Eden Invitation creates space to receive the whole person, grow systems of mutual support, and empower for creative discipleship. We are disciples with LGBTQ+ experiences, building community with others who desire a way of life in congruence with Christ and His Church.
Hey Fellow Traveler,
It’s good to have you here! Usually these “about us” sections on websites give you a mission statement and a list of credentials. That makes sense. “What are you about and why should we listen to you?” Scroll down a little further and we'll tell you who we are and what we believe. But stay here a second, if you don’t mind.
Because what we do and what we have done isn’t exactly “who we are.” These are aspects of us, sure. Facets of the whole. But who we are starts in the very beginning. It starts before we were born. It starts before our conception. It will go on long after we die.
Who I am, who you are, who we are together is simple. 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.
We’re human persons. Disciples. Dreamers. Wounded. Graced. Striving. We’re not experts, therapists, doctoral theologians, or activists. We’re just complicated people. Kind of like you.
Eden Invitation is our project. Welcome to the adventure!
OUR STAFF
ANNA CARTER | CO-FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
Chronologically speaking, Anna loved books, the outdoors, Hanson, the Eucharist, girls, and, finally, an integrated life. Anna now serves as the vision-caster and ringleader for Eden Invitation. Growing up, her tenacious faith in Jesus predated awareness of her same sex desires. Her passion for catechesis and evangelization brought her to the Franciscan University of Steubenville, NET Ministries, and the high school classroom. She’s passionate about helping the Church serve unmet needs and about helping her friends find good books to read. More from Anna about her story here.
SHANNON OCHOA | CO-FOUNDER & VICE-PRESIDENT
Shannon directs more than programs. She's nurturing relationships and developing community. Shannon graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with degrees in Social Welfare and Gender & Women's Studies. She has fallen for men and for women, but ultimately she fell for the beauty of Christ and His Church. Prior to founding Eden Invitation, Shannon worked in college campus ministry with The Evangelical Catholic and Brew City Catholic. If you're looking for her, try the shore of the nearest body of water. She’ll be in a hammock. More from Shannon about her story here.
DAVID NEIRA | COMMUNITY COORDINATOR
As a boy, David loved exploring the woods with friends, sword-fighting, and 90s movie classics Titanic and The Mummy. Throughout life, David fell for some women and many men. He graduated from Ave Maria University, served with NET Ministries, and has been a member of the Emmanuel Community since 2013. Now he serves as Eden Invitation's Community Coordinator, overseeing Hearth Groups across the USA and coordinating community events.
ANDREW REINKEMEYER | NEW ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR
Andrew is the first face new people see at Eden Invitation. Andrew and his volunteers provide accompaniment from the first story call to engagement with our online community. Andrew comes to Eden Invitation by way of project management and youth ministry in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He's passionate about helping people identify their gifts and serve freely. Andrew enjoys exploring new places with good people, whether that be an evening in a city, or hiking a trail through the wilderness.
BERNADETTE O'KEEFE | COMMUNICATION & RELATIONSHIP SPECIALIST
Bernadette is the bridge for allies and new interests through media, mailers, and the written word. Bernadette graduated from Mount St. Mary University with a BA in English and the University of Wroclaw (Poland) with an MA in English Philology. She's served as a campus minister, taught middle school, been employed as a proofreader, and implemented social media campaigns. The thread tying these experiences together is her love of a good story. When she isn't off adding a new adventure to her own story, she can usually be found throwing axes or crafting poetry. You can find some of her poetry on Eden Invitation's social media.
OUR VALUES
| BELOVED UNREPEATABILITY |
I accept my identity as imago Dei and the shaping of my unique story. I steward my whole person as a gift from God the Father. I come before God daily in authenticity and surrender.
| MUTUAL BELONGING |
I reverence each person as holy ground. I come out of hiding to be loved. Together we are all responsible for one another’s good.
| JOYFUL HOPE |
I trust in God’s providential care for my past, present, and future. I celebrate the Holy Spirit’s creativity in my charisms and callings. I step into self-gift for my community, the Church, and the world.
Want to learn more? Check our values blog series or our resource page.
STATEMENT OF BELIEF
Eden Invitation is rooted in the belief in everything contained in the word of God, whether written or handed down in Tradition, which the Church, either by solemn judgment or by the ordinary and universal Magisterium sets forth to be believed as divinely revealed. We firmly accept and hold each and everything definitively proposed by the Catholic Church regarding teaching on faith and morals.
In union with a traditional, Biblical anthropology and sexual ethic as proclaimed throughout Christian history and articulated by the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian churches, we state the following:
We believe that the human person is made in the image and likeness of God. Each person possess intrinsic dignity as a unique, unrepeatable human being. We are called by God first to union with Him.
We believe that the human person is both corporeal and spiritual. The entire human person - body and soul - is willed by God. Being created male or female is a "very good" reality. Our sexual identity is rooted in our whole person, male or female. We acknowledge that effects of the Fall are present in both our bodies and souls, and in sexual identity and sexual desire for all persons in various ways.
We believe that we are not individually morally culpable for our concupiscence. Desire becomes a matter of vice or virtue when the will is engaged in choice. To experience discord within one's bodily sex or to experience attraction to someone of the same sex is not sinful per se.
We believe that sexual expression is intended to be unitive and procreative within the context of an exclusive, indissoluble marriage between one man and one woman. Sexual expression outside of this union is sinful for all persons.
Every person is called to holiness and to chaste integration of their sexuality according to their state in life.
"I am happy to welcome Eden Invitation to the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and
Minneapolis. I am particularly grateful for your ministry in accompanying young adults
with same- sex attraction and gender discordance to realize their full dignity and gifts as beloved children of God.
I am grateful that Eden Invitation provides community and resources for these
young adults who desire to encounter Christ and grow in holiness and chastity. There is
great need for witnesses to the truth and beauty of Catholic teaching, and your ministry
provides opportunities for young adults who are questioning their sexuality or gender to live an abundant life in Christ."
Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda | Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis