Outreach will host a regional gathering at St. Monica Catholic Community, in Santa Monica, California, on Thurs., Dec. 11, 2025, celebrating Advent with a Lessons and Carols prayer service and social gathering. The event will be co-hosted with the Catholic Ministry with Lesbian and Gay Persons (C.M.L.G.P.) of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and St. Monica’s Parish. (The registration form for the event is at the end of this article.)
The event will include a service of Advent Lessons and Carols inside the church and a social gathering in the Grand Pavilion on the grounds of the parish. The gathering is an opportunity for LGBTQ Catholics to pray together and engage in community building.
“We are thrilled to partner with the L.A. Archdiocesan C.M.L.G.P., as well as the welcoming St. Monica community, and we are looking forward to celebrating Advent with the robust LGBTQ Catholic community in Southern California,” said Michael O’Loughlin, executive director of Outreach.
This event will also serve as a kick-off of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Los Angeles Catholic Ministry with Lesbian and Gay Persons, which started in 1986, in response to the burgeoning HIV and AIDS crisis.
The co-chair of the C.M.L.G.P., Bill Chapman, said, “What a beautiful way to begin our new liturgical year, by co-hosting this event of warmth and welcome with Outreach, and further introducing their great work to LGBTQ Catholics in Southern California, all as we prepare to celebrate 40 years of LGBTQ ministry here in Los Angeles.”
The Los Angeles event is a part of Outreach’s strategy of hosting regional and virtual gatherings ahead of Outreach 2026, which will take place at Georgetown University from June 19-21, 2026, focused on the theme, “Walking Side by Side: Celebrating Five Years of Outreach.”
To register for the Los Angeles event, complete the form below. For more information, email John Consolie, Outreach’s communications and advancement associate, at jconsolie@americamedia.org.
