LGBTQ+ Retreat Focuses on Our Roles in a Synodal Church

New Ways Ministry is sponsoring an LGBTQ-themed retreat weekend, entitled “Walking Together, Walking With Christ,” on March 6-8, 2026, at the Siena Retreat Center, Racine, Wisconsin (near Milwaukee).  The program, which will revolve around the twin themes of the Emmaus story in the gospel (Luke 24-23-35) and the experience of synodality, which our church continues to explore, will be led by Brian Flanagan, PhD, the John Cardinal Cody Chair of Catholic Theology at Loyola University Chicago, who is also a Senior Fellow at New Ways Ministry.

The retreat is open to everyone: LGBTQ+ people, family members, pastoral ministers, and supporters.

Brian Flanagan

Professor Flanagan is a leading expert on synodality, as well as on LGBTQ+ issues in the church.  He describes the retreat theme as starting from the post-Resurrection story of Jesus meeting two disciples on the road to Emmaus, but will explore what we can learn from that story to aid our synodal journeys.  Flanagan explained:

“Jesus continues to walk with us as LGBTQ+ Catholics, opening the Scriptures and breaking the bread. We still have much to learn about ourselves, about each other, and about our loving God. This retreat will explore how we walk together well with our fellow disciples in a synodal church – those we love and who have loved us and those we find more challenging travel companions. . . “

To learn more about the retreat and to register for it, click here.

New Ways Ministry retreat weekends are always places of deep encounter and new friendships.  The most recent retreat took place in September 2025.  The following reflection is by Jeromiah Taylor, New Ways Ministry’s digital content coordinator, who participated in the September program, the first Catholic LGBTQ+ spiritual weekend he attended:

Jeromiah Taylor

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from New Ways Ministry’s Path of Desire retreat. The notion of “spiritual desire,” the retreat’s theme, still seemed vague and foreign to me as I pulled up to the imposing facade of the Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center.

The hospitality of the religious community which resides at the center quickly put me at ease. And by the time that the retreatants were introducing themselves, I was enthused about the weekend. Opportunities to meet such a diverse grouping are rare, and I was moved by the range of experiences represented in the gathering. 

Sr. Jeannine Gramick, S.L., of New Ways Ministry, and Fr. David Cinquegrani, C.P, from the retreat center, gave opening remarks which set the tone for the weekend — one of humor, joy, and hope. 

Facilitator Dr. Lisa Fullam, a theologian who taught for many years at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkley,  focused our days on the lives of St. Ignatius and Julian of Norwich. Our meditations were brought to life through popular music, as well as the film Brother Sun, Sister Moon. Although it lasted only a weekend, the retreat was both enriching and unhurried. During our ample downtime, I often walked the trails of the campus, praying with the stations of the cross and the labyrinth. During meals, I was blessed to glean wisdom from my fellow retreatants, whose lives were so different from mine. I was encouraged by the witness of my LGBTQ+ elders, whose steadfast faith, hope and love inspired me to move forward with trust in God’s enduring love.

Importantly, the spiritual explorations of the retreat deepened my understanding of discernment and transformed my relationship with desire. Dr. Fullam said early on that desire is “also God’s way of getting our attention” — a concept I found liberating and deeply comforting. I began to understand desire as the first step on the path of discernment. Our desires are hints of where God is calling us, and choosing when and how to follow sets us on the path of discernment. As we discussed the unpredictability of the lives of the saints, I gained a deeper and truer understanding of discernment as a process, where patience and courage are essential. 

Ultimately, the Path of Desire retreat was a re-education in the essential truth that as LGBTQ+ Catholics we are all members of one body, and find our own true callings only in each other’s midst. I left empowered to be in the world more authentically, and buoyed by a sense that, in the words of Julian of Norwich, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”

—Jeromiah Taylor, New Ways Ministry, November 22, 2025