Category: Spirituality

Stonewall interfaith seminar – #LGBTHM review part 6

THE LAST event I spoke at during LGBT History Month in February was the first interfaith seminar coordinated by the LGBT rights charity Stonewall. The invitation came after I trained as a Role Model to deliver LGBT awareness sessions in schools registered as Stonewall School Champions. I wrote about my first experience as a Role …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2016/05/01/stonewall-interfaith-seminar-lgbthm-review-pt-6/

Barnardo’s Faith Toolkit – #LGBTHM review part 5

  IN OCTOBER 2014, the UK Government announced £2 million funding for charities offering creative ideas to stamp out homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying in schools. In March 2015, eight organisations received a share of the fund, including the children’s charity Barnardo’s, for its plan ‘to provide face-to-face support for victims of HBT bullying and training for …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2016/04/24/barnardos-faith-toolkit-lgbthm-review-pt-5/

The Gospel according to Jesus Queen of Heaven – #LGBTHM review part 4

One of the few LGBT History Month events in February which tackled the controversial theme of Religion, Belief and Philosophy head on was a performance of a play written and performed by Jo Clifford, a trans Christian actor portraying Jesus as a trans woman. I first became aware of the one-person show called The Gospel …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2016/04/10/the-gospel-according-to-jesus-queen-of-heaven-lgbthm-review-pt-4/

Divine love – #LGBTHM review part 3

WHEN I LEARNED that the theme of LGBT History Month in February was ‘Religion, Belief & Philosophy‘, I knew it was a great opportunity for the LGBT affirming faith groups I support – and what better way to raise awareness than through the power of story? One of the events I facilitated last month did …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2016/03/29/divine-love-lgbthm-review-pt-3/

How can we disagree well? A personal response to the #Primates2016 meeting

THIS WEEK the heads of Anglican churches around the world (known as Primates) will gather in Canterbury to debate the future of their global network, the Anglican Communion, because of deep divisions over church teachings on sexuality.

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2016/01/10/how-can-we-disagree-well-a-personal-response-to-the-primates2016-meeting/

Coming out – A gay Christian poem 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 poem, called Coming Out by Sigrid Rutishauser-James, draws on the image of light in darkness, which was the theme of the whole service: Come …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/12/24/coming-out-a-gay-christian-poem-for-christmas/

Making noise for #AntiBullyingWeek, #InterfaithWeek, #TDOR

THIS WEEK in England there is an interesting combination of commemorations – Anti-Bullying Week, Interfaith Week, and Trans* Awareness Week, culminating today in Trans* Day of Remembrance (TDOR). I have been at four events in the past week to mark these campaigns: ‘An All Embracing Faith’ – Keynote speech by Ruth Hunt, CEO of Stonewall …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/11/20/makingnoise-antibullying-interfaith-tdor/

Halloween – Summer’s end, a feast for remembering

AT THIS time of year it’s not unusual to hear people in England complain of the ‘American import’ of Halloween and its lanterns, costumes, and trick-or-treating. While it’s true that Halloween celebrations have become as commercialised as Christmas, in the USA and increasingly here in the UK, it’s also true that it was our ancestors …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/10/31/halloween-summers-end-a-feast-for-remembering/

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 …

Continue reading

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 …

Continue reading

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

Load more