THIS WEEKEND the Bishop of Liverpool, Rt Revd Paul Bayes, will join the celebration of Open Table, an ecumenical Christian worship community which offers a warm welcome to people who are: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA+) and all who seek a more inclusive Church. It’s not his first visit to Open Table. We originally invited him to join us… Read more »
IT’S BEEN almost five years since I started this blog – but in the last five months I have been unusually quiet. It has been an exceptionally busy time with the unprecedented growth of my voluntary work with the Open Table ecumenical Christian community, alongside other commitments. Not only that, but the company which was hosting the website became increasingly unreliable… Read more »
In April each year, many Anglican churches have an annual meeting to review the past year and look forward to the year ahead. St Bride’s Liverpool is host to the Open Table ecumenical worship community for Christians who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA) and all who believe in an inclusive church. This post is adapted from the Open Table report at the St Bride’s annual meeting last month.
LAST MONTH I gave a reflection at St John’s United Reformed Church in Warrington, the home of the first gathering of Open Table outside Liverpool, which began in July 2015, seven years after the Liverpool community first met. My reflection, adapted here, was inspired by a blog post I wrote in September 2013 on the tenth anniversary of Inclusive Church,… Read more »
February is LGBT History Month in the UK – an annual festival to celebrate the lives and achievements of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people past and present. The Open Table community at St Bride’s Church in Liverpool, which my husband and I host, is honouring the occasion in its gatherings this month. LGBT History Month began in 2004, organised by Schools… Read more »
Yesterday afternoon I visited a secondary school to discuss what more they could do to support their LGBT+ students. Last night I dreamed I travelled back in time and saw myself as a teenager. My younger self recognised me, approached and gave me a hug. I may have been watching too much science fiction lately, but I suspect these two… Read more »
AT A carol service last Sunday, hosted by Open Table, an inclusive Christian community in Liverpool, I read one of the readings, which I found moving, inspiring and too good not to share. Amazing Peace by Maya Angelou Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses. Flood waters await us in our avenues. Snow falls… Read more »
This week I was proud to be part of the You Are Here LGBT+ history pop-up exhibition at Tate Liverpool. I loaned the Liverpool Echo report on our civil partnership (the first to be registered in a UK place of worship, at Ullet Road Unitarian Church… …and the 2014 Being Proud Award for Best LGBT+ Youth… Read more »
This year Liverpool YMCA celebrated its 170th anniversary, and this year I became the chaplain to this extraordinary community. My role is to listen, support, care and gently question – to be there for everyone in the organisation regardless of faith or belief. At the anniversary celebration at Liverpool Parish Church last month, I read the story of the Good… Read more »
THIS WEEK was Anti-Bullying Week in the UK, with the theme #PowerForGood – a challenge to each of us to speak up against the culture of bullying wherever we find it. It struck me this year that the campaign, which normally focuses on schools and youth groups, is more needed than ever for all of us, given the rise in reported… Read more »