Eden Invitation: Walking Together

Mar 7

By Anna Laughery

Our Sunday Visitor, a Catholic publishing company in Indiana, recently created an opportunity called the OSV Challenge, asking Catholic organizations to create a pitch explaining how they would spend $100,000 to further the Kingdom of God. This competition awarded $100,000 to three winners, including the group Eden Invitation.

Eden Invitation is a community-based organization whose mission is to “live the Gospel by celebrating personal integration and promoting solidarity outside the LGBT+ paradigm.” They pitched their idea titled Hearth and Porch in the 2020 OSV Challenge. Eden Invitation co-founder Anna Carter says she begrudgingly applied to the Challenge and doubted their chances of winning. But after reaching the finals, she was filled with hope about the celebrated support for their mission.

Hearth and Porch

Created by Eden Invitation, the Hearth and Porch program is a two-part initiative designed to first draw people in, in imitation of a welcoming front porch, and then to create warm community groups, in the likeness of a hearth.

According to Anna, the Porch element of the initiative is intended to create a story sharing campaign, producing video testimonials of individuals on the LGBT+ spectrum who have found a home in the Catholic Church. Eden Invitation will release these videos in June (culturally recognized as Pride Month) as a Catholic response to the LGBT+ paradigm.

The Hearth part of the initiative is a continuation of the mission Eden Invitation has been living since their founding in 2018. “At its heart (Eden Invitation) is a community building organization,” Anna says. They are much more than just a blog or a social media platform, rather they foster friendships and intentional community. The Hearth program embodies this mission by creating regional communities and book clubs, connecting those on the LGBT+ spectrum who may feel isolated, ashamed, or alone.

Twenty-first century youth and young adults face many challenges, one of the most prominent being same-sex attraction and gender confusion. When it comes to these issues, many members of these young generations have to ask difficult questions of themselves, such as how they want to live lives of virtue or how they are going to find solidarity. Though these difficulties are not unique to our times, Anna has observed that due to modern developments (like social media) the current youth are longing for community in new ways, especially those who struggle with their sexuality. Eden Invitation was created for those individuals who identify on the LGBT+ spectrum and are grappling with their faith or seeking out solidarity.

“These cries of our hearts generationally are occurring in a really poignant way with those wrestling with same-sex attraction and gender confusion,” Anna explains.

The witness of Anna and her co-founder Shannon Ochoa, along with the other members of Eden Invitation, are incredibly compelling in this present moment. According to research compiled by Eden Invitation, approximately 4.5 million Catholics identify on the LGBT+ spectrum––a startling number considering the absence of Catholic ministries offering them support. Though the Church is doing beautiful work on clarifying the truth of human sexuality, there is a gap in how it practically ministers to people on the LGBT+ spectrum. There are very few organizations within the Church that provide support and community for these individuals, and it is in this area that Eden Invitation excels.

“It is the paradox of history that each generation is converted by the saint who contradicts it most,” G.K. Chesterton writes. This statement rings true of Eden Invitation. Their witness of joy in an orthodox, Catholic life while simultaneously experiencing same sex-attraction or gender confusion is truly a witness that contradicts the times, but a witness that can bring about real happiness. Perhaps, this really is the moment for which Eden Invitation was created––this moment of confusion, loneliness and incredible longing.

An Integrated Life

Living an integrated life is a common theme woven throughout both the community building and outreach of the Hearth and Porch initiative. In explaining how this way of life applies to the Eden Invitation mission, Anna articulates two common approaches to human sexuality. The first approach is to make it the most important thing in one’s life and to allow it to define every aspect of the human experience. The other approach is to de-emphasize sexuality too much by simply acknowledging it exists and moving on. Anna points out that both of these approaches are wrong.

“(Questions of human sexuality) go to our heart and move at the heart of who we are,” she says. “These desires are situated in our whole context as people.”

Therefore, they cannot be simply dismissed, but also they do not define us.

The Eden Invitation website reminds us of what does define us. “We are willed, loved, unrepeatable men and women created in the image and likeness of God. We are adopted daughters and sons of the Father. We are redeemed through the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. By the sacramental life, we are animated by the wild abundance of the Holy Spirit.” Living out this identity as children of God is living an integrated life, whether or not people fall on the LGBT+ spectrum

Anna’s and Shannon’s testimonies both recall a striking event in their conversions when they experienced Christ in the Eucharist. Both describe how they locked eyes with Christ in the Monstrance, the gold ornate vessel in which the Eucharist is displayed, and felt seen, loved and known through the presence of Christ in front of them. For them, this moment with Christ represents an integrated life. This experience of profound intimacy is what every human heart longs for and can only truly be had through intimacy with Christ.

This truth is the foundation of Eden Invitation’s mission. They specifically exist to help individuals who are on the LGTB+ spectrum follow the call of Christ. They open their porches and their hearths to those who need connection and invite them to be seen and known by Christ Himself. They help those struggling with same sex attraction or gender confusion to step out of the LGBT+ paradigm and into the reality of the Christian, integrated life.

Living the Mission of Eden Invitation

The Eden Invitation mission is for everyone. “(Eden Invitation) is a coed ministry with a maternal heart,” according to Anna. They reach out to men and women of all walks of life, inviting them into community and encounter.

“You don’t have to have all of this figured out to reach out and connect with us!” Anna explains. She invites all Catholics to enter into the mission of the organization by extending the invitation of communal life to those on the LGBT+ spectrum.

In Shannon’s conversion story, one of her friends received her with genuine love and acceptance when Shannon first told her about her same-sex attractions. Her friend’s charitable response allowed Shannon to feel welcomed into the Church and opened up the doors of the faith for her. Every Catholic is called to give this same love and acceptance when they encounter someone on the LGBT+ spectrum. These initial encounters have the power to welcome some into the faith, but also to turn someone away, so praying for the grace to respond with love in these situations should be a priority for all Catholics.

Anna also gives profoundly simple advice to individuals who are already in relationship with those on this spectrum. “Ask questions and simply listen! Don’t be afraid to ask questions about their experience and make sure they know you are there for them,” she explains.

Finally, Anna points out how important it is to be vulnerable about struggles. Everyone has their battles, bringing them into the light is a way to create the space for intimacy and connection that so many long for.

We are all called to an integrated life. We are also called to open our porches and hearths to those who are searching. Through community, with both Christ and others, we can step out of our own paradigms of isolation and into the reality of living an integrated, Catholic life.