Our story
How we began
The Open Table Network (OTN) began because many churches and their congregations do not easily, kindly or honestly welcome LGBTQIA+ people, therefore, many LGBTQIA+ people have nowhere spiritually to belong.
It suddenly took off in Liverpool in 2008 thanks to God’s grace, and to people with a love of God, lots of energy, and a belief in themselves as God’s beloved children. It was high time.
Small beginnings
We didn’t start as a network. We started in June 2008 as a gathering of just six LGBTQIA+ people at St Bride’s Church, Toxteth, Liverpool. Those six people (of whom Kieran our Director was one) came from different Christian traditions – Church of England, Catholic, URC and Methodist! That didn’t – and doesn’t – matter; we were drawn by our need to worship as ourselves.
What grew from this – and what still happens in all our OTN communities – is mutual support in integrating our spiritual identity with our sexual and gender identities. This was – and still is – incredibly affirming for those who have been suffering an inner conflict.
More than welcome
We met each month, to share Communion (bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus’ last meal with his friends) and to begin to create a safer space for LGBTQIA+ people, who typically haven’t been well served in mainstream churches.
At the first meeting to plan these Communion services, someone asked ‘Will it be “open table”? And we loved the phrase. It sums up a Communion in which everyone can take part, without exclusion, judgement or a test of belonging or ‘worthiness’. Many LGBTQIA+ people have been excluded, or fear exclusion, from this central act of hospitality of our Christian faith and story. We have called ourselves Open Table ever since, as a sign of our commitment to making sure everyone is more than welcome.
Growing
Our Open Table community in Liverpool grew and grew to a gathering of fifty-plus each month, and our recognition across the country grew too, both among LGBTQIA+ people and within the wider Christian community.
Our first priority, always, in our first community in Liverpool and now in our other Open Table communities, is to explore faith as fellow LGBTQIA+ Christians – and to share and celebrate together at least once a month. These celebrations are usually a Communion service or ‘Agape meal’ – Agape comes from a Greek word for self-giving love, the kind of love Jesus shows for God and for us. An agape meal simply retells the story of Jesus’ last meal with his friends and calls us to love ourselves and one another as Jesus, God’s son, loves us.
We’ve also developed services and resources for all times of our church year, and our LGBTQIA+ community calendar, as well as significant moments in our lives (baptism and renaming, coming out, relationship commitments, funeral and memorial services).
Multiplying
People across the country began to hear of us, particularly since July 2015 when Bishop of Liverpool Paul Bayes began to support us publicly and to join us to lead Communion services and walk with us at Pride in Liverpool. He is now a Patron of the Open Table Network, one of several notable Christians who identify as LGBTQIA+, or as allies, who advocate for our Network, speaking about us and supporting us in the public eye.
We now have more than 30 Open Table communities with us formally within our respectful, loving, safeguarding guidelines.
They meet as separate gatherings – but we are all part of one body. Many more churches are also considering joining OTN – and we support them as they find their way forward with God’s help.
More beginnings
We are a registered charity, since March 2021… And we feel the excitement of new beginnings budding. We hope you will want to be part of that future. Here’s how you can support us.
Will it be Open Table?
Watch our short film, ‘Will it be Open Table? [3 mins], with subtitles if you need them. Members of the first Open Table community in Liverpool share how Open Table began and what it means to them. We made this video to help us share our story as we became a network.
