by NPR, Fox News, CBS, EWTN, Vatican Radio, Our Sunday Visitor, National Review, and Christianity Today.

"Despite all the challenges facing the Church today," Vogt notes, "from COVID to the sexual abuse crisis fallout, I still think our biggest problem remains attrition. We're hemorrhaging young people from the Church—and of course COVID isn't helping that trend. This is the problem for Catholic parents and leaders of our generation, the greatest challenge of our time: How do we propose the Gospel to our young people in a compelling way? How do we convince our kids that Catholicism is true, good, and beautiful? And if they've already drifted from the Church, how do we draw them back? I think this book can help. For parents nearing despair over their fallen-away children, this book offers more than mere inspiration and hope, good as those things are. It offers a clear, practical game plan that works."

Word on Fire Catholic Ministries exists to draw people into the Body of Christ, which is the Church, and thereby give them access to all the gifts that Jesus wants his people to enjoy. To be most effective in this mission, Word on Fire places an emphasis and urgency on the use of contemporary forms of media and innovative communication technologies.

Return: How to Draw Your Child Back to the Church
by Brandon Vogt
February 9, 2021
Paperback, 216 pages
Word on Fire
wordonfire.org/return/

SOURCE Word on Fire Catholic Ministries

CONTACT: Will Sipling, Communications Director,
866-928-1237, communications@wordonfire.org