This is the fifth of our Q&A webinars with our new Patrons.
“‘We talk a lot about love and inclusion, but what matters most is that people should know what it feels like… It feels like Open Table.’”
WATCH Bishop Paul’s message to the Open Table Network [2.5 mins]
The Open Table Network is becoming a charity, so we have asked several notable Christians who identify as LGBTQIA+, or as allies, to become our patrons. They will be advocates for our Network, speaking about us and supporting us in the public eye. We are proud that these people believe in what we're doing and want to have their names associated with us.
WHAT WOULD YOU ask Paul Bayes, Bishop of Liverpool & Co-Chair of the Global Interfaith Commission on LGBT+ Lives, which calling for an end to violence and criminalisation against LGBT+ people and for a global ban on conversion therapy? Bishop Paul will be speaking with Kieran Bohan, Open Table Network Co-ordinator in this free Zoom webinar.
When the Right Revd Paul Bayes became Bishop of Liverpool in 2014, in his inaugural sermon he spoke of an 'open table' made by a poor, generous carpenter who offers a place at the table to anyone who wants to sit and eat.
In July 2015 he visited the first Open Table community and charged us with a mission to give ‘the love that you share, and the openness that you manifest’ as a gift to the wider church, which struggles to receive it.
He has become an outspoken ally - In 2017 he became a patron of Pride In Liverpool and marched with the Christians At Pride group, the first Diocesan bishop in the Church of England to do so.
In 2018 he became Chair of the Ozanne Foundation, which tackles prejudice and discrimination on the grounds of sexuality and gender in religious organisations.
In 2019 he published The Table: Knowing Jesus: Prayer, Friendship, Justice which expands his vision of Christ’s church as an open table.
In 2020 he became Co-Chair of the Global Interfaith Commission on LGBT+ Lives which calling for an end to violence and criminalisation against LGBT+ people and for a global ban on conversion therapy.
Bishop Paul will be in conversation with Kieran Bohan, Open Table Network Co-ordinator. In 2020, thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund, he began working full-time to raise our online presence to reach more isolated LGBTQIA+ folk. This funding has made these webinars possible.