Apr 30
AT THE ANNUAL MEETING this weekend of the parish where the first Open Table community began, I spoke about my journey with this community over the last 15 years, and the new stage I am now entering, which would not have happened without their support. This is what I shared: This church has been my …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2023/04/30/giving-thanks-for-this-phenomenal-journey/
Apr 23
THE COMMUNITY in which I joined the Methodist Church last year hosts a short telephone service on Sunday afternoons – like a Christian conference call! Today I was invited to offer a five-minute reflection on the Gospel reading of the day [Luke 24.13–35 – The road to Emmaus]. My reflection was inspired by Jesus the Forgiving Victim: …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2023/04/23/when-the-stranger-becomes-the-host-on-the-road-to-emmaus/
Apr 06
On Sunday 2nd April I spoke to Paul Beesley at BBC Radio Merseyside about my journey, from London to Liverpool, in and out of Christianity and back again, coming out as gay and Christian, and the growth of the Open Table Network from one community in Liverpool 15 years ago to more than 30 across England and Wales today. LISTEN HERE [27 …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2023/04/06/a-face-for-radio/
Apr 02
TODAY is an extraordinary day – Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week, the most impact-full time in the whole Gospel story. On Palm Sunday, Christians remember Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem for the final days of his ministry before he died on the cross and rose to new life. Palm Sunday is the first day …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2023/04/02/palm-sunday-holy-week-began-with-a-peace-protest/
Feb 19
TODAY in the community where I joined the Methodist Church last year, I led the morning service for the first time, as I am now training as a local preacher. A national Methodist Church resource called Justice, Dignity and Solidarity inspired the theme for the service. It invites us to commit: ‘to becoming a church that …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2023/02/19/eating-with-outcasts-the-inclusive-church-journey-to-radical-welcome/
Jan 07
POPE EMERITUS Benedict XVI died on 31st December 2022, and was buried in the Vatican this week. His legacy is long, though he resigned in 2013, the first Pope to do so for 600 years. In September 2010, as Pope Benedict visited Britain, I was the Convenor of the Liverpool branch of Quest the LGBT+ …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2023/01/07/the-trouble-with-the-pope-on-benedict-xvis-2010-visit-to-britain/
Jan 01
AT THE START of the new year, Methodists make a distinctive resolution. The Covenant Service, often celebrated on the first Sunday of the year, is at the heart of Methodists’ devotion, discipleship, and dedication to social justice. In the service the Church joyfully celebrates God’s offer of loving relationship.
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2023/01/01/i-am-no-longer-my-own-the-methodist-covenant-prayer/
Oct 17
THE COMMUNITY in which I joined the Methodist Church earlier this year hosts a short telephone service on Sunday afternoons – like a Christian conference call! Yesterday I was invited to offer a five-minute reflection on the Gospel reading of the day: The persistent widow and the unjust judge
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/10/17/the-persistent-widow-power-of-prayer-in-action/
Oct 07
TODAY, 7th October, is celebrated in many Eastern and Western churches as the feast day of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, (died c. 303, Syria), who are among the earliest authenticated and most celebrated Christian martyrs. Their story also includes one of the earliest known references to ‘Brother-Making’ in the early church. This rite, found in Western and Eastern …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/10/07/sergius-and-bacchus-saints-united-in-brother-making/
Aug 31
TEN YEARS AGO today (as I turned 42) I began this blog. I wrote a brief retrospective after five years. Here’s an update on the next five: having ‘come out of the Catholic church‘ in 2011, then authorised as a lay leader in Church of England, I have now become a Methodist thanks to its commitment …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/08/31/an-introspective-retrospective-10-years-of-blogging/
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