AS PART of the tour of Merseyside by Queer Virtue author Liz Edman last month, I took part in a panel discussion called ‘Queer Faith Voices’. Liz uses the term ‘queer’ in the academic sense, as a verb meaning ‘to disturb / disrupt false binaries’. These binaries can relate to gender (male/female) or sexuality (heterosexual/homosexual), but they can be so… Read more »
For the past three years, the Open Table LGBT+ Christian community based at St Bride’s in Toxteth has coordinated the Christians At Pride group in the Liverpool march.
My greatest lesson from this Action At Home was that peace and reconciliation start with me – if I want to offer opportunities for peace and reconciliation to others, I need to start with myself.
THIS is the story I shared as part of the Radical Hospitality module of the Journey Of Hope pilgrimage: About two years ago, I dreamed that I travelled back in time and saw myself as a teenager. My younger self approached me and gave me a hug. The day before, I had visited a secondary school to discuss what more… Read more »
An ‘inside-out’ journey beginning with hosting ourselves and moving out to consider host-guest dynamics within congregations and communities.
SINCE 2010, the third Thursday in October has been marked as #SpiritDay, when millions of people wear purple and change their social media profile pictures to help create a world in which lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) young people are celebrated and accepted for who they are. It began in 2010 when Canadian high school student Brittany McMillan created it as a response to… Read more »
ON Sunday 14th October 2018, Warren Hartley, co-facilitator of Open Table in Liverpool, was invited to speak at the Open Table community service at St John’s United Reformed Church Warrington. As 11th October is now marked around the world as National Coming Out Day, Warren took ‘coming out’ as his theme: I love stories. They have fascinated me most of… Read more »
IN RESPONSE to a post I shared recently from my blog archive, ‘I am what I am’ – A reflection on identity, Claire, a member of the Open Table ecumenical Christian worship community for LGBTQIA+ Christians in Liverpool, wrote this response which I am happy to share: When I think about my identity, I often remember a dream I had… Read more »
THIS is my reflection at the Post-Pride Chillout Service in the Lady Chapel of Liverpool Cathedral to mark the end of Liverpool Pride on Sunday 29th July 2018: The death of Michael Causer was Liverpool’s Stonewall moment. My name is Kieran, and I’m the coordinator of the growing network of Open Table communities, which began at St Bride’s Liverpool ten… Read more »
This Lent, our inclusive church in Liverpool city centre offered a six-week course to explore the ‘queerness’ of the Christian tradition. Participants read and discussed Queer Virtue: What LGBTQ People Know About Life and Love and How It Can Revitalize Christianity (Beacon Press, 2016), written by the American Episcopal priest Elizabeth Edman. At the launch of the study guide to accompany… Read more »
