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
Gatherings
LGBTQ+ Ministry at Old St. Pat’s Parish in Chicago
Pneuma LGBTQ+ Faith Sharing
Last Sunday of the Month | Following the 5 PM Mass | Rectory (718 W. Adams)
LGBTQ+ members and friends are invited to enjoy fellowship and faith sharing after the last 5PM Mass of the month. Snacks and refreshments are served, with opportunities for social time and informal conversations.
Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach - AGLO in Chicago
Mass Join us for AGLO Mass every Sunday at 7p.m, celebrated by compassoinate, LGBTQ+
friendly priests at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, 708 W. Belmont Ave. Make new friends at
our social afterward!
Reconciliation
Every second Sunday of the month the Sacrament of Reconcilation is offered before the AGLO Mass. Confessions are heard in the east alcove of the church from 6:10-6:40 p.m.
Join the communities of Old St. Patrick’s and Old St. Mary’s in a Mass celebrating the radical inclusivity of God’s love: You Are My Beloved. LGBTQ+ Catholics and allies are invited to join in prayer at Old St. Patrick’s Church Thursday June 25 at 7 PM. Angelina Rossi, Co-Director of Archdiocesan LGBTQ+ Outreach, will offer a reflection. Reception to follow in Hughes Hall. No registration is necessary and free parking is available in the 625 W. Adams garage just down the street from the church.
Questions? Liturgy@oldstpats.org. ALL are welcome!
Founded in 1988 under the Archdiocese of Chicago, AGLOChicago is a supra-parochial
Catholic ministry dedicated to the pastoral outreach and spiritual accompaniment of the
LGBTQ+ community. As the Archdiocese of Chicago's official ministry to LGBTQ+
Catholics, AGLOChicago gathers each Sunday for Mass, offering a welcoming and safe
space where the community can practice their faith fully and authentically.
Contact: aglo@aglochicago.org • 773-525-3872
Eucharistic Celebration with LGBTQ+ Catholics
Thursday, June 25 | 7 PM | Old St. Patrick's Church
The Sacred Heart of Jesus bleeds for the Queer
By Tulio Huggins, Black Catholic Messenger, June 2, 2026
In the News
Article Excerpt: "The ‘Godsplaining’ podcast, a ministry of the Eastern Province Dominicans, recently published an episode titled “How to Talk About Pride Month Without Losing Your Mind….Their understanding of Pride was almost exclusively as a political or ideological movement, and didn’t acknowledge how Pride has led to awareness of the plight of gay people and a celebration of our existence.”
Sacred Heart of Jesus Dani M. Jiménez AndHerSaints
Online Events
Watch Recording of the 2026 Pride Panel!
What does it mean to live truthfully—especially within and alongside a tradition that has not always made space for the fullness of who you are? This panel brings together voices from the Catholic(ish) queer community to reflect on the courage, creativity, and spiritual wisdom that emerge from navigating faith, identity, and belonging. Grounded in lived experience and shaped by theological reflection, panelists will share their experience on authenticity, resilience, and the ongoing work of claiming one’s voice in the Church and beyond.
Moderated by James Reding of the God Talk podcast, this conversation invites all who are seeking a more honest and expansive way of living their truth—whether you identify as queer, Catholic(ish), both, or neither.
Spiritual Growth
Welcome to An Ignatian Prayer Adventure. This is an adapted version of the Spiritual Exercises. Materials are modified from the longer retreat in The Ignatian Adventure by Kevin O’Brien, SJ.
Join in a flexible experience of daily prayer and reflection. Choose to commit to a regular period of prayer each day, or start with only one day a week. Use as much or as little of the material as helps you in your Ignatian adventure.
Before You Begin
Week 1: Love, Freedom, and Purpose
Week 2: Finding God in All Things
Week 3: Something’s Broken
Week 4: Knowing Jesus
Week 5: What Do I Really Want?
Week 6: The Public Ministry of Jesus
Week 7: The Suffering Jesus
Week 8: God’s Love and Our Response
Online Course
Dates: June 1st , 3rd, 8th, 10th, 15th , 17th
Times: 4:00 - 5:00 PM PST
Format: 6 live sessions + self-paced lessons
Course: CLGS Catholic Ministry LGBTQ+ Ministry SU26
Registration Fee : $50 per participant (*No one will be turned away for lack of funds)
Imagine A More Just, Compassionate, And Hopeful Church With Radical Inclusion
This CLGS Micro Certificate in Catholic LGBTQ+ Ministry provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to Catholic LGBTQ+ ministry by weaving together Scripture, Tradition, theology, ethics, and pastoral practice. Rooted in the Church’s call to accompany all people, the program equips participants with a strong foundation in the history of Catholic teaching on gender and sexuality, the insights of contemporary queer and contextual theologies, and the principles of synodal discernment. Through these lenses, students gain the tools to understand how LGBTQ+ experiences reveal God’s presence and invite the Church into deeper fidelity to the Gospel.
Dr. Ish Ruiz is an assistant professor of Latinx and Queer Decolonial Theology at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA, and holds a PhD in Theology and Ethics from the Graduate Theological Union.
Book Club Suggestion
For God's Sake: Recovering from Religious Trauma
Are you navigating fear, shame, and isolation in the aftermath of harmful experiences in religion?
Author, therapist, and religious trauma survivor, Anna Clark Miller has been where you are.
Grounded in research and counseling experience, Miller takes a religiously neutral approach to healing. She knows from experience that many religious trauma survivors are understandably anxious about perceived hidden agendas, particularly those tied to religion and spirituality. So whether you're looking to leave religion completely or seek a new, healthier relationship with your faith, For God's Sake can help you recover and explore who you are beyond religious trauma.
Watch
These are the first days for Luciana, Maia, and Yenifer as caregivers in a nursing home. As trans women, this marks the first time they have secured formal employment; until now, they have worked exclusively in prostitution. As the days go by—sharing their lives within those corridors, isolated from the outside world—caregivers and residents forge increasingly deep bonds. Little by little, this strange place becomes—for them, too—a home.
Podcast
The Spiritual Life Podcast - Fr. Jim Martin, SJ Guest: Fr. Bryan Massingale
America, February 24, 2026
Talking Scrupulosity with A Catholic Therapist: When OCD Meets Catholicism
Former youth minister (and current Catholic) Ashley Kiefer joins me to talk about the messy overlap of faith, OCD, and scrupulosity. We trace her journey from professional Catholic youth worker to licensed therapist, why quoting the catechism at every problem stopped working, and how therapy forced her to learn actual listening instead of spiritual “fixing.” We dig into what scrupulosity really is, how it shows up as a subtype of OCD, why sermons that end with “just trust God more” don’t work, and how online Catholic culture and “rad trad” spaces can quietly supercharge religious anxiety. Ashley shares practical steps for discerning when it’s time to see a therapist, how to find scrupulosity-literate help, and why dealing with OCD is not a betrayal of your faith.