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
Outreach Conference 2026: Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., June 19-21, 2026
Panel topics will include:
LGBTQ Ministry in Parishes Track
Outreach Guide to the Bible and Homosexuality
Transgender Catholics and the Church
Catholic LGBTQ Women and the Church
LGBTQ Catholic Perspectives
The Catholic Church Today
Theology and LGBTQ Catholics
Promoting Positive Well-being for LGBTQ Catholics
Registration for Outreach 2026 is now open. Please note that registration is first come, first served, and that recent Outreach conferences have sold out.
Lay Indianapolis group promotes Catholic support for LGBTQ+ community
By Catherine M. Odell, National Catholic Reporter, March 4, 2026
Article Excerpt: “…in 2023, Catholic Allies began to reach out to northside Indianapolis parishes. Particularly, the group wanted to connect with parents of school-aged children. But the group also wanted to collaborate with Catholic teachers, principals, pastors and with Archbishop Charles Thompson of Indianapolis. Their goal? To help provide real opportunities for Catholics of all ages to gather and learn to be more loving and accepting of LGBTQ+ friends, family members or neighbors.”
“The purpose of Catholic Allies is to create a shared space for Catholics to learn how to be loving supporters of the LGBTQ+ community within our homes and within Catholic spaces. Catholic Allies is a nonprofit organization devoted to empowering Catholics and Non-Catholics to learn from the knowledge, skills, gifts, and experiences of a diverse array of insightful speakers, usually in the form of short, powerful talks.”
Sisters of St. Joseph LGBTQ+ Formation
The Sisters of St. Joseph are excited to offer a virtual education and ongoing formation space to deepen our shared understanding of how to foster LGBTQ+ inclusion. Entitled "Becoming One Sacred Community," this 90-minute program will be offered at two different times in March.
Monday, March 26 @ 2:00 PM Eastern Time (register here)
Wednesday, March 25 @ 7:30 PM Eastern Time (register here).
Participants will be invited to an optional gathering in April to discuss the material and how one might apply it in their community, family, or ministry. Please invite anyone you think would be interested.
Spiritual Growth
Learn More About The Practice of Contemplative Prayer
Contemplative practices facilitate and deepen our relationship with God. The more we practice and allow the transformation process to happen, the more we are able to experience the Indwelling Presence in everything we do. Contemplative practices give us the eyes to see and the ears to hear God calling us to the banquet that is our lives, as they are.
Contemplative Outreach helps people practice Centering Prayer, Welcoming Prayer, Lectio Divina through courses, retreats, virtual and in-person prayer groups. Trappist monk and co-founder, Fr. Thomas Keating, has written and spoken prolifically and insightfully on these contemplative practices.
Take Action
Stand With Migrants in Court
For years, the JRS/USA Migrant Accompaniment Network has walked alongside newly arrived asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants as they build new lives in the U.S. Now, we’re expanding our mission to include courtroom accompaniment and ICE check-in support—critical moments when migrants face risks of detention or deportation.
Book Club Suggestion
Book Review by Jon M. Sweeney, Spirituality and Practice
Excerpt: "After an introduction to what contemplation is, with quotations from Barbara A. Holmes, James Finley, and the ancient philosopher Plotinus, Hall asks: ‘What would happen if we queered contemplation?’
And that is what the book is about. Queering silence, queering mysticism, queering the monastery, queering ritual, and queering the true self are also investigated here.
In brief, ‘I’ve come to learn that contemplation makes me more queer — more curious, wild, weird, fierce, free, embodied, and present.’”
The Spiritual Life Podcast - Fr. Jim Martin, SJ Guest: Fr. Bryan Massingale
America, February 24, 2026
Father Bryan Massingale on faith and identity as a Black, gay, Catholic priest
“[His] rarity has helped Bryan to advocate for those who are marginalized, excluded or ignored in both the church and the broader society. In terms of racism, he tells the shocking story of being rejected in his own church as he was about to celebrate Mass. One parishioner wanted to know why he wasn’t an “ordinary” priest—that is, white. Bryan points out, as he did in the talk that I heard, that whiteness in the church in the United States is normative, with other races, cultures and ethnic makeups seen as extrinsic to the church’s identity.”