Confident Witnesses is a mission formation program for gay, same-sex attracted, and queer Catholics who embrace Church teaching in full. Through study, prayer, fellowship, workshops, and one-on-one mentoring, Building Catholic Futures builds up LGBT/SSA+ people as mentors, missionaries, and leaders.

Participants discern the gifts their experience of being gay and Catholic can bring to the Church, explore the challenges of leadership in this area, connect their own stories with the Gospel, share conversation about their experiences of discipleship as gay Catholics, and commit to the mission of the Church.

Confident Witnesses helps gay disciples be the trustworthy mentors and thoughtful voices their communities need.

What is Building Catholic Futures’ Confident Witnesses Curriculum?

• Testify to Our Own Journeys. Witnesses explore how they came to trust in Jesus, how they came to embrace Catholic life, and how they have been welcomed, empowered, and challenged by their communities.

• Walk With Others. Witnesses learn the art of accompaniment. They explore how to receive the stories of others, to value diverse starting points, to nourish and challenge others, and to help them find paths to life in Christ.

• Serve the Mission. Witnesses embrace their call to missionary discipleship. LGBTQ+ people are not confined to the margins but share their charisms openly and serve their communities from the heart of the Church.

How does BCF offer formation for witness?

• Retreat. BCF offers a three-day retreat experience that equips people who identify as LGBT/SSA+, and who embrace Catholic teaching in full, to become mentors and witnesses to others, and to serve their local Church’s needs.

• Ongoing Development. After the retreat a community of peer mentorship is forged. BCF’s continuing work serves to inspire networks of witnesses who in turn inspire the communities in their local churches.

• Renewing Mission. BCF’s workshops and other events often renew gay participants’ dedication to fidelity and discipleship. These people, too, leave as newly confident witnesses.

To learn what a Confident Witnesses retreat is like, check out Grant Hartley's reflection on CW Cohort #1!