 Logo of Open Table Network, since 2016 | |
| Abbreviation | OTN |
|---|---|
| Formation | June 2008 |
| Type | Charity |
| Registration no. | 1193868 |
| Legal status | Charitable Incorporated Organisation |
Region | England and Wales |
Director | Kieran Bohan |
Co-chairs | Andrew Howorth Sarah Hobbs |
| Website | opentable |
Open Table Network (OTN) is a Christian charity which supports church communities for LGBT people and their allies in England and Wales. [1]
The Open Table Network is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, registered by the Charity Commission on 19 March 2021, whose charitable object is the "advancement of the Christian faith, in particular but not exclusively amongst lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex or asexual Christians". [2] At the time of registration, there were 18 Open Table communities. [3] [4] According to the charity's annual report for 2023, there were 35 communities by the end of that year. [5]
Kieran Bohan is Director since October 2023, [6] having previously served as Coordinator of the Open Table Network. [7] [8] Bohan broadcast a reflection on Open Table as part of a BBC Radio 4 service led by Rachel Mann in September 2020. [9] In May 2022, he and his partner celebrated the tenth anniversary of their civil partnership, the first in the UK to be celebrated in a religious building. [10]
The co-chairs are Andrew Howorth and Sarah Hobbs. [11]
Patrons of the charity are: Rachel Mann, [12] John Bradbury, [13] Bishop Cherry Vann, [14] Bishop Paul Bayes, [15] John L. Bell, [16] and Barbara Glasson. [17] [18] [19]
In June 2008, the first Open Table community was founded at St Bride's Church, Liverpool; by 2019, the network consisted of 17 communities in England and Wales. [20] [21] An article in the book Journeys in Grace and Truth, edited by Jayne Ozanne, describes the founding and history of Open Table. [22] [23] In Christianity, "open table" refers to the custom of offering communion to all baptised Christians regardless of denomination. [24]
At the first planning meeting, someone said: 'Will it be "Open Table"?' When she explained that it means all are welcome, all can come as they are, we felt this was so important because we hear too many stories of people who feared exclusion, or were excluded, from their church community, who felt unheard or unable to express themselves or give their talents. So Open Table was born. [22] [23]
Open Table began as a fresh expression hosted by the Team Parish of St Luke in the City, Liverpool, [25] which is served by the churches of St Bride, St Dunstan, and St Michael in the City. [26] [27] In 2019, Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, Team Rector at St Luke in the City, advocated offering control of church organisations to marginalised groups, such as LGBT Christians; she describes Open Table as an "electrifying" example of this idea working successfully in practice. [28]
In 2016, Paul Bayes, Bishop of Liverpool until February 2022, [29] called for changes in the Church of England's attitudes to lesbian and gay people; recalling to The Guardian a visit to the Open Table congregation in Liverpool, he said: "I saw their faithfulness as Christians, often in difficult circumstances, sometimes in trying to say who they are within the church. I want to make room for a congregation like Open Table." [30] In 2019, Bayes described Open Table as "one of the fastest growing Church planting movements in England". [21]
In 2018, Open Table Cambridge was established at Downing Place United Reformed Church, Cambridge. [31] Gay Christian co-founder Alison Binney said she had "immediately felt safe to be myself" at the church. [31] Asked about the exclusion of LGBT+ Christians from church life, she said: "I think sometimes people who feel unloved and frightened come from churches which say things like, “We take the Bible seriously” as a way to justify exclusion. And perhaps it would be helpful for you to hear this: We take the Bible incredibly seriously too." [31]
In 2019, Open Table successfully campaigned for the Home Office to grant Yew Fook Sam, a gay Malaysian, asylum for five years. [7] [20] The campaign started by Open Table and promoted by the Liverpool Echo gathered more than 5000 signatures to an online petition. [32]
In 2020, the Open Table Network received a £15,000 grant from the National Lottery Community Fund to fund staff time and technology to help support members of OTN communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. [8]
In 2021, Civil Society Consulting prepared a report for the Open Table Network, [33] arguing that "LGBT Christians have been adversely affected by national lockdowns" and called for more support. [34]
In November 2021, the Bishop of St Asaph Gregory Cameron blessed the civil partnership of Lee Taylor and Fabiano Da Silva Duarte at St Collen's Church in Llangollen. [1] The ceremony was the first since blessing of same-sex couples was approved by the Church in Wales in September 2021. [35] Kieran Bohan of the Open Table Network said: "It is heartwarming to see a bishop embrace a priest whose civil partnership he has just blessed." [1]
In January 2023, the Church of England decided that same-sex couples could "give thanks" and "receive God's blessing" for their civil marriage or partnerships in church, but that Holy Matrimony continues "unchanged" to be between one man and one woman. [36] Kieran Bohan said: "This is sad news. Other Christian denominations now welcome same-gender couples who wish to be joined in holy matrimony. We regret that England's own established church still denies LGBT+ people this equality." [36]
The Church in Wales is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.
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Jeffrey Philip Hywel John is a Church of England priest, who served as the Dean of St Albans from 2004 until 2021. He made headlines in 2003 when he was the first person to have openly been in a same-sex relationship to be nominated as a Church of England bishop. Owing to the consequent controversy he stepped down. In the years since, he has reportedly been considered for at least seven diocesan bishoprics across England, Wales and the Isle of Man.
Civil partnership in the United Kingdom is a form of civil union between couples open to both same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples. It was introduced via the Civil Partnership Act 2004 by the Labour government. The Act initially permitted only same-sex couples to form civil partnerships, but the law was expanded to include opposite-sex couples in 2019.
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Akt is a voluntary organisation based in England, created in 1989 to serve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ+) young people who are homeless or living in a hostile environment. It started in Greater Manchester in 1989 and opened in London in 1996, and expanded to Newcastle in 2013, Newcastle upon Tyne and Bristol.
OneBodyOneFaith, formerly the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM), describes itself as "UK-based international Charity which challenges homophobia and transphobia, especially within the Church and faith based organisations".
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+)-affirming religious groups are religious groups that welcome LGBT people as their members, do not consider homosexuality as a sin or negative, and affirm LGBT rights and relationships. They include entire religious denominations, as well as individual congregations and places of worship. Some groups are mainly composed of non-LGBTQ+ members and they also have specific programs to welcome LGBTQ+ people into them, while other groups are mainly composed of LGBTQ+ members.
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The ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) clergy who are open about their sexuality or gender identity; are sexually active if lesbian, gay, or bisexual; or are in committed same-sex relationships is a debated practice within some contemporary Christian denominations.
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THERE is a service at St Bride's Church this Sunday at 8.30pm for LGB&T Christians – and any seeking a more inclusive church – followed by a pub visit.The group, Changing Attitudes, is behind the service and it has a meeting planned with the Bishop of Liverpool next Wednesday. If you would like any points or views expressed to the bishop then please arrive at the church an hour early on Sunday to discuss them. The service, known as Open Table, will take place every third Sunday.
LGBT Christians have been adversely affected by national lockdowns, because they have lacked access to in-person emotional and spiritual support, a report from the Open Table Network (OTN) suggests. 'These are all people who have experienced prejudice and exclusion at home, in the workplace, local community, but especially in faith communities,' its report, prepared by Civil Society Consulting, explains.