I first encountered Jesus Christ as a nine-year-old boy in my bedroom after my mother ended my nighttime prayers. That encounter began a long journey toward serving Him along with my wife Leslie as missionary disciples.

  “Just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God
over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15: 10

Despite my solid upbringing in the Catholic Faith,…

I became a prodigal son in my late teen years. College was a turbulent time characterized by a St. Augustine experience. Light broke through the darkness in a powerful encounter with the living Christ. My newfound love for Jesus Christ led me to evangelize and later enter the full-time ministry as an ordained Protestant, evangelical clergyman and missionary (for a full testimony of my journey back to the Catholic Church, see my article for the Coming Home Network, EWTN: chnetwork.org/story/a-convoluted-pathway-home-conversion...peter-doane). I met my wife, Leslie, my co-worker in the vineyard, during our Jesus Movement days. Through a series of events and divine guidance, my wife and I returned to the Catholic Faith ten years ago. Upon returning to the Church, we both received a clear call from God to serve Jesus Christ through the New Evangelization. Responding to the call, we began this Apostolate called Encounter Jesus Discipleship Ministries. 

For seven years, I served as the Director of Evangelization at St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church, Carmel, Indiana. Within our diocese, I have had the privilege of working with local parishes and am a recognized teacher. I am also a member of the Coming Home Network at EWTN, a member of the Catholic Writers Guild, and most recently a faculty instructor for St. Paul Evangelization Institute. In 2020, I authored my first book, Encounter Jesus! Transforming Catholic Culture in Crisis.

In my work as the Director of Evangelization, I served a large local parish bringing the truth of this New Evangelization to the entire congregation. I served on the parish staff, as the Director of the RCIA, and have served on the parish council. While in my role I started small church communities (small groups) to both catechize the participants as well as create for them an opportunity to become disciples. I implemented a Welcoming Catholics Home program that reaches out to non-practicing Catholics, giving them an ability to reconnect with their Faith.  I also conducted team meetings for various ministries, teaching them about the New Evangelization and how to share a testimony and give witness to Jesus Christ. We have chosen to be in the “soil” of the daily life in our local parish so that our input and perspective is not only grounded in academic and historical models but also offers practical tools and insights that can be applied to real-world situations in the Church. 

Upon my return to the Church. I completed my master’s degree in Theological Studies from St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology. St. Meinrad is known as one of the foremost Catholic Seminaries and Theological Schools in the world, a place where the Church is finding many of her Bishops. During that four-year process, I discerned and confirmed our initial call to the New Evangelization. Through the “rigor and vigor” that St. Meinrad’s offered me, I put my call into a Catholic intellectual framework. This experience has allowed me to dialogue along the way with many, including lay, clergy, and religious. The community confirmed for me both my vision, as well as helped to formulate strategies and tactics to implement the New Evangelization and Catholic discipleship.

In summary, I believe our unique journey allows us a broad audience. Having been a local pastor, an overseer that regularly traveled the country to be a consultant to Christian communities, and internationally, to support and teach denominational leaders in Africa, we bring a breadth and depth to evangelism and Catholic discipleship from a perspective that most Catholics have not considered.  We zealously strive to offer new wine to not only rebuild the parish structures but most importantly, to rebuild the lives of the people that function within those structures. 

Our Mission is to lead Catholics to encounter
Jesus Christ and equip them to become disciples.