By Shelby Siegfried
for the Register
Unexpected Twitter connection leads man to the Catholic Church
Defying the typically divisive nature of social media, Jeremiah Zimmerman, a former Protestant seminarian, has found his spiritual home in the Catholic Church after a unexpected Twitter connection.
Zimmerman’s path to conversion began with questioning his personal beliefs, and ultimately led him to embrace Catholic doctrines, experience the Traditional Latin Mass, and discover a community of Catholic friends.
Raised in the Assembly of God church, Zimmerman was a student and baseball player at Dakota State University in 2020 when he started to question the bedrock of his faith, amidst the year’s pervasive unrest and uncertainty.
“I wanted to know why I wasn’t going with the world,” Zimmerman reminisced, reflecting on his pursuit of meaningful understanding and truth. He found solace in the Protestant faith’s scriptural foundation and intellectual depth. His passionate interest in scripture and theology led friends and pastors to encourage him to become a pastor himself.
However, Zimmerman’s spiritual journey took an unexpected turn when he delved into the writings of the early Church fathers. The ancient texts held profound insights that challenged his existing theological framework. One figure who captured Zimmerman’s attention was St. Athanasius, particularly his writings on the Incarnation.
While studying at the Midwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Zimmerman questioned his Protestant identity as he immersed himself in deeper theological investigations.
It was during this introspective period that he crossed paths on Twitter with Jacob Bauer, a devout Catholic from Lincoln. Their online interaction soon evolved into a friendship founded on mutual interest in apologetics and sincere discourse.
“Jeremiah is a calm and intellectually honest guy, so conversation was easy,” Bauer said. “Jeremiah was quite intertwined with his Protestant group, especially considering that he was pursuing a lifelong career in it. However, intellectual honesty is a great virtue of Jeremiah’s, so he seemed to effortlessly be only concerned with the truth regardless of the consequences.”
Bauer regularly posts Catholic content to social media and had online discussions of faith before. He understood that conversations online can really only go so far, but cultivating true friendship can be meaningful.
“It’s one thing to win arguments or to maintain cordial friendships wherein the truth of the faith is kept at bay,” Bauer said. “It’s another thing, however, to let God guide your intentions and actions to be able to speak His truth in a way that is ordered toward others’ conversions.”
Bauer invited Zimmerman to his home during Thanksgiving break to gather with mutual friends. Amidst engaging discussions on matters of faith, Bauer extended an invitation that would shape Zimmerman’s spiritual path forever—an invitation to Mass.
A few weeks later, he attended the Pontifical Solemn High Rorate Mass, a pre-dawn, candlelit Traditional Latin Mass held in Advent.
Overwhelmed by its sanctity and reverence, Zimmerman found himself irresistibly drawn to the Traditional Latin Mass.
“The first time I went to the Latin Mass, I was in love with it, everything about it glorified God,” Zimmerman recalled. The reverence, chants, and solemnity of the liturgy captivated him. “There was no doubt. It was the consecration and Christ’s sacrifice,” he added.
Though he did not fully comprehend the intricacies at the time, he felt an undeniable spiritual connection. Vastly different from the worship services Zimmerman knew, he realized that the Mass was a powerful conduit for experiencing the presence of Christ.
Zimmerman’s conversion process was further cemented through the profoundly moving experience of Eucharistic adoration.
To sit with God and contemplate his love and goodness, it’s amazing,” he said. “I had never experienced that before.”
He also found himself growing in devotion to Mary, and took up the daily practice of praying the rosary.
Maintaining close ties with Bauer, Zimmerman discovered a vibrant Catholic community at St. Francis of Assisi Oratory in Lincoln and the St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His new Catholic friends have played a vital role in encouraging his deepening relationship with Christ.
“He’s found a really great and close group of Catholic friends here in Lincoln,” Bauer said. “It’s difficult to overestimate the value of having a good group of Catholic friends.”
Zimmerman expressed gratitude for the newfound friendships that continually inspire him to deepen his relationship with Jesus Christ.
“Many people feel like they lose their community when they convert,” Zimmerman said. “For me, I feel like I just met a bunch of people who inspire me and encourage me to grow in holiness.”
Throughout his journey, Zimmerman sought guidance from Catholic priests who played a significant role in his conversion.
Father Joseph Heffernan of St. Francis of Assisi became an influential figure, serving as Zimmerman’s spiritual director and helping him navigate his newfound faith. Father Heffernan encouraged Zimmerman and prepared him in OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults).
With Bauer as his sponsor, Zimmerman entered the Catholic Church during the Easter Vigil Mass, marking a significant milestone in his spiritual transformation.
Despite finding joy and fulfillment in Catholicism, Zimmerman acknowledges the challenges his conversion has brought, particularly regarding his career plans.
“Converting to Catholicism has been the greatest thing to happen to me in an eternal sense, and it’s been the hardest thing that’s happened to me in a temporal sense,” he admitted. He had previously aspired to be a Baptist pastor, and now his future remains uncertain. Currently studying theology at Catholic Distance University, Zimmerman is embracing the humility and trust that his journey to Catholicism has taught him.
Looking back at his transformative journey over the past three years, Zimmerman said he sees the unexpected, yet powerful, role that social media played in his religious discernment.
“Twitter is usually not a fruitful place, but in this case, it led to an unexpected friendship that opened the door to profound spiritual growth and the Catholic Church.”
While every social media interaction may not lead to a conversion, Bauer believes in the potential to spread God’s grace and help in the noble cause of winning souls for Christ.
“The Church’s greatest law is the salvation of souls, and by extension, this should be our greatest law as well,” he said. “Evangelization is little more than a diffusion of God’s grace. This means that having close, regular, and frequent contact with the source of all grace is ordinarily crucial to be an effective vessel of God’s grace.”
