Unable to gather either for the 2020 Pride-in-London Parade, its Community Market Place, or a Pride-in-London Weekend Mass inside Farm Street Jesuit Church, Mayfair, London, LGBT+ Catholics Westminster will contribute to a live-streamed Mass, 18.00, Sunday, 28 June 2020. While public worship is not allowed, Farm Street’s Church of the Immaculate Conception has been offering a regular schedule of live-streamed Masses, 7 days a week. The LGBT+ Catholic community would usually gather on 2nd & 4th Sundays for the Church’s Sunday evening Mass where they regularly provide readers, musicians, and lay Eucharistic ministers.
The 28 June, 18.00 Mass, welcoming LGBT+ Catholics, parents, families and friends, will include readers and musicians from the LGBT+ Catholic community. In this way, they hope to reach out globally, virtually, to a much wider congregation than usual. Over the past few months of lockdown Farm Street Jesuit Church has attracted over 5000 hits for its live-streamed worship. London’s LGBT+ Catholic community is a rarity insofar as it is among a few officially recognised LGBT+ Catholic pastoral outreach ministries in England & Wales. The LGBT+ Catholics Westminster Pastoral Council is mandated by Cardinal Vincent Nichols to develop pastoral support for LGBT+ Catholics, parents and families in Westminster Diocese and is recognised as a diocesan chaplaincy. A spokesperson said: “We hope we can offer a model of welcome and inclusion to the wider Roman Catholic Church throughout the world, linking too with all our friends through the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics and the European Forum of LGBT+ Christian Groups. All are indeed welcome in the place!”
He added: “We hope to return, before too long, to our usual schedule of gatherings for prayer, worship, and discussion-groups at Farm Street Church, once lockdown is eased further.”
The live-stream link is: www.farmstreet.org.uk/livestream
Further information: Martin Pendergast – 020 8986 0807 – [email protected]