Tag: Christian

Take me to the place where your heart hurts most

I’M TAKING a risk in sharing this – it’s perhaps the most personal thing I have ever written here. Last weekend, I spent the evening with two dear friends who have lived with chronic illness for many years, and still find such joy in life having come so close to death. One of them was …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2017/08/13/take-me-to-the-place-where-your-heart-hurts-most/

An outpouring of the spirit – Searching for a more inclusive church

LAST MONTH I gave a reflection at St John’s United Reformed Church in Warrington, the home of the first gathering of Open Table outside Liverpool, which began in July 2015, seven years after the Liverpool community first met. My reflection, adapted here, was inspired by a blog post I wrote in September 2013 on the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2017/04/30/an-outpouring-of-the-spirit-searching-for-a-more-inclusive-church/

Amazing Peace – A poem for Christmas by Maya Angelou

AT A carol service last Sunday, hosted by Open Table, an inclusive Christian community in Liverpool, I read one of the readings, which I found moving, inspiring and too good not to share. Amazing Peace by Maya Angelou Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses. Flood waters await us …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2016/12/24/amazing-peace-a-poem-for-christmas-by-maya-angelou/

Who is my neighbour? A reflection on the 170th anniversary of Liverpool YMCA

This year Liverpool YMCA celebrated its 170th anniversary, and this year I became the chaplain to this extraordinary community. My role is to listen, support, care and gently question – to be there for everyone in the organisation regardless of faith or belief. At the anniversary celebration at Liverpool Parish Church last month, I read …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2016/12/01/who-is-my-neighbour-a-reflection-on-the-170th-anniversary-of-liverpool-ymca/

Somewhere under the rainbow – Messages of love, thanks, wishes and prayers from Liverpool Pride

THE LAST two posts have told the experiences of members of the This post was inspired by the words of the visitors to the Open Table stall who left messages of love and thanks, wishes and prayers. Our aim with the community stall (see photo 1) was to create a safe sacred space in the festival marquee, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2016/08/29/somewhere-under-the-rainbow-messages-of-love-thanks-wishes-and-prayers-from-liverpool-pride/

Sharing the Open Table at Liverpool Pride

THIS is a guest post by Richard Bibby-Brooke, a member of Open Table at St Bride’s Liverpool, who writes about being on our community stall at Liverpool Pride for the first time: When I offered to help look after the Open Table community stall at Liverpool Pride this year, I did not expect the experience to be quite …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2016/08/29/sharing-the-open-table-at-liverpool-pride/

Love is all we need – A Christian marching at Liverpool Pride

THIS is a guest post by Jen Williams, a member of Open Table at St Bride’s Liverpool, who writes about walking with a Christian group in a Pride march for the first time: Basking in the sun, under a brightly coloured rainbow umbrella, donning a rainbow cape, and wearing a beautiful white t-shirt with the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2016/08/06/love-is-all-we-need-a-christian-marching-at-liverpool-pride/

Liverpool Pride: Reflection on ‘Icons’ theme & Open Table 8th birthday

THIS is the reflection I gave for the eighth birthday of Open Table @ St Bride’s Liverpool on 17th July 2016, a celebration of what we have achieved in the past year, and looking forward to Liverpool Pride on 30th July with the theme: ‘Liverpool Icons’. I will follow this post with a report on …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2016/08/06/liverpool-pride-reflection-on-icons-theme/

A brief history of Open Table – A journey in grace and truth

THIS is an extract from a newly published book, Journeys in Grace and Truth, which asks: Is it possible to hold a positive view of same-sex relationships while being a biblically rooted Evangelical? It features essays from twelve senior Anglican Evangelicals who believe so, and share how they came to new insights.  These include the current and …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2016/06/21/a-brief-history-of-open-table-a-journey-in-grace-and-truth/

#WeAreOrlando – Solidarity with those lost and injured in terror attack #OnePulse #LoveWins

SUCH a sad few days since news of the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub broke on Sunday. The worst terror attack on US soil since 9/11, the worst gun crime in US history, and perhaps the largest murder of LGBT people since the Holocaust. How do we respond in the face of such horror? I have …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2016/06/17/weareorlando-solidarity-with-those-lost-and-injured-in-terror-attack-onepulse-lovewins/

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