Aug 04
Catholics Come Home
CATHOLICS COME HOME DEBUTS NEW NATIONAL TV COMMERCIALS FOR “TOUGH TIMES”
SECOND COMMERCIAL FEATURES EDUARDO VERASTEGUI, HISPANIC MOVIE STAR

(August 4, 2010) Roswell, GA—Catholics Come Home will premier their new TV commercial “Home” as part of the upcoming Advent 2010 television initiative.  The commercial, which invites all people “to experience the peace that only comes from God,” gives viewers hope especially during these tough times.  The commercial premieres just as Pope Benedict XVI offers his August mission prayer intention, “That the Church may be a ‘home’ for all people.”

“Home” will air beginning in December in select markets across the United States in English, Spanish and closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

Also debuting is a new commercial for CatolicosRegresen.org, the Spanish language website of CatholicsComeHome.org.  This testimonial commercial features Eduardo Verástegui, actor, producer, and star of the movie Bella.  Eduardo shares his personal testimony of his journey back to his Catholic roots after years outside the Church pursuing fame and material success.  “There is nothing greater than to wake up every day and to use your talents that God gave you to serve Him and to serve others,” Eduardo stated during the Hollywood shoot.  These commercials will premier on Spanish language television in December, in a number of markets across the U.S..

Tom Peterson, President and Founder of Catholics Come Home, met with Eduardo in Los Angeles to produce the commercials and website videos for both CatholicsComeHome.org and the outreach ministry EncouragePriests.org.  Spirit Juice Studios of Chicago, following the Peterson/Verástegui story, produced a behind the scenes video of the two commercial shoots.

Catholics Come Home (CCH) is a not for profit, independent charity designed to invite inactive Catholics and others searching for a faith home to the Catholic Church, through television commercials and interactive websites.  In response to twelve initial CCH campaigns and viral exposure of the website, the CatholicsComeHome.org website has been visited by over 1 million individuals from all fifty states and over one hundred countries, who were moved by the welcoming messages and website. Overall, the CCH TV messages have reached nearly 20 million television viewers across the United States, just since 2008.

To date, CCH campaigns have aired in twelve dioceses from Providence to Sacramento, Chicago to Seattle, helping to increase Mass attendance an average of nearly 11%, and welcoming a total of 200,000 inactive Catholics and converts home since inception.

Now, Catholics Come Home is inviting other families back to the Catholic faith across the country in 13 additional dioceses, including Boston, Worcester, Portland Maine, Atlanta, Charlotte, and many other dioceses and archdioceses.

By 2012, CatholicsComeHome.org hopes to begin airing on national US television networks and national cable systems, then internationally in the future.

The inspiring television and website advertisements are viewable at www.CatholicsComeHome.org.  “These messages are created and sponsored by lay Catholic families who have experienced a renewal of faith and who want to bring purpose and hope to other families across the country.  The results are nothing short of miraculous,” said Founder, Tom Peterson.

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CatholicsComeHome.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media apostolate, dedicated to producing and airing Catholic evangelism television ads on local, national and international television networks.  EncouragePriests.org™ is a special communications outreach project of Catholics Come Home, Inc.

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Jul 28
Catholics Come Home

CARDINAL SEAN’S “CATHOLICS COME HOME” INITIATIVE IN BOSTON
YIELDS FRONT PAGE HEADLINE, PLUS PRIME TIME TV & RADIO COVERAGE

ATLANTA, Ga. (JuLY 28, 2010)—Following the CatholicsComeHome.org collaboration announcement by Seán Cardinal O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston, the secular press embraced the news with:

  • Front page, main headline in The Boston Globe (July 21, 2010), “A Call to Catholics to ‘Come Home’ Again
  • Nearly 12 minutes of Prime Time coverage (July 22, 2010 ) on Boston’s highly rated WGBH TV Program Greater Boston with Emily Rooney
  • Talk Radio coverage (July 22, 2010) on NPR’s WBUR

CatholicsComeHome.org initiatives in 12 U.S. dioceses have helped nearly 200,000 inactive Catholics return to the Church, increasing Mass attendance an average of 12%.

More details on the collaborative launch in Boston, as well as CatholicsComeHome.org can be found in the current News Release.

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CatholicsComeHome.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media apostolate, dedicated to producing and airing Catholic evangelism television ads on local, national and international television networks.

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Jul 27
Catholics Come Home

CatholicsComeHome.org is thrilled to announce the Archdiocese of Boston as a Lent 2011 partner, one of 12 new Catholics Come Home diocesan partners!  The CCH ads will bring a message of healing and an invitation to those away from the practice of faith to return ‘home’ to Christ’s Catholic Church in one of the oldest Catholic cities in America.

The Boston media has already been spreading the news about CCH:

-The front page of The Boston Globe proclaimed “A call to Catholics to ‘come home’ again.”

-CCH was the topic of nearly 12 minutes of prime time coverage and dialogue on how critical it is to have a personal relationship with Jesus in His sacramental Church, on both secular radio and TV.


Tune-in to EWTN featuring Catholics Come Home TODAY!

CCH will be featured on EWTN “The Choices We Face” hosted by Ralph Martin on:

TODAY! Tuesday, July 27, 6:00pm EST
Friday July 30, 6:30am EST, encore


2010 Top Blog Award Winner!

Catholics Come Home, was recently recognized with the ‘2010 Top 40 Catholicism Blogs award’!  Winners were chosen through a scoring system led by internet nominations, which came from our reader base – thank you for your vote, we’re so glad that the CCH blog inspires your daily life.  Share our CCH Blog, and CCH News Blog with your friends and family to stay up-to-date on the latest happenings with CCH.


Thanks to God’s amazing grace, the Catholics Come Home TV commercials and website are helping hundreds of thousands thousands on their journey home to the Catholic Church.

Will you help someone by sharing one of the CCH TV commercials or website with a friend or two today? It’s as easy as including a link in an email to a relative, friend, coworker, or neighbor away from the faith, and saying something like, “I recently came across this TV commercial/website. Let me know what you think about it…”

Thank you for your participation in the evangelization mission of the Church. With your donation of $500, $100, $25 or any amount, you can help air more commercials that could bring someone home to the Catholic Faith, the Sacraments, and the Church started by Jesus 2000 years ago!


Sincerely,

Tom Peterson and your CatholicsComeHome.org team

CatholicsComeHome.org
is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media apostolate, dedicated to producing and airing Catholic evangelism television ads on local, national and international television networks.
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Jun 21

The Catholic Sun, newspaper of the Diocese of Phoenix, reports on the Father’s Day launch of EncouragePriests.org:

EncouragePriests.org: Send a local priest a ‘Collar-Holler’ this Father’s Day

The Year for Priests ends June 19, but a new website will help keep its spirit alive indefinitely.

EncouragePriests.org, which launched on Holy Thursday — the day that marks the institution of the priesthood — will become fully interactive June 20, Father’s Day.

The EncouragePriests.org site is designed to equip the laity with easy yet powerful ways to affirm the priests in their lives through spiritual bouquets, printable and electronic greeting cards — dubbed “Collar-Hollers” — and testimonials.

Visitors to the website will also be able to learn more about the priesthood, support vocations and explore features including homily highlights, “Words of Wisdom” and “Fatherly Advice.”

“It all happened very, very quickly,” founder Tom Peterson said of the new outreach ministry.

It started when Peterson, who is also the brains behind its partner Catholic media apostolate, CatholicsComeHome.org, simply told his spiritual director earlier this year about his own heavy workloads, loneliness and the demands of ministry. His spiritual director mentioned that priests face the same struggles…
click here to read entire article

Visit EncouragePriests.org today and spread the word to all your friends and family.  Our priests need our encouragement!

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Jun 14

Another GREAT e-mail we received in response to the message we sent out about Tom Peterson’s experience of “Evangelization at 30,000 feet“:

“That is a wonderful story! I did the same thing yesterday with a fellow teacher who is having some struggles in her life. I handed her a prayer card of the Sacred Heart since it was the feast day and asked her to pray the prayer when she had some quiet time. She expressed thanks and said she needed to renew her relationship with God and The Church and gave me a hug for being there for her.  Your e mail encouraged me to do this… Thanks. -Lynda”

Visit CatholicsComeHome.org each day to grow in your faith!

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Jun 08
Catholics Come Home

Hello Friend of CatholicsComeHome.org,

I want to share a personal story with you that happened a few weeks ago at 30,000 feet in the air.  It inspired our entire CCH team, and I hope it inspires you, too!

I boarded an early morning flight to return home, following a Catholics Come Home presentation in the Midwest the night before.

After take-off and the beverage service, I took a second to thank the two hard-working flight attendants for their exceptional hospitality.  A little later, one of the flight attendants stopped to tell me how much she appreciated and needed that kind word of affirmation at this time in her life.

Prior to landing, I felt led to take out one of our CatholicsComeHome.org evangelization cards. On the back of the card, I wrote, “The hope you are seeking can be found only in Jesus and His Church.” I signed my name and held the card in my hand, waiting for an opportunity to hand it to her, if it was meant to be.

As we began our descent into the Atlanta airport, that flight attendant stopped one last time to thank me as she headed to the back of the plane for landing. I took a leap of faith and handed her the CCH evangelization card and note, asking her to read it when she got home.

Thanks to God’s abundant grace, last week our office received a wonderful letter from that flight attendant!  In it, she explained that she had suffered loneliness since her divorce a year ago, and she was looking for answers.  She went on to say that she desperately needed that Catholics Come Home card and hopeful note on the back, and that she hadn’t stopped crying since she received the little card. Amazingly, she confided that she had been away from the Catholic Church and from God for many years. After receiving the Catholics Come Home card and note, she returned to Mass last week, and had finally found exactly what she had been looking for—God!


I wanted to share this story with you as a reminder that each of us is called to share the Good News of Jesus and His Church to a world in need of hope. As members of the Body of Christ, we are called to work passionately to bring souls home to Jesus and His holy Catholic Church. And, it’s always incredible to witness the fruit that comes from being obedient to the will of God.

Likely, someone out there is waiting for you to invite them home too, whether on a plane, at the store, or at your child’s swim meet. So when the opportunity arises, take the time to answer the Holy Spirit’s call, and help change someone’s life forever!


Your brother in Christ Jesus,

Tom Peterson

P.S. Tell us about your most interesting evangelization experience at our CCH Facebook page!


CatholicsComeHome.org
is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media apostolate, dedicated to producing and airing Catholic evangelism television ads on local, national and international television networks.

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May 07

Zenit, The World Seen From Rome, highlights CatholicsComeHome.org in a 2-part interview with founder and president, Tom Peterson.
Read Part 2, below:

What’s Bringing So Many Catholics Home? (Part 2)

Interview With Campaign Founder Tom Peterson
By Andrea Kirk Assaf

ROME, MAY 5, 2010 (Zenit.org).- When God chooses a methodology to bring fallen away Catholics back to the Church, he can certainly choose to spread the success from one country to another.

That seems to be his plan with a campaign started by Tom Peterson, an American former advertising executive, who has put his expertise and experience at the service of the Church through the creation of the Catholics Come Home ad campaign and Web site.

ZENIT spoke about the future of the campaign with the founder and president during his recent visit to Rome to address a conference on “Church Communications: Identity and Dialogue” at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.
click to read entire article

Visit CatholicsComeHome.org each day to enrich your faith!

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May 04

Zenit, The World Seen From Rome highlights CatholicsComeHome.org in a 2-part interview with founder and president, Tom Peterson:

What’s Bringing So Many Catholics Home? (Part 1)

Interview With Campaign Founder Tom Peterson
By Andrea Kirk Assaf

ROME, MAY 4, 2010 (Zenit.org).- It began with a single conversion, a moment in which a soul opened itself to the mercy and grace of God. From there, the Holy Spirit, working through that soul and its particular God-given talents, has multiplied and ricocheted this message of conversion around the world through an apostolate in the New Evangelization, bringing hundreds of thousands of fallen-away Catholics, and even non-Catholics, home to Rome.

The soul in question is that of Tom Peterson, an American former advertising executive, who has put his expertise and experience at the service of the Church through the creation of the Catholics Come Home ad campaign and Web site.

ZENIT spoke about the past, present and future of the campaign with the founder and president during his recent visit to Rome to address a conference on “Church Communications: Identity and Dialogue” at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.
click to read entire article

Visit CatholicsComeHome.org each day to enrich your faith!

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Feb 05

CCH News:

Tom Peterson, Founder and President of CatholicsComeHome.org, is presenting a workshop at the 2010 Annual Legatus Summit in Dana Point, CA, which is being held this week, February 4th – 6th.  This year’s conference theme is “Challenging the Culture” based on the scripture passage 1 Cor 16:13, “Be on guard.  Stand firm in the faith.  Be courageous.  Be strong.”

Other presenters at the conference are:
His Eminence Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago
His Excellency Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York
Patricia Heaton, Emmy-Winning Star from Everybody Loves Raymond
Also, President George W. Bush will be a guest at the conference.

The mission of Legatus is to study, live and spread the Faith in our business, professional and personal lives.  Pope John Paul II in an address to Legatus said, “The world needs genuine witnesses to Christian ethics in the field of business, and the Church asks you to fulfill this role publicly and with perseverance.”

Please keep Tom’s presentation and safe travels in your prayers.

Remember to visit CatholicsComeHome.org each day to grow in your faith and love of Christ and His Catholic Church.

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