The Welcome Table
An Inclusive Spiritual Community for Seekers, Doubters, and Believers
You Are God's Beloved Child
Mission and Opportunities
The Welcome Table inclusive spiritual community includes LGBTQ and other marginalized people who are active, struggling, or former Christians, as well as families and allies. We are committed to bringing our whole selves to God and each other as gifts to share in love.
Catholic teaching on our common human dignity, the unconditional, limitless, and intimate love of Jesus found in the Gospels, and the primacy of the individual conscience as formed in relationship with our Creator, the Word of God, and tradition, are the foundations on which our community stands.
Those interested in cultivating their relationship with the Divine in a safe space will find information about spiritual accompaniment with Vicki Sheridan, MDiv, certified spiritual director, here.
Want online events and resources like the ones below sent directly to your inbox monthly? Sign up here.
Featured Events and News
Ignatian Encounter Ministry: Lent Small Groups Online
Each week of Lent 2026 join others from around the world in small Zoom breakout groups for a global conversation on the weekly Gospel.
Choose from 27 different one hour meeting days/times in English, Spanish, French, or Portuguese.
Attend each week of Lent at the same time for 6 weeks.
Sessions are FREE, donations are welcome.
Meetings begin the first week of Lent starting on Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026.
Zoom links will be sent when you register.
From Darkness to Light: Jesus Moves to the Margins
By Fr. Gregory Greiten, New Ways Ministry, January 23, 2026
Article Excerpt: “Jesus doesn't go to the center of religious power. He goes to the margins. He goes to where the people who walk in darkness are. He goes to those the establishment has rejected, dismissed, forgotten. This isn't incidental to Jesus's mission—this IS his mission. The light breaks through not at the center, but at the margins.”
Fr. Gregory Greiten is the Pastor of Queen of Apostles Parish in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. He came out publicly as a gay Catholic priest in December 2017.
Abigail Peralta is a transgender Catholic and parishioner at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington, DC, where he participates in the Young Adult Community and the LGBTQIA+ ministry.
The road to Damascus runs both ways
By Abigail Peralta, Outreach, January 23, 2026
Article excerpt: "The story of Paul’s conversion shows that God often transforms us by working through other people. As I reflect on the details of Paul’s early ministry, it strikes me how difficult and scary Ananias’ and Barnabas’ actions must have been. Ananias chose to obey God’s call to accompany a person he had very good reason to fear. Barnabas built a bridge between Paul and the apostles. My own path to a more authentic life has depended on those who chose compassion over condemnation."
Spiritual Growth
Walking Together, Walking with Christ
A Retreat for LGBTQ+ People & Friends
Friday-Sunday March 6-8, 2026
Siena Retreat Center 5637 Erie Street Racine, WI 53402
New Ways Ministry Retreat March 6-8
On Easter Sunday, the Risen Christ met two disciples on the road to the village of Emmaus. Their hearts were burning within them when he opened the Scriptures, and they recognized him in the breaking of the bread, filling the disciples with such joy that they raced back to Jerusalem that very night.
Jesus continues to walk with us as LGBTQ+ Catholics, opening the Scriptures and breaking the bread. We still have much to learn about ourselves, about each other, and about our loving God. This retreat will explore how we walk together well with our fellow disciples in a synodal church – those we love and who have loved us and those we find more challenging travel companions – and how it is precisely along the way that the Holy Spirit will empower us to recognize Christ’s presence among us.
Our time together will combine talks, synodal conversation, silent meditation, communal prayer, and socializing.
Retreat Leader
Brian Flanagan, PhD., is the John Cardinal Cody Chair of Catholic Theology at Loyola University Chicago where he pursues research in the field of ecclesiology, focusing particularly on questions of sin and holiness in the church, on synodality and synodal structures, and on the relevance of LGBTQ+ experience in Catholic ecclesiology.
Take Action
2026 Trans Girl Scouts To Order Cookies From!
This year, consider ordering your Girl Scout cookies from a trans girl scout to make their day!
Book Club Suggestion
Review by Rana Irby, Black Catholic Messenger, December 21, 2025
Excerpt: "Much ink has been spilled in scholarly and religious spaces addressing the intersection of race and religion, especially in the context of the United States. Largely left out of the equation, however, are Black Catholics. Dr. Tia Noelle Pratt, in her new book “Black and Catholic: Racism, Identity and Religion,” seeks to rectify that.
Indomitably approaching the issue as an educator and a sociologist of religion, Pratt sets straight those who believe that Black Catholics don’t exist. Her illustration of the religious experiences and culture of Black Catholics in the U.S., and the impact of U.S. Catholic racism serves as an invaluable resource for anyone interested in learning about American Catholicism and African-American religion. More than that, Dr. Pratt’s work is an unapologetic statement in scholarly form that we, Black Catholics, are here and we matter.”
Documentary
“Wonderfully Made - LGBTQ+R(eligion)"
Description:
Have you ever experienced a queer image of God or queer icon of a holy person? LGBTQ Catholics are constantly surrounded by messaging that we and our relationships can't be holy and we absorb this from birth through our families, parishes, and schools. It permeates Catholic culture both in what we hear and see, and in what we do NOT hear or see.
But there are theologians, ministers, artists, and others who are working hard to put out a very different message: thatALL creation is holy, made purposely and lovingly by God, each creature incarnating a piece of the incomprehensible Mystery that is the Eternal. People like director Yuval David and executive producer Mark McDermott, a married couple (the latter a Catholic) who worked for five years to produce thedocumentary "Wonderfully Made: LGBTQ+R(eligion),"recently shown by the Sisters of St. Joseph in Baden, PA. To the left you will find the trailer for this incredible film, as well as links to the full movie and queer depictions of Jesus that resulted from the project.