Two former Catholics emback on a spiritual journey of faith.

Bill and Charmene Wellerritter know that their sins are forgiven and that they are going to heaven.

But even though they're life-long churchgoers, that's not something they could have said with certainty until just a few short years ago.

Now, as members of WELS, they have that saving knowledge. "I think I would have been able to weather the storm of anything life had to throw at me a lot better if I had this type of connection [to the Word] and sense of salvation 30 years ago," says Charmene. "But it was all part of the master plan. . . . I've found my way through Christ to what I need, and I'm just grateful and thankful that that has happened."

Growing up Catholic

Charmene grew up Catholic. She attended a Catholic parochial school and was very involved in the church during her youth. "It was back in the days when you didn't think about it twice," she says. "On Sunday morning, everyone got up, everyone got dressed, everyone went to Mass." That involvement continued in her adult years. She was married in the Catholic church, sent her two children to Catholic school, and was even a parish council member.

But then, 20 years later, her life changed. In 1998, Charmene got divorced, and that brought a separation from the church body she had known all her life. Charmene investigated an annulment, a process in the Catholic church that declared her marriage invalid from the start. But it was a process she had trouble accepting. "It really turned the whole world a little topsy-turvy for me, and I just didn't feel like I fit in anymore," she says. "It was a very difficult thing to figure out—what wasn't working and what I could do about it. I wasn't sure whether I had failed [the church] or [the church] had failed me. So the journey began."

Bill also grew up Catholic. He too was married and raised his children in the church. He too got divorced in 1998. But his marriage was annulled, so he was free to remarry in the Catholic church.

But when Bill and Charmene later considered marriage, church rules interfered. Bill was not allowed to marry a non-annulled divorced Catholic and continue to partake in the sacraments. "Here we are—we're active churchgoing people—and suddenly something happens in our lives, and it's at least half your fault, and suddenly you're persona non grata—nobody wants you," says Bill. They both felt guilt heaped upon them, a guilt that they wouldn't escape for years.

Searching for answers

So Bill and Charmene left the Catholic church and began looking for a new church. At first, they looked separately but then began to explore options together. "What a neat way to date," says Charmene, laughing.