A Coward with courage – challenging the Church, changing our image of God

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.  …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/04/25/a-coward-with-courage-challenging-the-church-changing-our-image-of-god/

A conversation that matters: #OpenChurch2015 conference

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/04/14/a-conversation-that-matters-openchurch2015-conference/

Reflecting on our identity as LGBT people of faith and as an LGBT faith community

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/03/23/reflecting-identity-lgbt-faith-community/

LGBT History Month: What’s your story? #LGBTHM15

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/02/21/lgbt-history-month-whats-your-story/

WATCH: Project Triangle – LGBT youth visit Auschwitz

TODAY is the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp in Poland where around 1.5 million people died because they were different. In September 2009, I accompanied ten young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people from Merseyside on a five-day cultural exchange trip to Auschwitz and Warsaw working with a group of young …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/01/27/watch-project-triangle-lgbt-youth-visit-auschwitz/

2014: A big year for UK marriage equality

2014 was a big year for marriage equality in the UK. Same-sex marriage is now possible in the United Kingdom, with the exception of Northern Ireland. As marriage law is devolved to the governments of each country in the Union, the status of same-sex marriage is different in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The UK …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/01/01/2014-uk-marriage-equality/

WATCH: The REAL Christmas story

If you need some Christmas cheer, watch this amazing a capella retelling of the first Christmas story in only four minutes…

Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2014/12/25/watch-the-real-christmas-story/

Loving from the bottom of the heap – A gay Christian reading 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 most powerful place from which to renew the face of the earth is the bottom of the heap. I often think of …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2014/12/24/loving-from-the-bottom-of-the-heap-a-gay-christian-reading-for-christmas/

Diversity Role Models – Challenging prejudice one story at a time

A YEAR AGO I trained as a volunteer with Diversity Role Models, a charity which offers workshops in schools featuring positive LGBT or straight ally role models who speak directly to young people about their experiences, to challenge bullying by promoting empathy. They began in London in 2011 and are now expanding across the UK, including …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2014/12/22/diversity-role-models/

Speak OUT: Fight back against homophobia and transphobia

Wednesday 10th December is Human Rights Day. In celebration, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is launching Speak OUT: 5 ways to fight back against homophobia and transphobia. Watch and share the video with your friends and family. Unchecked prejudice often leads directly to discrimination, violence and the denial of basic human rights to lesbian, gay, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2014/12/10/speak-out-fight-back-against-homophobia-and-transphobia/

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