Category: LGBT rights

The Trouble With The Pope: On Benedict XVI’s 2010 visit to Britain

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+ …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2023/01/07/the-trouble-with-the-pope-on-benedict-xvis-2010-visit-to-britain/

An introspective retrospective – 10 years of blogging

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/08/31/an-introspective-retrospective-10-years-of-blogging/

LGBT+ asylum seeker podcast shares stories of faith, exclusion and inclusion

IN THE LATEST episode of a podcast ‘for migrants by migrants’, two people with experience of seeking asylum share their stories, one who won leave to remain in the UK with support from an Open Table community, and another who is afraid to get support from an LGBT-affirming Christian community because she fears that the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/08/04/lgbt-asylum-seeker-podcast-shares-stories-of-faith-exclusion-and-inclusion/

It gets better – Local radio interviews record progress on 50th anniversary of Pride in the UK

THIS MONTH has seen Pride events all over the country. It’s 50 years this year since the first Pride March in London in 1972. To mark this milestone, I was one of a number of faith leaders interviewed on BBC local radio on Sunday 26th June. A pre-recorded interview with me and Rabbi Anna Wolfson …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/06/30/it-gets-better-local-radio-interviews-record-progress-on-50th-anniversary-of-pride-in-the-uk/

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/

Ten years since first civil partnership in UK place of worship

ON 6th May 2012, Warren and I arranged a church blessing after registering our civil partnership. While we were planning it, the UK Government changed the law so we could register our civil partnership in a church – and be the first couple in the UK to do so! We spoke to the Liverpool Echo …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/05/06/ten-years-since-first-civil-partnership-in-uk-place-of-worship/

Sharing my coming-out story for LGBT+ History Month

FEBRUARY is LGBT+ History Month, an annual festival to celebrate the lives and achievements of LGBT+ people past and present. As part of the month-long festival, the Museum of Liverpool is hosting a panel discussion: Christianity and LGBT+ Lives, and I am on the panel. The event will explore the perception that being LGBT+ is …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/02/07/sharing-my-coming-out-story-for-lgbt-history-month/

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/

Living Stones – Sharing our story at St Bride’s Liverpool

THE CHURCH which has become my spiritual home for much of my time in Liverpool – 19 years this month – is hosting reflections on Sundays called Living Stones, introducing people who’ve been here a long time and people who are new. The aim is to get to know people better and help reconnect us …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/01/14/living-stones-sharing-our-story-at-st-brides-liverpool/

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