When we asked you to name what makes BCF’s approach unusual and valuable to you, many of your answers centered on the same idea: BCF speaks with hope about the experiences of LGBT+ and same-sex attracted people.

We know that there are a lot of obstacles to Catholic faith for gay people. We have learned so much from the people who have asked: How can the Church be a place of welcome for all? Or, How can Catholics share the Church’s wisdom in a more inviting and positive way?

But BCF starts with a different question, and that makes our approach different. We ask: What works? When an LGBT/SSA+ person becomes a Catholic missionary disciple… how did that happen? Where did the Holy Spirit intervene and guide interactions with parents, priests, friends, and mentors?

And following that work of the Holy Spirit has led us to the distinctive elements of our work.

For example, we learned that young people begin trying to understand how the Church views LGBT+ life long before they start asking questions about their own orientation—and so we help parents, teachers, and priests start the conversation early. We learned that many different ministry approaches have borne fruit—not just the ones that speak to Eve, or the ones that speak to Keith—and so we help dioceses develop the best possible versions of every good approach, and we help pastors and mentors find the approach that meets an individual seeker’s needs.

Sometimes people find these distinctive elements of BCF’s approach challenging! We’re not used to speaking with children in ways that will help them later, when they begin asking questions about faith and orientation. We’re not used to encouraging ministry approaches that have different emphases and can even seem opposed.

But BCF works this way because we are following the evidence: the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of LGBT/SSA+ people is our guiding star.

If you see the value of this question—if you want to know what works!—now is the time to give to our fall fundraising campaign.

Your gift helps us share what works to form gay people for missionary discipleship. And that, in turn, builds a future where everyone knows that gay people can flourish in the Catholic Church.

Please keep us in prayer; and share our work with others you know who want to find out, "What works?"