Bishop of Liverpool’s farewell message to the LGBT+ community
Bishop Paul addressed more than 8000 marchers at Pride in Liverpool in 2017
ON Saturday 13th February 2022, the Museum of Liverpool held an event for LGBT+ History Month on 'Christianity and LGBT+ Lives'. The event explored the perception that being LGBT+ is in direct opposition to being a Christian.
Martin Luther King Jr and the quotation which inspired the theme for LGBT+ History Month
Bishop Paul Bayes, who is also a Patron of the Open Table Network, was invited to take part in the event, but it coincided with his farewell service as he retires as Bishop of Liverpool. So he sent this message instead:
Bishop Paul marching with Christians At Pride, July 2018
A Post-Pride Chillout event took place at Liverpool Cathedral in 2018 and 2019
Hello friends, I'm Paul Bayes, I'm the Anglican Bishop of Liverpool, and I just want to thank you for the opportunity to share these few minutes with you in LGBT+ History Month.
I've been in Liverpool for eight years, and I'm just about to retire. But over those eight years, I have tried to speak out for the LGBT+ community, both in the churches and beyond. It was a huge privilege for me to be invited to become a Patron of Liverpool Pride. And the first time I went to Pride, in those days when we could actually march, I was made so welcome. It was humbling for me to be made so welcome, because the churches have not always been kind, or open, or welcoming, to LGBT+ people.
Dr Martin Luther King, who coined that phrase 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice', of course, he was a Christian. He saw his Christian faith as enabling him to stand up for justice, and I've tried in my time here to do the same, to be able to stand up for people who are on the edge of things, who've been pushed onto the edge of things, no matter how beautiful, or strong, or gifted, or talented they might be. And among them there's the LGBT+ community.
I'm so pleased that in our country now same-sex marriage is a possible thing for you to get in a civil context, but I'm sorry that it's still not possible in a church context. We're still arguing about that in the church, and we'll continue to argue about it for a while. Many, many thousands of Christians would love to offer a legal, formal welcome to couples whose love we can recognise, and whose love we think God wants to bless. And I will continue to pray, and to speak, for a church that really does welcome everybody.
There have been times when you'd think, well maybe Dr King was wrong, and the arc of the moral universe is getting a bit dented on its way to justice. But I believe he was right, and that in the end, justice is where we will end up.
So I'm grateful to all Christians who stand with me, and the number of Christians at Pride was quite large the last time we were able to march, and it will be again.
I'm grateful to members of the LGBT+ community for your own welcome, and your own kindness.
And as a person of faith, I do assure you of my prayers, for the LGBT+ community in this city of Liverpool and beyond, in the region, across the country, and the world, especially those parts of the world where criminalisation is still rife, where violence is still rife. I pray for justice, I pray that Dr King's arc will come in to land, and I wish you every blessing for the future.
WE are hugely grateful to Bishop Paul. He has had a significant role in the story of the Open Table Network, from his first visit to the Liverpool community in 2015, to becoming a Patron of the Network in 2020. His advocacy for the LGBTQIA+ community locally, nationally & internationally has been exemplary. He has generously agreed to continue as a Patron of the Network as he begins his retirement, and we look forward to continuing this journey together.
WATCH Bishop Paul’s video message here [3 mins]:
