Tag: theology

What is a ‘shared conversation’?

WHAT IS a conversation if it’s not shared? Talking to myself? Enjoying the sound of my own voice? Only hearing views I agree with? This odd phrase was chosen by the Church of England to describe its facilitated listening process to seek some reconciliation, or at least ‘good disagreement’ over diverse views on sexuality and same-sex …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/10/26/what-is-a-shared-conversation/

Some principles for making prayerful decisions

THIS WEEK, the church where my partner and I volunteer to run a monthly LGBT inclusive service, faced a huge decision – whether to commit to at least ten years of major fundraising and building work, or to walk away and start afresh somewhere else. A question this big was hard to answer – the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/10/24/some-principles-for-making-prayerful-decisions/

A very queer* time – Bishop goes viral, Quest continues, Love in the dock, God loves hugs & Michael’s mates

*Queer – originally meaning odd, used as a term of homophobic abuse, reclaimed by activists as a defiant act of liberation, now interpreted to mean radical transgression of norms – see my comments on Keith Sharpe’s book The Gay Gospels below. IT’S BEEN an extraordinary couple of weeks since my last post about the Bishop of …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/08/04/a-very-queer-time/

Bishop shares ‘absolute welcome’ with LGBT Christians

A CHRISTIAN community which warmly welcomes Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people, their friends and family, celebrated its seventh anniversary on Sunday 19th July, with the Bishop of Liverpool as their guest. The inclusive service, known as ‘Open Table’, meets on the third Sunday of each month at St Bride’s Anglican Church on Percy …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/07/20/bishop-shares-absolute-welcome-with-lgbt-christians/

Pride – the opposite of prejudice: From New York to old York

THIS SUNDAY is the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, heralded as the birth of the international LGBT rights movement. Pride marches in cities across the world, including New York and London, are taking place this weekend to commemorate the struggle for equality that began in New York’s Stonewall Inn in the early hours of June …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/06/27/pride-opposite-of-prejudice/

A conversation that matters: #OpenChurch2015 conference

Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters. This was the aim of last week’s two-day conference Open Church: The church, sexuality, mission and the future hosted by Steve Chalke, Baptist minister and founder of international charity the Oasis Trust. Steve hit the headlines two years ago when he called for an ‘open conversation’ around same-sex relationships and …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/04/14/a-conversation-that-matters-openchurch2015-conference/

Reflecting on our identity as LGBT people of faith and as an LGBT faith community

BY POPULAR REQUEST, members of the community that meets monthly at St Bride’s Church, Liverpool for the Open Table LGBT service spent a day away again this month, six months after our first away-day last October. Following the theme of identity and individuality we explored in last month’s service, we developed and deepened this at …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/03/23/reflecting-identity-lgbt-faith-community/

WATCH: The REAL Christmas story

If you need some Christmas cheer, watch this amazing a capella retelling of the first Christmas story in only four minutes…

Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2014/12/25/watch-the-real-christmas-story/

Loving from the bottom of the heap – A gay Christian reading for Christmas

At a carol service last Sunday, hosted by Open Table, an LGBT Christian community in Liverpool, I read one of the readings, which I found moving, inspiring and too good not to share: The most powerful place from which to renew the face of the earth is the bottom of the heap. I often think of …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2014/12/24/loving-from-the-bottom-of-the-heap-a-gay-christian-reading-for-christmas/

‘You gotta have faith’ – Diva magazine debate on faith & sexuality

Tonight in Liverpool, Diva magazine editor Jane Czyselska chaired a debate between veteran human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, Christian commentator and musician Vicky Beeching, Rose Neelam, a muslim and Faith Communities Officer at UK Black Pride, and lesbian Rabbi Ariel Friedlander, as part of the annual Homotopia LGBT arts festival. Read Peter Tatchell: My journey to Humanism Read …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2014/11/12/you-gotta-have-faith-diva-magazine-debate-on-faith-sexuality/

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