History of The Evangelical Catholic
The Evangelical Catholic was founded in 1998 by Tim and Sandy Kruse. It grew out of a small Christian community that met in their home for five years, in which its members experienced and shared in an evangelical Catholic community life centered on interior conversion and discipleship, devotion to Scripture and Sacrament, intentional Christian community and evangelization.
Throughout those years, members of the evangelical Catholic community — who were primarily undergrads and graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison — began a collaboration at the University Catholic Center, which resulted in a flourishing small group ministry, a vibrant weekly contemporary praise and worship night, a huge increase in daily mass attendance, and an annual Institute of Evangelical Catholic Ministry, in which student leaders were trained to carry on existing ministries the following year when current leadership had graduated.
In 2001, the EC and St. Paul’s opened up this institute to other campus ministries, sharing the concepts and methods of EC Ministry in the context of a Spirit-filled weekend. Soon after, the EC began publishing materials to help support those attending the institute in their adoption of the EC Ministry Model.
In 2005, Cardinal Avery Dulles served as a keynote speaker at the EC Institute and joined the advisory board, on which he served until his death last winter. In 2006, Bishop Robert Morlino of the Diocese of Madison officially recognized and recommended the work of The Evangelical Catholic to the Diocese of Madison, which initiated a collaborative effort to launch small groups throughout the diocese, with over 1000 Catholics participating and reporting (98%) a new or significantly deepened relationship with God. In that same year Archbishop Timothy Dolan delivered a keynote at the EC Institute and joined the advisory board.
In 2007, Jason and Grace Simon — long-time EC community members and recent graduates of Notre Dame’s Masters of Divinity program — became Executive Directors of the EC. They began taking the EC on the road to places like Harvard, San Diego, Raleigh and Chicago in order to evangelize college students and young adults. Under their skilled and able leadership, The Evangelical Catholic continues to publish materials, host conferences and partner with existing campus ministries to foster the mission of evangelization. To date, over 1000 Catholic ministry leaders have attended EC conferences. This represents over 80 campus ministries and 60 parishes.