This is the sixth of our Q&A webinars with our new Patrons.
“I believe that there have to be places where people can have it affirmed that diversity is part of God’s plan.”
WATCH John Bell's message to the Open Table Network (2 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 John Bell, hymn-writer, minister, social justice activist, and broadcaster? John Bell will be speaking with Alex Clare-Young, Open Table Network Co-Chair, in this free Zoom webinar.
John Bell is a hymn-writer, a Church of Scotland minister, and a member of the Iona Community, a dispersed Christian community working for peace, social justice, rebuilding community and renewal of worship. John is also a broadcaster, and former student activist. He works throughout the world, lecturing in theological colleges in the UK, Canada and the USA. He has produced many collections of original hymns and songs, published by the Iona Community.
In 2017, responding to the story of 14-year-old Lizzie Lowe, who took her own life because she was afraid to tell her parents about her sexuality, John came out as a gay man in front of hundreds of people in a talk at the Greenbelt Christian festival, called ‘Rampant Heterosexualism’. He has remained single and celibate because he believed that this enabled him to work without hindrance or compromise as a public Christian and fulfil his commitments in the Church of Scotland.
John Bell will be in conversation with Alex Clare-Young, Co-Chair of the Open Table Network. Alex is a minister in the United Reformed Church, currently ministering to an online community called Churspacious, and with the trans community. Alex's first book, ‘Transgender. Christian. Human.’ was published in 2019 by Wild Goose. Alex is also a member of the Iona Community.