OTN is seeing a large rise in requests for support from around the world, particularly from Uganda, where the President has rejected a new hardline ‘anti-gay’ bill as not tough enough. Following a recent online meeting with several people across Uganda, OTN trustee Neil Rees shares this reflection.

THIS SERMON was given by OTN trustee Revd Dr Augustine Tanner-Ihm at the Open Table Liverpool community on the second Sunday of Easter, based on the story of ‘Doubting Thomas’ [John 20:19-31] who doubted Jesus’ resurrection until he saw Jesus with his own eyes and touched his wounds.

THIS WEEK the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC), Great Britain’s national equality body, advised the Minister for Women & Equalities on clarifying the definition of the protected characteristic of 'sex' in the Equality Act. Queer trans human rights lawyer Grey Collier, an Open Table community member, wrote this response.

FOLLOWING the publication of the Church of England’s draft Prayers of Love and Faith for thanksgiving, dedication and God’s blessing for same-sex couples, the Revd Cate Jacobs, a long-term member of the first Open Table community in Liverpool, has written this poem.

AS DEBATES over same-sex relationships continue in the Church of England, evangelicals are looking more and more out of touch, says OTN trustee Rev Dr Augustine Tanner-Ihm. He believes the focus should be put back on the issues Jesus and the early Church cared about.

IN MID-JANUARY the BBC leaked news that ‘Church of England bishops refuse to back gay marriage’, triggering much social media speculation and hand wringing, with many LGBTQIA+ people once again feeling deserted by the church. Nic Tall, a founding member of our Open Table Taunton community and member of General Syond, explains what happened next.

THERE WERE so many attempts at the Church of England’s General Synod to amend the House of Bishops’ motion on blessing same-gender relationships that not everyone got to speak in the main debate. One of those unheard speeches was from Andy Salmon, Rector of the church which hosts our Open Table community in Salford, who is grateful for what has been achieved.

IN RESPONSE to a proposal that prayers for blessing same-gender relationships ‘should not be contrary to… the doctrine of the Church of England’, Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, Rector of the parish where the first Open Table community began, examined the assertion that the Church of England’s teaching on marriage has not changed, and should not change.

OTN PATRON Rachel Mann used elements of this text in her speech at General Synod in response to a proposed amendment which requested ‘further legal, theological, and practical consideration’ before introducing prayers for the blessing of same-gender relationships and pastoral guidance.

ON SUNDAY 5th February, Open Table Cambridge held a celebratory service to mark the start of LGBT+ History Month. OTN Co-Chair Alex Clare-Young led a creative Communion service, with OTN Patron, Bishop of Monmputh Cherry Vann, as the guest speaker. This is Bishop Cherry’s reflection on this year’s LGBT+ History Month theme: ‘Behind The Lens’.

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND has published draft Prayers of Love and Faith ‘asking for God’s blessing on same-sex couples as they give thanks for their civil marriage or civil partnership’. Gareth Rayner-Williams compares them with Church In Wales liturgy & asks what do they mean by ‘blessing’?

THIS SONG was recorded recently by PhD researcher Peter Jones, whose research features stories of Open Table members. Peter is a queer, trans person within the discernment process for ministry in the Church of England.

ON SUNDAY 15th January, the Archdeacon of Liverpool, Ven Mike McGurk, came to Open Table Liverpool. Mike reflected on the account in the Gospel [John 1:29-42] of Jesus being baptised by John, and his response to John’s followers to came to follow him.

THIS YEAR, for the first time, the annual Big Queer Carols event hosted by OneBodyOneFaith in London went on tour across England and Wales, to three more churches, in Cardiff, Salford and Sheffield. OTN trustee Augustine Tanner-Ihm offered this reflection on the Christmas story.

THIS WEEK our first Open Table community in Liverpool once again hosted the carol service for the parish where they meet. This year, LGBTQIA+ ministry facilitator Warren Hartley offered this reflection.

THIS WEEK the Church of England’s College of Bishops meets to continue its reflections on how to respond to feedback from across the Church on its Living In Love And Faith process on identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage. Warren Hartley, co-facilitator of the Open Table Liverpool community offers four insights.

THANKS to the hospitality of the Jesuits in Britain, who have hosted LGBTQ+ Christian retreat weekends since 1991, St Beuno’s Jesuit Spirituality Centre in rural north Wales hosted a retreat called ‘A glimpse of Jesus’ on the last weekend in October. Yvonne Taylor shares her experience of her first time on this annual retreat.

A story of self-acceptance from Jonny Masters, Diocesan Youth, Children and Families’ Adviser in the Church of England Diocese of Chester, and a founding member of our new Open Table community in Nantwich, Cheshire.

It’s not easy being a Christian woman who loves another woman - Wendy Young shares her story of teen love, ‘prayer ministry’ to free her from this ‘lifestyle’, and a marriage proposal which rocked her world.

TODAY, 7th October, is the feast day of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, who are among the earliest authenticated and most celebrated Christian martyrs. Their story includes one of the earliest known references to ‘brother-making’ - a celebration of a loving, life-long, Christian relationship between two men, ‘not by the bond of nature but by faith and the spirit’.