Building Catholic Futures

Put Out into the Deep

Dec 24 2024

Hello, and welcome to the Put Out into the Deep, the newsletter of Building Catholic Futures. This week, we want to share our gratitude for the doors you have opened, help you have given, and the gifts we have received from knowing you.

It’s Christmas Eve today: a time of exhaustion for some, anticipation for others (especially the younger ones!). There's plenty of liturgical hustle and bustle as trees are hoisted, pageants and Midnight Masses rehearsed, and naves cleaned up in anticipation to greet the many who will find welcome again this year!

This Wondrous Year of Launching

For BCF, this has been an exhilarating year. In spring and summer, we “soft-launched” our three program tracks, Futures, Journeys, and Witnesses. For each of these tracks, you – the folks on the ground in Catholic homes, schools, and parishes – helped us to unfold Building Catholic Futures’ vision of inspiring confidence.

3 program tracks developed
4 dioceses in which workshops were hosted
24 scripted training modules
300+ Catholic leaders reached

We “hard-launched” in September with, among other things, the newsletter you are reading. (As always, please share it with a friend. If you received this from a friend and are not yet a subscriber, click Building Catholic Futures and fill out the Keep in Touch form to receive future updates.)

And we’ve been sharing our vision widely, developing and renewing relationships with Catholic institutions around the country, and Eve has been making the podcast rounds as we prepare for the year ahead. Next week we'll be sharing some of what you can expect from us in the coming year.

So we want to say, Thank you! You share our vision of a world where every Catholic priest, parent, teacher, and friend knows that gay people can be honest about their experience and faithful to God’s call. A world where every parish welcomes LGBT+ people’s gifts and offers them wise, well-informed guidance. A world where faithful, self-accepting LGBT/SSA+ Catholics are common, even unremarkable—a world where every Catholic leader knows their stories.

When we live in that world, you can say, “I was there when it started!”

Thank you for being there with us.

Give to BCF

Advent Poll Results - Your Traditions

Here are the highlights of the season for you all, based on our poll responses:

I love listening to Penny and Sparrow's and (fellow queer Christian!) Sufjan Stevens’ Christmas stuff throughout Advent. Might be a bit too Christmas-y for some, but the mellow vibes make the perfect backdrop to wrap gifts and enjoy hot cocoa and quiet reflection to.

Sitting and contemplating candles on an Advent wreath

our parish had a wreathmaking / pizza night for advent wreaths! Really changes it from one more holiday to do to a joyful start to the season

As a Catholic curmudgeon, my favorite Advent tradition is ducking in and out of stores at speed, trying to avoid premature strains of Christmas tunes.

Advent Wreath

Celebrating Christmas early to stick it to the man

Lighting the Wreath; decorating the house; leaving the Creche empty until Christmas day

Your Prayer Requests

And here are the rest of the responses from our poll:

For openness to what the Holy Spirit is doing to bring all that's good and true and beautiful in the Church together...

Please pray for my sister K. who is experiencing serious mental health struggles

And here’s a prayer that reflects an all-too-common pain: Pray that my gay daughter and son return to the faith.

And now, as Christmastide begins, pray that Building Catholic Futures may bring new laborers to the harvest. Lord, open our lips to speak words of reconciliation where there has been division, and hope where there has been fear or pain. Lord, invite those daughters and sons and parents, those students and teachers, those priests and brothers and sisters, and all souls who seek truth and love and Light. May their hearts rest in You this Christmas.

Spread the Word

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Consider a financial contribution to help us with operating expenses, and Donate to BCF.

Duc in altum! Put out into the deep!

Eve and Keith

Building Catholic Futures

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