DIOCESE—Father Ryan Browning is quick to ask for prayers for the growth of a new ministry he has been asked to direct — one that will serve parents, siblings, children, other relatives and friends of persons who have same-sex attraction.
EnCourage is a Catholic apostolate that began in 1992 when various Catholic family support groups in the northeastern U.S. and Canada came together at an annual Courage conference and adopted the name EnCourage.
A ministry within Courage, it is an apostolate to persons with same-sex attractions; both are just beginning in the Diocese of Rockford.
EnCourage “is very much needed,” Father Browning says, explaining the dilemma of “very misunderstood Church teachings. Most people have only heard things (about what the Catholic faith says about persons with same-sex attraction) that may not be true at all.”
Like Courage, EnCourage holds confidential meetings every month at times and locations that are not made public. Both ministries are just now getting the word out so those who are interested can contact the groups’ spiritual directors (see box).
EnCourage groups across the country and beyond all follow five goals:
♦ Help members themselves to grow spiritually through developing a vital relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ as authentically taught in our Roman Catholic Tradition.
♦ Enable members to gain a deeper understanding of the needs, problems, and issues experienced by men and women with same-sex attractions.
♦ Help members establish and maintain a healthy and wholesome relationship with the loved one who experiences same-sex attractions.
♦ Assist other parents and families not to reject but to reach out with compassion and truth to their loved one with same-sex feelings and behaviors.
♦ Witness to our loved one by our own lives that a happy, wholesome life is to be found in union with Jesus Christ and with His body, the Church.
“The focus is on (members’) own spiritual growth,” Father Browning says, adding that a second key component is being with others who are going through the same experience.
“It seems always a danger for all of us … to think we’re the only one going through” a particular experience, he says. “This (situation) has become very difficult for us to talk about. EnCourage is meant to help them and give them that sense of encouragement.”
Calling his spiritual facilitator role as one of keeping everyone going and providing the teaching and spiritual direction to help them, Father Browning welcomes those who think they could benefit from joining EnCourage to email him at: rbrowning@rockforddiocese.org.