Tag: England

Stepping out onto the border – Bishop Paul returns to Open Table

AT the monthly communion service in August hosted by Open Table, (OT), an ecumenical Christian worship community which offers a warm welcome to people who are: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer / Questioning, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA), the Bishop of Liverpool, Rt Revd Paul Bayes, gave a reflection on ‘a story of increasing love and boundaries crossed’. 62 people …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2017/10/14/stepping-out-onto-the-border-bishop-paul-returns-to-open-table/

‘I choose not to collaborate in my own oppression’ – Sister Jeannine Gramick on 40+ years of ministry among LGBT Catholics

THESE were the courageous words of the keynote speaker at this year’s annual conference of Quest, which offers pastoral support for LGBT Catholics in the UK. Sister Jeannine Gramick has cared and campaigned for the LGBT community in the USA since 1971, two years before Quest was founded. I first heard about Sister Jeannine in 1999 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2017/09/14/i-choose-not-to-collaborate-in-my-own-oppression-sister-jeannine-gramick-on-40-years-of-ministry-among-lgbt-catholics/

How little did I know – Blogging five years on

FIVE YEARS AGO today I began this blog – little did I know then that: having ‘come out of the church‘ in 2011, I would return to a different church where my husband and I would be accepted, encouraged and authorised as lay leaders (though still with limitations because we are married) little more than …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2017/08/31/how-little-did-i-know-blogging-five-years-on/

‘We should extend the table’ – Bishop of Liverpool to LGBTI+ Christians

THIS WEEKEND the Bishop of Liverpool, Rt Revd Paul Bayes, will join the celebration of Open Table, an ecumenical Christian worship community which offers a warm welcome to people who are: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA+) and all who seek a more inclusive Church. It’s not his first visit to Open Table. We originally …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2017/08/19/we-should-extend-the-table-bishop-of-liverpool-to-lgbti-christians/

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/

#YouAreHere – A pop-up museum of Liverpool LGBT+ History

This week I was proud to be part of the You Are Here LGBT+ history pop-up exhibition at Tate Liverpool.       I loaned the Liverpool Echo report on our civil partnership (the first to be registered in a UK place of worship, at Ullet Road Unitarian Church…     …and the 2014 Being Proud …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2016/12/03/youarehere-a-popup-museum-of-liverpool-lgbt-history/

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/

How will you use your #PowerForGood? #AntiBullyingWeek #NoBystanders #LoveWins

THIS WEEK was Anti-Bullying Week in the UK, with the theme #PowerForGood – a challenge to each of us to speak up against the culture of bullying wherever we find it. It struck me this year that the campaign, which normally focuses on schools and youth groups, is more needed than ever for all of us, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2016/11/18/how-will-you-use-your-powerforgood-antibullyingweek-nobystanders-lovewins/

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/

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/

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