a united methodist congregation.

the pope

When the Cardinals selected a new Pope last month, I could not have been more excited. I have been a Catholic Worker, full-time or part time, for the last seventeen years, and I needed, more than I realized, for the new Pope to keep the momentum towards more inclusion of the LBGT+ community in the Catholic Church. When I saw the white smoke and heard the name of the new Pope, Prevost, the American, I could barely contain myself!

In all my excitement of the days that followed, I thought often about how the Catholic Worker part of me feels right at home at Central United Methodist Church. It really shouldn’t. Most religious denominations and belief systems are exclusive, rather than inclusive. Don’t I have to pick one or the other?

But Central is different. It is as a place of radical hospitality. Just like the teachings of Dorothy Day, and the Catholic Worker Movement she started, radical hospitality means that all are welcome and all are valued. And at Central, it takes only about 5 minutes to realized that we mean that.