Category: Hate Crime

We boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God – A reflection for #PrideMonth

AT A SPECIAL communion service to celebrate the 14th birthday of the first Open Table community in Liverpool on Sunday 19th June 2022, I shared this reflection on Pride Month and how the origin of Open Table is linked to Liverpool’s first official Pride event. Readings: Romans 5: 1-5, Mark 5:1-20 “We boast in our hope …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/06/27/we-boast-in-our-hope-of-sharing-the-glory-of-god-a-reflection-for-pridemonth/

What needs to be healed – On Franklin Graham’s UK tour & support for ‘conversion therapy’

AS CONTROVERSIAL US preacher Franklin Graham began his UK tour in Liverpool on Saturday 14th May, the Open Table Network worked in partnership with others in Merseyside to offer an alternative event which showcased the Liverpool City Region as a safe, friendly and welcoming place for LGBT+ people of all faiths and none. At an …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/05/21/what-needs-to-be-healed-on-franklin-grahams-uk-tour-support-for-conversion-therapy/

God’s work of art – A reflection for LGBT+ History Month

THIS REFLECTION was my offering as part of the Open Table Network celebration of LGBT+ History Month which premiered on YouTube on Sunday 30th January 2022. LGBT+ History Month in 2022 marks 50 years since the first Pride march in the UK, which happened in London on 1st July 1972. The date was chosen because …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/02/01/gods-work-of-art-a-reflection-for-lgbt-history-month/

Under the Peace Doves: A vigil for justice at Liverpool Cathedral

SINCE MAY, Liverpool Cathedral has been home to a spectacular art installation called Peace Doves, featuring 18,000 paper doves created by renowned sculptor and artist Peter Walker. Peace Doves features around 18,000 paper doves suspended on 15.5 miles of ribbon from the ceiling of the Cathedral. Visitors to the cathedral, along with local school children …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2021/08/23/under-the-peace-doves-a-vigil-for-justice-at-liverpool-cathedral/

Declaration of gay survivors of the Holocaust 50 years after their liberation #HolocaustMemorialDay

ln 1995 – for the first and only time – a group of gay survivors of the Holocaust issued a declaration demanding recognition as part of a project of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. Here is what they wrote:

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2021/01/27/declaration-of-gay-survivors-of-the-holocaust-50-years-after-their-liberation-holocaustmemorialday/

Be the light in the darkness – Why #HolocaustMemorialDay matters to our LGBTQIA+ Christian community

HOLOCAUST Memorial Day is marked on 27th January each year in the UK. I’ve compiled an online service of commemoration for the Open Table Network this month. Why does this matter to our LGBTQIA+ Christian community?

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2021/01/21/be-the-light-in-the-darkness-why-holocaustmemorialday-matters-to-our-lgbtqia-christian-community/

Salt & light – A reflection for #TransDayOfRemembrance

THIS is a guest post from Sarah Hobbs, Co-Chair of the Open Table Network (OTN), written for a vigil for this year’s Trans Day Of Remembrance, which falls on 20th November each year. It’s taken from OTN’s online vigil which premiered here on YouTube on the day. The service was written by OTN Co-Chair Alex …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2020/11/21/salt-light-reflection-for-trans-day-of-remembrance/

Who can be against us? Coming out as LGBT & Christian

THIS MONTH, as the Co-ordinator of the Open Table Network, I led the first of a new series of monthly online worship gatherings. We took the theme of ‘coming out’, as 11th October is marked around the world as ‘Coming Out Day’.

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2020/10/27/who-can-be-against-us-coming-out-as-lgbt-christian/

The opposite of shame – A reflection for Pride in Liverpool 2020

Pride in Liverpool is ten years old this year. It was formed as a response to the murder of 18-year-old Michael Causer, who died 12 years ago today. It’s also twelve years since the launch of the first Open Table community at St Bride’s Liverpool, and five years since the beginning of the Open Table …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2020/08/02/the-opposite-of-shame-a-reflection-for-pride-in-liverpool-2020/

What binds us together – The sixth step on my #JourneyOfHope

IT’S BEEN a year since the sixth step on the Journey of Hope pilgrimage of training in ‘Christian peace-building and reconciliation… to inspire and equip Christian leaders to become skilled practitioners of reconciliation in their churches and communities.’ reconcilerstogether.co.uk The pilgrimage journey included five residential modules from January to June 2019 – I wrote my reflections on …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2020/06/07/what-binds-us-together-the-sixth-step-on-my-journeyofhope/

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