Referring to the large number of Catholics in the Toledo area and the sex-abuse scandal that has shaken that church, Mr. Stone said, "With all the things that have happened recently, I believe Catholic people are hungry for the presence of God in their churches."He said his own background - his mother’s side of the family is Catholic - has helped him understand people who are Catholic.
Mr. Scott said Catholics have made up the highest percentage of those attending the services, which are being billed as the "Holy Toledo Crusade.""What we’ve experienced in the meetings is there seems to be a genuine hunger for people to truly experience God, and not through someone else, but through their own experience. I think that’s been especially true of a lot of the Catholics who’ve been coming."
Mr. Stone said he believes denominational barriers are being broken down at the services he conducts on Saturday nights and Sundays on the first weekend of every month at the Toledo Christian Life Center."At any given service here, we have numerous denominations present, but yet the people are all in one heart and mind worshiping the Lord. One time, we had 20 different denominations represented here. That’s one of the great things I see happening in this area, where people are coming together and working together with a common cause of reaching people for Christ."
Mr. Stone said, however, he is not interested in drawing people away from their churches. "We emphasize in the meeting that if people have a church they attend to be faithful to the local church to help it to grow and reach people."
