One poof and a piano - Celebrating the launch of Open Table Birmingham
Ministry Development Officer Gary Hopkins at the piano for Queer Carols at Wylde Green URC, Birmingham which now hosts the Open Table Birmingham community.
IN JANUARY 2022, the new Open Table Birmingham community launched, with more than 50 people present, the largest launch of any Open Table community in the history of the network.
Pianist Gary Hopkins, a Ministry Development Officer in the Methodist Church, was there to accompany the hymns chosen for the occasion. Here is his reflection:
My fingers travelled across the keys of the beautiful grand piano in our chosen venue. Prayerfully, I flicked through the hymnbook, hoping to create an atmosphere for people to arrive and settle into God’s presence – pondering how King David the psalmist’s harp playing could soothe the most agitated of hearts.
I wasn’t sure what to expect - or who to expect. We’d made a space for people of all identities to gather and many of them would feel broken and hurt by other places. Something borne in great sadness, but a chance to be part of God’s healing and wholeness. What a privilege and opportunity!
I watched from the corner of my eye as person after person turned up - a rich diversity seeking God together. We’d done it. We’d opened a space and there were people who needed it - the largest gathering for an Open Table launch, according to Kieran the Network Coordinator. He led a reflection on the parable of the mustard seed (Matthew 13:31–32), as an image of the growth of the Open Table Network from the smallest of beginnings.
OTN Coordinator Kieran Bohan preaching at the launch.
It felt like history being made. It felt like we were in a space where we could be who we were made to be: beloved followers of Jesus beautifully made in God’s image.
It wasn’t so much what the worship was, or the liturgy we were using, or the hymns we were singing - that was all important worship of God. There was something special about being ourselves as we worshipped, knowing that others weren’t judging us, or expecting us to be different, or that we were hidden. Here we were, ourselves, affirming each other in God’s love. That is something precious.
It’s early days, and how our community will grow remains to be seen - indeed that’s up to God. But I’ve tasted something of God’s reign - a foretaste of the heavenly banquet if you will. A real community, diverse, open to one another, celebrating the love of God for all humanity. That is real Christianity, that is what the Jesus movement is all about: people coming as they are to love God and one another!
So here we are: a new Open Table in Birmingham, one poof and a piano, and a room full of diverse folk called by Christ. This mustard seed of love will grow - and who knows where it will take us, but I have a feeling we diverse folk with beautiful gifts will bless the world. Praise God!