We did it! Crowdfunder campaign hits £10k target
ON COMING OUT DAY - 11th October - we asked you to #ComeOutForOpenTable by sharing and supporting our crowdfunder - and you did!
Acceptance or affirmation? Why the difference matters
ON SATURDAY 6th November, Revd Rose Hill, Vicar of Pontyclun in the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff, attended an Open Table Eucharist at St Deiniol’s Church, Hawarden. Rose shares her reflections of what was a deeply moving service.
Imagining a city built on kindness – OTN Coordinator in podcast promoting empathy
LAST MONTH, technology company Lenovo launched the Kind City project - One of the themes is ‘Faith in kind cities’. OTN Coordinator Kieran Bohan was on a panel from diverse faith communities who took part in an interactive podcast.
Stones and bread, mourning and joy: A reflection for Trans Day of Remembrance
TRANS DAY OF REMEMBRANCE (TDoR) is an annual observance on 20th November in memory of the trans people who lost their lives through acts of anti-trans violence in the past year. Here our Co-Chair Alex Clare-Young shares a reflection for this year.
‘Coercive and abhorrent’: Conversion therapy consultation – A survivor’s response
LAST MONTH the UK government published proposals for ‘ending the coercive and abhorrent practice of conversion therapy’, which attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, ‘while also protecting the vital values that underpin our democratic society, such as freedom of speech, freedom of belief and privacy.’ OTN trustee Augustine Tanner-Ihm invites us to respond.
Belonging, witnessing, prophetic: OTN Patron Bishop Cherry Vann reflects on Open Table ministry in Wales
ON SATURDAY 6th November 2021, around 50 people gathered from across Wales and England to celebrate five years of the LGBTQIA+ Chaplaincy in St Asaph Diocese - the first of its kind in the UK, and six years since first Open Table community in North Wales, which came under the care of the Chaplaincy in January 2017. OTN Patron Cherry Vann, Bishop of Monmouth, offered this reflection:
Travelling onwards – A minister’s first Open Table experience
AT OPEN TABLE LIVERPOOL last month, visitors from churches preparing to host an Open Table community came to hear OTN Patron John Bell. Revd Chris Dowd, who came with a group from Birmingham, reflects on his first Open Table experience.
LGBTQI+ Clergy research project: Call for interview participants
WHEN WE SING All are welcome, are we sure that we are welcoming of everyone? And how warm is our welcome? Sometimes it is those on the inside who are the best barometer of temperature, for they experience the Church in all its forms. Four LGBT clergy are looking for other LGBT clergy in England to share their experiences.
LGBT Q&A for Black History Month: Jide Macaulay from House of Rainbow in conversation with OTN trustee Augustine Tanner-Ihm
FOLLOWING the success of our recent Q&As with our Patrons (still available on our YouTube channel), in October our Q&A was a #BlackHistoryMonth special with Revd Jide Macaulay, founder and CEO of House of Rainbow in conversation with OTN trustee Revd Augustine Tanner-Ihm.
God is non-binary – A reflection by OTN patron John Bell
AT THE FIRST Open Table community in Liverpool this month, Revd John Bell, a Patron of the Open Table Network, offered this reflection on the reading from the book of Acts 10: 1-16, in which the apsotle Peter hears God say: ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean’.
