FutureChurch is honored to present Barbara Anne Kozee with our 2025 Sr. Christine Schenk Award, in celebration and recognition of her courageous work as a scholar-activist, working for justice for women and the LGBTQ+ community in Church and society.
The Sr. Christine Schenk Award for Young Catholic Leaders is given to a young Roman Catholic whose research, writing, advocacy, or ministry exhibits outstanding leadership in promoting justice in the church and whose efforts will inspire and foster a new generation of reformers and activists.
The full presentation of night two (October 23, 2025) of FutureChurch’s 35th Annual Fall Event, “The Spirit Still Speaks.” FutureChurch is honored to welcome our award recipients:
We present our 2025 Christine Schenk Award to Barbara Anne Kozee in celebration and recognition of her courageous work as a scholar-activist, working for justice for women and the LGBTQ+ community in Church and society.
We present our 2025 Louis J. Trivison Award to Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns in deep gratitude and recognition and gratitude of her care-filled and faithful service to the People of God – and especially those at the margins – as a delegate to the Synod on Synodality.
The full presentation of night one (October 21, 2025) of FutureChurch’s 35th Annual Fall Event, “The Spirit Still Speaks.” Executive director, Russ Petrus, offers a welcome and opening remarks. Martha Ligas, program associate, leads an opening prayer she wrote for FutureChurch’s 35th Anniversary. Board president, Marie Graf, introduces our keynote speaker, Heidi Schlumpf – a Catholic journalist and commentator who presents “The Spirit Still Speaks” and takes questions from the community. Finally, board member, Courtney Esteves closes with a blessing by Ruth Fox, OSB.
Heidi Schlumpf offers the keynote presentation, “The Spirit Still Speaks,” to begin FutureChurch’s 35th Annual Fall Event. In her presentation, Schlumpf names the current reality of disaffiliation among church-goers (and especially women), considers the ways the Spirit speaks to us as individuals and as a community of believers, and offers where she finds signs of hope for the future. After her presentation, Schlumpf addresses comments and questions from the FutureChurch community.
Heidi Schlumpf is an award-winning journalist and podcaster with three decades of experience covering religion and spirituality as well as political, social, and women’s issues. She spent 16 years with the National Catholic Reporter as a columnist, correspondent, and executive editor/vice president. She previously served as managing editor of U.S. Catholic magazine and a reporter at Chicago’s archdiocesan newspaper. Her work has appeared in Mother Jones, CNN Opinion, Commonweal and Sojourners magazine. She has made appearances on CNN, NPR, PBS and the New York Times podcast. Schlumpf has been a co-host of the Francis Effect podcast for five years. She also is a part-time faculty member in theology at Loyola University Chicago. She previously taught journalism as an associate professor of communication at Aurora University in Chicago.
FutureChurch’s 2025 Mary Magdalene Celebration, “Women Speaking Truth To Power” prayerfully uplifts the voices of women who, following in the footsteps of Mary Magdalene, are speaking truth to power on a variety of justice issues facing both Church and society.
This year’s celebration features the prophetic words of Nontando Hadebe, Christine Zuba, The National Black Sisters’ Conference, Sr. Norma Pimentel, and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Our liturgy of the word concludes with powerful preaching by Sr. Eilis McCulloh, HM – a member of the Grassroots Mobilization Team for NETWORK – the Catholic Social Justice Lobby. A guided meditation invites participants to listen to the Spirit within them and discover what truth God is calling them to proclaim.
Thank you to everyone who had a hand in this year’s celebration:
Presider: Martha Ligas
Guest Preacher: Sr. Eilis McCulloh, HM
Readers: Bishop Paula Hoeffer, Leslye Colvin, Ronnise Handy, Pilar Siman, and Sr. Christine Schenk, CSJ
Prayer service and guided meditation developed by Olivia Hastie.
Music:
Permission to stream “All Are Welcome,” “Your Words Are Spirit and Life,” and “Celtic Alleluia” obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #S-921009. “You Shall Be My Witnesses” used with permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
FutureChurch welcomes internationally renowned biblical scholar, Mary Coloe, PBVM, Ph.D. who offers our 2025 Mary Magdalene Presentation.
In her presentation, Mary considers several verses from from the Resurrection narrative in the Gospel of John and illuminates their meaning, especially in light of connections to the Hebrew Scriptures. After her presentation, Mary fields questions from the FutureChurch community.
Dr. Mary L. Coloe, is member of the Presentation Sisters of Victoria and a distinguished biblical scholar, known internationally for her expertise in the Gospel of John and the Johannine Community. She is professor of New Testament at Yarra Theological Union, a college of the University of Divinity in Melbourne. Her scholarship weaves rigorous academic analysis together with spiritual and pastoral insights, making her work highly valuable both in academic circles and among those engaged in pastoral ministry.
To conclude our 2025 Pride Month Series, FutureChurch welcomed a panel of guests to reflect and share on their experiences of faith, love, and joy as queer Catholics.
About Our Panel
Nick Fagnant, MEd, MATM (he/him) is a queer theologian, Ignatian educator, and public scholar committed to justice, relationality, and belonging in Catholic education. A PhD student in Theology and Education at Boston College’s Clough School of Theology and Ministry, his research integrates Ignatian spirituality, LGBTQ+ perspectives, and critical pedagogy to advance theological education rooted in solidarity and human flourishing. Nick will moderate the panel.
Ariell Watson Simon is a healthcare chaplain living in central Missouri. She entered the Catholic Church in 2011 as an undergraduate student at Loyola University Maryland, and later received a Master of Divinity from Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Ariell has served as a healthcare chaplain in hospitals and nursing facilities in three states. She regularly contributes to New Ways Ministry’s blog and coordinates FutureChurch’s Sunday evening online liturgy and faith sharing. Ariell enjoys offering spiritual direction, writing, and fostering a theological imagination for an inclusive Church.
Rachelle Simon is the Executive Director of United Way of Pettis County in her hometown of Sedalia, Missouri. She was formed by Catholic Higher education, receiving her Bachelor’s degree from Rockhurst College, master’s in counseling from Villanova University, and Masters of Divinity from Boston College. She has a professional background in counseling, higher education, non-profit work, and Catholic campus ministry. Rachelle is a member of the board of Bethlehem Farm, a Catholic community in West Virginia.
M. Hakes (they/them or ze/zir), is a queer, trans nonbinary person and practicing Catholic. In both their paid and volunteer work, they are active at the intersection of faith and queerness and engaged in justice and liberation work. They also enjoy knitting/crocheting, gardening, and getting outside to enjoy creation.
Andy Buechel-Rieger, PhD, is Associate Professor of Religious Studies in the Liberal Arts department at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati. His work focusing on the Catholic dogmatic tradition and how LGBTQ experience and thought can bring new insights. He and his husband, Stephen, live with their son, dog, and canary in Ohio.
Ed Buechel has served on the Board of Fortunate Families for over 10 years and is currently its President. He also facilitates Catholics Embracing ALL God’s Children, a support group for LGBTQ+ individuals and allies in Northern Kentucky. Ed and his wife, Kathy, live in Edgewood, KY, and love and are very proud of all of their children, grandchildren, and in-laws.
FutureChurch continues its 2025 Pride series and commemorates Juneteenth with this presentation from Teresa Thompson. In her presentation, Thompson explores what it means to shift away from asking for inclusion or representation and instead move toward claiming space within our faith tradition and our Church. Drawing from her own personal experiences in a Catholic Lesbians ministry and from the work of Black writers influenced by Catholic thought—creators whose work is theologically powerful even if they’re not labeled “theologians”—Thompson offers reflections on how the Spirit moves in and through overlooked places and people.
Teresa Thompson is a Catholic writer based in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has been published by Geez Magazine, FutureChurch, Catholic Women Preach, and Ignatian Solidarity Network and can additionally be read on her Substack, Liturgy of the Ours. Teresa is also a Bernardin Scholar at Catholic Theological Union and a board member of the Metro NY chapter of Call To Action, and serves as part of the Catholic Lesbians ministry at the Church of Saint Francis Xavier. Originally hailing from the Caribbean and Ireland, Teresa worked in New York City’s public mental health system for seven years before founding her private practice, where she specializes in providing psychotherapy for complex trauma and religious trauma. She loves being a friend, sister, daughter, wife, and mother.
