Los Angeles Outreach event shares Advent joy and hope with LGBTQ Catholics

At Outreach 2024, our most recent national conference, Outreach announced a plan to host more regional events, both to build community and introduce our ministry to a wider audience.

To accomplish this mission, last week Outreach partnered with two parishes on opposite sides of the country to host simultaneous regional events. On the Pacific Coast, Outreach joined the St. Monica Catholic Community in Los Angeles and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Catholic Ministry with Lesbian and Gay Persons (CMLGP) for a service of Advent Lessons and Carols. On the Atlantic coast, Outreach joined a local parish in Rhode Island to offer an Advent prayer service. The over 200 people present at both events learned about not only Outreach, but also each other.

In the days leading up to the event in Los Angeles, I took some time to meet with various friends of Outreach, including a member of our inaugural Young Adult Committee for Outreach 2026, Isaac Cardenas. (Our national conference, Outreach 2026: Walking Side by Side will take place June 19-21, 2026 at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Registration opens soon!) We shared our excitement for the upcoming event and its timeliness, especially given where society finds itself today. Isaac then shared a powerful reflection with me—that this Outreach event in Los Angeles encapsulates what Advent might mean for LGBTQ Catholics: expectant waiting in joyful hope for greater inclusion and celebration of our stories in the church.

Read full article on Outreach: An LGBTQ Catholic Ministry

(Photo Credit: Michael O’Loughlin.)