A Reflection on the Affirming Christian Fellowship Conference

The Very Reverend Archpriest Columba

The weekend of 9-12 October, I attended the annual conference of the Affirming Christian

Fellowship (ACF). If you are not familiar with ACF, they were founded in 1988 by Fred Pattison (then pastor of Casa de Cristo Church in Phoenix, AZ). Originally known as The Evangelical Network, ACF was founded to provide a home for LGBT Christians who were committed to theological orthodoxy, evangelism, and charismatic gifts. Originally, this mission focused on members of the Metropolitan Community Church, but it did not take long for ACF to become an independent and interdenominational organization.

The 2025 conference was the third that I have attended since joining ACF in 2017. As

with other conferences, it was equal parts refreshing and exhausting, but I was fortunate that it was hosted in Phoenix, just a few minutes from my residence. This year’s conference began with a pastor’s retreat on Thursday afternoon, in which we prayed and reflected on the mission and vision of ACF, and future plans for organizational and spiritual renewal. Then there as a dinner and worship service Thursday evening. Friday was the first full day of activities. It involved morning and evening worship services, and workshops on dealing with fear/doubt, vision, and forgiveness. On Saturday, we had morning and evening services, a workshop on creativity, and another workshop on hearing God speak. This workshop is one in which I participated as part of a panel discussion. I shared examples from my life when I heard God speak, and how to tell the voice of God from others. The conference concluded on Sunday with a worship service in the morning in celebration of Casa de Cristo’s 55 th anniversary.

As a priest in the Convergent Catholic Communion, why do I continue to maintain my

membership in ACF and attend its events? ACF is an organization rooted in Evangelical

Protestantism after all. The answer to this question is in our foundation in the Convergence

Movement. At its core, convergence is about bringing together differing approaches to worship and restoring the Catholic Church to its original oneness. There is a lot to love about the sacramental side of our faith tradition, but it is also important to remember our evangelical and charismatic roots. When I have been asked about ACF before, I have described it a as a palate cleanser. Between our local CCC parish and the ELCA parish my husband and I attend; I get my fair share of liturgical and sacramental worship. It is beautiful, reverent, and timeless. However, it is easy to fall into the trap of just going along with the structure. It is easy to forget about the direct experience of God that should be at the heart of the liturgy. It becomes vain repetition in the absence of this experience. To remove all the smells and bells for a moment allows one to just focus on the most important part – an experiential relationship with Jesus. As with many things in life, the change of pace is refreshing, just as we often need a vacation from work occasionally.

The Convergent Catholic Communion and the Affirming Christian Fellowship have

different callings and roles in the Catholic Church, but we serve the same Lord and advance the same Kingdom. In ancient Israel, the faith was expressed in the dual ministry of the temple priests and the prophets. Likewise, today the Church needs a sacramental priesthood and evangelical preaching. The Church needs Word and Sacrament. It is when the two are held and cherished together that the Church thrives.