Feb 10
FEBRUARY is LGBT+ History Month,an annual celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and non-binary history. The Methodist Church in Britain has published resources for LGBT+ History Month since 2022. This year they asked me, as Director of the Open Table Network to share the story of how Open Table began and has grown from one to many communities.
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2025/02/10/will-it-be-open-table-the-question-that-started-a-movement/
Nov 24
IN MAY 2023 I began the process of applying to begin training as a Methodist minister in 2024. This is the testimonial I wrote for a portfolio as part of my application.
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2023/11/24/my-christian-journey-a-testimonal-for-ministry-training/
Jul 17
TEN YEARS AGO today the Houses of Parliament passed legislation to allow same-sex marriage in England and Wales. To mark the anniversary, BBC Radio Merseyside host Paul Salt interview me and my husband Warren, as we were the first couple to register a civil partnership in a place of worship in the UK.
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2023/07/17/10-years-of-same-sex-marriage-in-england-wales-bbc-radio-merseyside-interview/
Apr 06
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 Table Network from one community in Liverpool 15 years ago to more than 30 across England and Wales today. LISTEN HERE [27 …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2023/04/06/a-face-for-radio/
Jan 07
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. In September 2010, as Pope Benedict visited Britain, I was the Convenor of the Liverpool branch of Quest the LGBT+ …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2023/01/07/the-trouble-with-the-pope-on-benedict-xvis-2010-visit-to-britain/
Oct 07
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 includes one of the earliest known references to ‘Brother-Making’ in the early church. This rite, found in Western and Eastern …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/10/07/sergius-and-bacchus-saints-united-in-brother-making/
Aug 31
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, then authorised as a lay leader in Church of England, I have now become a Methodist thanks to its commitment …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/08/31/an-introspective-retrospective-10-years-of-blogging/
May 21
AS CONTROVERSIAL US preacher Franklin Graham began his UK tour in Liverpool on Saturday 14th May, the Open Table Network worked in partnership with others in Merseyside to offer an alternative event which showcased the Liverpool City Region as a safe, friendly and welcoming place for LGBT+ people of all faiths and none. At an …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/05/21/what-needs-to-be-healed-on-franklin-grahams-uk-tour-support-for-conversion-therapy/
May 14
TODAY I became a member of the Methodist Church – it’s not something I imagined I would do, as little as ten months ago, never mind ten years ago when I began reflecting on my faith journey in this blog. Here is the testimony I read to introduce myself to the church I joined: Thank …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/05/14/justice-dignity-and-solidarity-why-i-have-become-a-methodist/
May 06
ON 6th May 2012, Warren and I arranged a church blessing after registering our civil partnership. While we were planning it, the UK Government changed the law so we could register our civil partnership in a church – and be the first couple in the UK to do so! We spoke to the Liverpool Echo …
Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2022/05/06/ten-years-since-first-civil-partnership-in-uk-place-of-worship/
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