Oct 31
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/10/31/halloween-summers-end-a-feast-for-remembering/
Oct 26
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/10/26/what-is-a-shared-conversation/
Oct 24
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/10/24/some-principles-for-making-prayerful-decisions/
Oct 07
BLOGGER AND CARTOONIST David Hayward was a Christian pastor in Canada for more than thirty years before leaving the paid clergy and setting up thelastingsupper.com, which he describes as ‘an online community for spiritually independent people’. Questions Are The Answer is the story of his journey towards ‘spiritual independence’, told in word and cartoon. You …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/10/07/questions-are-the-answer/
Aug 04
*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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/08/04/a-very-queer-time/
Jul 20
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/07/20/bishop-shares-absolute-welcome-with-lgbt-christians/
Apr 25
LAST WEEKEND, director of Changing Attitude Colin Coward came to our church to give a series of reflections inspired by twenty years working towards a more inclusive church around the world. Colin is an Anglican priest who originally trained as an architect and subsequently as a psychotherapist. He ministered for 19 years in inner-city parishes. …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/04/25/a-coward-with-courage-challenging-the-church-changing-our-image-of-god/
Apr 14
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/04/14/a-conversation-that-matters-openchurch2015-conference/
Mar 23
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/03/23/reflecting-identity-lgbt-faith-community/
Feb 21
FEBRUARY is LGBT History Month in the UK – marked every year in the UK since 2004 to remember and celebrate the lives and achievements of LGBT people past and present. It was set up by Sue Sanders, founder of Schools Out, a group for LGBT teachers since 1974. LGBT History Month is a wonderful opportunity to …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/02/21/lgbt-history-month-whats-your-story/
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