Pentecost is here! And the Spirit has been poured out on all people - calling us to be rooted in and witnesses of Resurrection Hope and Pentecost Courage. 

At FutureChurch, we are answering that call by amplifying the voices of the marginalized, advocating for synodality, and celebrating prophetic communities where all are welcomed as equals.

But we can’t do this work without you, our FutureChurch Community. This Pentecost, we invite you to help us keep the fire of Pentecost burning in out Church and world — through our projects like:

• Modeling Synodality from the Margins—centering prophetic communities who are already living just and inclusive Church. 
• Pride Series 2025: Queer Theology, Ministry, and Joy— celebrating the sacredness of LGBTQ+ lives.
• Celebrating the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene— uplifting the voices of women speaking truth to power.

Your support makes this holy work - and so much more - possible. Please help us keep the Spirit’s fire burning brightly! And together, let’s be the Church that the Holy Spirit is calling us to be—rooted in Resurrection hope and Pentecost Courage!

This June, join FutureChurch on Thursday evenings at 7pm ET for a special 2025 Pride Month series celebrating the sacredness of LGBTQ+ lives and experiences. Each week, we’ll dive into meaningful conversations that bring together deep theological insight, real stories from ministry, and the rich intersections of queerness with race, gender, and class. We’ll wrap up the month with a panel of folks sharing their own witness to queer joy—bold, beautiful, and unapologetically authentic. Come learn, connect, and celebrate with us!

Join FutureChurch we hear from Sr. Marian Durkin who will discuss her decades of experience ministering to and with the LGBTQ+ community.

Since leaving her role on the leadership Council of Sisters of Charity of Saint Augustine, Sr. Marian Durkin has been involved in a number of volunteer activities. She participates monthly in a prayer group at Edna House, a house for women in recovery based in Ignatian Spirituality. She co-facilitates an annual retreat for the LGBTQ+ community, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2024.

In the area of social justice, she initiated a JPIC (Justice, Peace and the Integration of Creation) group consisting of sisters from 6 different communities and a lay woman. The group has been meeting for more than 15 years and is engaged in prayer, education, and action around a variety of social justice issues. She also serves in the Social Action Ministry of her parish, The Cathedral of St. John, Cleveland.

She remains active in her opposition of the death penalty and in her support of the trans community. A volunteer on a number of boards she is grateful to have been able to serve on the board of Lakewood Catholic Academy for 20 years.

Join FutureChurch for this empowering presentation by Teresa Thompson.

Too often, the immense spiritual wisdom, examplary ministry, and prophetic leadership embodied by queer Catholics and Catholics of color goes unrecognized by the institutional Church. Yet, these gifts are real, vital, and deeply transformational—whether or not they receive official acknowledgment.

In her presentation, Teresa Thompson will explore what it means to shift away from asking for inclusion or representation and instead move toward claiming space within our faith tradition and our Church. Drawing from her own personal experiences in a Catholic Lesbians ministry and from the work of Black writers influenced by Catholic thought—creators whose work is theologically powerful even if they’re not labeled "theologians"—Thompson will reflect on how the Spirit moves in and through overlooked places and people.

Finally, just as Juneteenth marks an ongoing recommitment to the truth of freedom already preclaimed but not yet fully realized, Teresa will invite us all to recommit to honoring the truth of the sacredness of queer Catholics and Catholics of color.

Teresa Thompson is a Catholic writer based in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has been published by Geez Magazine, FutureChurch, Catholic Women Preach, and Ignatian Solidarity Network and can additionally be read on her Substack, Liturgy of the Ours. Teresa is also a Bernardin Scholar at Catholic Theological Union and a board member of the Metro NY chapter of Call To Action, and serves as part of the Catholic Lesbians ministry at the Church of Saint Francis Xavier. Originally hailing from the Caribbean and Ireland, Teresa worked in New York City’s public mental health system for seven years before founding her private practice, where she specializes in providing psychotherapy for complex trauma and religious trauma. She loves being a friend, sister, daughter, wife, and mother.

Join FutureChurch as we conclude our Pride Month series with this moving panel!

To conclude our 2025 Pride Month Series, FutureChurch has invited a dynamic panel of guests to reflect and share on their experiences of faith, love, and joy.

Nick Fagnant, MEd, MATM (he/him) is a queer theologian, Ignatian educator, and public scholar committed to justice, relationality, and belonging in Catholic education. A PhD student in Theology and Education at Boston College’s Clough School of Theology and Ministry, his research integrates Ignatian spirituality, LGBTQ+ perspectives, and critical pedagogy to advance theological education rooted in solidarity and human flourishing. Nick will moderate the panel.

Ariell Watson Simon is a healthcare chaplain living in central Missouri. She entered the Catholic Church in 2011 as an undergraduate student at Loyola University Maryland, and later received a Master of Divinity from Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Ariell has served as a healthcare chaplain in hospitals and nursing facilities in three states. She regularly contributes to New Ways Ministry's blog and coordinates FutureChurch's Sunday evening online liturgy and faith sharing. Ariell enjoys offering spiritual direction, writing, and fostering a theological imagination for an inclusive Church.

Rachelle Simon is the Executive Director of United Way of Pettis County in her hometown of Sedalia, Missouri. Rachelle returned home to take this role after a 20 year absence. During that time, she was formed by Catholic Higher education, receiving her Bachelor's degree from Rockhurst College, master’s in counseling from Villanova University, and Masters of Divinity from Boston College. She has a professional background in counseling, higher education, non-profit work, and Catholic campus ministry. Rachelle is a member of the board of Bethlehem Farm, a Catholic community in West Virginia. She believes in the power of people working together to support one another and improve the lives of all. In her personal time, Rachelle enjoys cooking, hiking, and spending time with family.

Maryn Hakes (they/them or ze/zir), is a queer, trans nonbinary person and practicing Catholic. In both their paid and volunteer work, they are active at the intersection of faith and queerness and engaged in justice and liberation work. They also enjoy knitting/crocheting, gardening, and getting outside to enjoy creation.

Andy Buechel-Rieger, PhD, is Associate Professor of Religious Studies in the Liberal Arts department at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati. His work focusing on the Catholic dogmatic tradition and how LGBTQ experience and thought can bring new insights. He and his husband, Stephen, live with their son, dog, and canary in Ohio.

Ed Buechel received his undergraduate degree from Xavier University and his law degree from the University of Kentucky. He has practiced law in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky since 1977 and is currently in the process of retiring. Ed and his wife, Kathy, live in Edgewood, KY, and love and are very proud of all of their children, grandchildren, and in-laws. Ed has served on the Board of Fortunate Families for over 10 years and is currently its President. He also facilitates Catholics Embracing ALL God’s Children, a support group for LGBTQ+ individuals and allies in Northern Kentucky. Ed and Kathy are active participants in many LGBTQ+ events, working to create a loving, supportive place for LGBTQ+ individuals within the Catholic Church. Ed also serves as Chairman of the Board of St. Charles Community, a nonprofit supporting seniors in Northern Kentucky.

With the fire of Pentecost and emboldened by the Holy Spirit, we at FutureChurch are engaging in a new project to recognize and celebrate communities that are embodying the mission of Pentecost. Over the next several months, we will continue highlighting communities that have been emboldened to live the Gospel in new and creative ways. Today we introduce you to the Community of St. Peter.

"The Community of St. Peter is the only independent and inclusive Eucharistic community in the Catholic tradition in the city of Cleveland. With roughly 250 total members and about 100 at each Sunday Liturgy, the Community works to strike a balance between faithfulness to the Catholic tradition and freedom to blossom from that tradition in new and creative ways."...

Read More about Community of St. Peter...

Join FutureChurch for this annual tradition of highlighting scholarship about Mary Magdalene!

Based on her expert analysis on the Gospel of John in the Wisdom Commentary series, Dr. Mary Coloe, PBVM will present on what we would gain if we were to proclaim all of John 20:1-18 on Easter Sunday morning.

Dr. Mary L. Coloe, a member of the Presentations Sisters of Victoria, is professor of New Testament at Yarra Theological Union, a college of the University of Divinity in Melbourne. Mary taught for over twenty years at Australian Catholic University and also at Boston College, the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, and in Jerusalem. Mary has written many academic publications on the Gospel of John, as well as books to help parents and teachers, such as A Friendly Guide to John, The Two Hands of God, and A Friendly Guide to the Birth of Jesus. Mary has also written an introduction to the Johannine literature for the new revised edition of the Jerome Biblical Commentary.

In 1997, FutureChurch launched an international campaign to restore St. Mary of Magdala to her rightful place as the apostle to the apostles, asking supporters to sponsor special celebrations on or around July 22 at which a biblical expert would trace Mary’s unparalleled fidelity in accompanying Jesus through crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection. This would be followed by a prayer service at which a woman would preside, preach and encourage attendees to reflect on their own encounters with, and witness to, the risen Christ.

Annual celebrations of St. Mary of Magdala exploded after that, going from 23 that first year, to 150 the following year to between 250 to 400 celebrations worldwide in each year since. Every summer, thousands of women and men help correct an egregious injustice done to a great woman leader in our church.

Join FutureChurch our annual celebration of the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene.

This year, we will prayerfully uplift the voices and celebrate the witness of women who, following in the footsteps of Mary Magdalene, are speaking truth to power. We'll hear the prophetic words of women who are speaking out to both society and the Church about a variety of justice and human rights issues. This year, we are honored to welcome Sr. Eilis McCulloh, HM, of NETWORK – the Catholic social justice lobby – who will be our guest preacher.

Sr. Eilis McCulloh is a member of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary (Villa Maria, PA) and currently serves on the Grassroots Mobilization Team at NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice. She is a frequent contributor to Global Sisters Report and is also a co-host of the Just Politics podcast. She currently serves on her religious community’s JPIC and Racial Justice Committees.

Prior to joining the staff at NETWORK, she spent more than 10 years ministering in refugee resettlement and immigration services in St. Cloud, MN, Akron, OH, and Cleveland, OH.

Sr. Eilis holds a BA from Westminster College (New Wilmington, PA), an MA in Theology from John Carroll University (University Heights, OH), and a JD from the University of Akron-School of Law.