“The days of ‘Catholicism by default’ are long gone. Being Catholic today is no longer a cultural accessory or tribal marker, nor should it be. The Catholic faith is first of all a gift, one a person must choose to keep.” That’s what the editors wrote in their introduction to the special feature anchoring our December 1, 2018, issue: “Why We Came, Why Left, Why We Stayed.”

We published ten essays from a range of writers: male and female, young and old, cradle, ex, and new Catholics. But the picture we painted of American Catholicism, as many readers have pointed out, is hardly complete. There’s a lot more that can be said, and by many more people.

To that end, we’re calling for your stories. Why did you come to the church? Why did you leave? Why do you stay? We hope you’ll help us expand our range of perspectives by sharing your view—positive or negative—of the church today. Then we’ll select some to feature on our website.

A few guidelines for submissions:

• Contributions should consist of no more than about 300 words
• They should address a single aspect of why you decided to enter, leave, or remain in the Catholic Church
• Contributions should be emailed, either as attachments or as text pasted into the body of the message, to [email protected] with the subject line “My Catholic Church Story”

We’re looking forward to hearing from you, and to continuing the conversation.

- The Editors