ON OCTOBER 12th SEEN, the LGBT community magazine for Merseyside, will host the second annual SEEN Awards. This year there are several new awards, including ‘Inspirational Person of the Year’. When the shortlist was announced at the end of August I was pleasantly surprised to find I am on it. Am I inspirational? Clearly someone …
Let justice and peace flow – A Creationtide reflection
It’s September, the Season of Creation. It’s a time to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation, through celebration, prayer and action, together with the whole human family, for the good of our common home.
- 10th September 2023
- Christianity, Liverpool, Methodist, Spirituality
- abravefaith
Surprising outcasts – Joseph and the Canaanite woman
In 2021, a Black woman became the President of the Methodist Church In Britain for the first time. In her presidential address at Conference, Revd Sonia Hicks told the story of her Aunt Lize, a life-long Methodist who came from Jamaica to the UK. On her first Sunday in this country, Lize attended the local Methodist church but, although she brought her membership ticket, the minister turned her away.
- 20th August 2023
- Christianity, Kindness, Methodist, Spirituality
- abravefaith
Giving thanks for this phenomenal journey
AT THE ANNUAL MEETING this weekend of the parish where the first Open Table community began, I spoke about my journey with this community over the last 15 years, and the new stage I am …
- 30th April 2023
- Appreciation, Christianity, Gratitude, Liverpool, Methodist, Open Table, Spirituality
- abravefaith
When the stranger becomes the host – On the road to Emmaus
THE COMMUNITY in which I joined the Methodist Church last year hosts a short telephone service on Sunday afternoons – like a Christian conference call! Today I was invited to offer a five-minute reflection on the Gospel …
- 23rd April 2023
- Christianity, Methodist, Spirituality
- abravefaith
A face for radio
On Sunday 2nd April I spoke to Paul Beesley at BBC Radio Merseyside about my journey, from London to Liverpool, in and out of Christianity and back again, coming out as gay and Christian, and the growth of the Open …
- 6th April 2023
- Christianity, Coming Out, Liverpool, Open Table, sexuality, Spirituality, Uncategorised
- abravefaith
Palm Sunday: Holy Week began with a peace protest
TODAY is an extraordinary day – Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week, the most impact-full time in the whole Gospel story. On Palm Sunday, Christians remember Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem for the final days …
- 2nd April 2023
- Christianity, Liverpool, Methodist, Spirituality
- abravefaith
Eating with outcasts – The Inclusive Church journey to radical welcome
TODAY in the community where I joined the Methodist Church last year, I led the morning service for the first time, as I am now training as a local preacher. A national Methodist Church resource called …
- 19th February 2023
- Christianity, Methodist, Spirituality
- abravefaith
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. …
- 7th January 2023
- Christianity, Homophobia, Human Rights, LGBT rights, Liverpool, Marriage Equality, sexuality
- abravefaith
I am no longer my own – The Methodist Covenant Prayer
AT THE START of the new year, Methodists make a distinctive resolution. The Covenant Service, often celebrated on the first Sunday of the year, is at the heart of Methodists’ devotion, discipleship, and dedication to social justice. In the service the Church joyfully celebrates God’s offer of loving relationship.
- 1st January 2023
- Christianity, marriage, Spirituality
- abravefaith
The persistent widow – Power of prayer in action
THE COMMUNITY in which I joined the Methodist Church earlier this year hosts a short telephone service on Sunday afternoons – like a Christian conference call! Yesterday I was invited to offer a five-minute reflection on the Gospel reading of the day: The persistent widow and the unjust judge
- 17th October 2022
- Christianity, Methodist, Spirituality
- abravefaith
Sergius and Bacchus – Saints united in brother-making
TODAY, 7th October, is celebrated in many Eastern and Western churches as the feast day of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, (died c. 303, Syria), who are among the earliest authenticated and most celebrated Christian martyrs. Their story also …
- 7th October 2022
- Christianity, Civil Partnership, Liverpool, marriage, Marriage Equality, relationships, sexuality, Spirituality
- abravefaith
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, …
- 31st August 2022
- Appreciation, Chaplaincy, Christianity, Civil Partnership, Coming Out, Gratitude, Homophobia, Human Rights, identity, Journey Of Hope, LGBT rights, Liverpool, marriage, Meaning of Life, Open Table, Pride, sexuality, Spirituality, YMCA
- abravefaith
Sep 28
SEEN and not heard? Why I am inspired to work for my community
- By abravefaith in Coming Out, LGBT rights
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28th September 2012
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2012/09/28/seen-and-not-heard/
Sep 23
The scared and the sacred – Wrestling with identity
- By abravefaith in Christianity, Coming Out, LGBT rights, Spirituality
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23rd September 2012
THIS is a detail of Jacob Wrestling With The Angel, by Alexander-Louis Leloir (1865). I discovered this image as I began writing my coming-out-in-faith story. I believe the story which inspired it has something to teach us about our identity, which may explain its popularity as a source of inspiration for artists, and why it speaks …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2012/09/23/the-scared-and-the-sacred/
Sep 15
Jack-with-no-box – Why I have come out of the church
- By abravefaith in Christianity, Coming Out, LGBT rights, Spirituality
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15th September 2012
IN MY LAST POST I explained how I began to find my voice while contributing to The Exuberant Church by Rev Barbara Glasson. As Barbara and I discussed the coming out process, I had a strong sense that I needed to help her write her story and, in doing so, I began to write my …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2012/09/15/jack-with-no-box/
Sep 07
Coming out of the Church
- By abravefaith in Christianity, Coming Out, LGBT rights, Spirituality
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7th September 2012
I BEGAN to find my voice and share my story in 2009 when an author friend approached me to talk about ‘coming out’ – she wanted to get an understanding of this extraordinary process of identity-claiming to see what it might reveal to those people of faith who struggle to accept diversity of sexual orientation and gender …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2012/09/07/coming-out-of-the-church/
Aug 31
The ultimate question
- By abravefaith in Christianity, Coming Out, LGBT rights, Meaning of Life
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31st August 2012
TOMORROW I turn 42. In the first novel and radio series of Douglas Adams‘ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a group of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings demand to learn the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything from the supercomputer, Deep Thought, specially built for this purpose. It takes Deep Thought 7½ million years to …
- BBC Television, Christian, civil partnership, coming out, Deep Thought, Douglas Adams, Gay community, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, LGBT, Liverpool, Merseyside, Personal development, Phrases from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Roman Catholic Church, Same-sex marriage, Sexual orientation, sexuality, spirituality
- 8 comments
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2012/08/31/the-ultimate-question/
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