WATCH OTN Coordinator Kieran Bohan’s intro to the Open Table Network [3 mins]
FOLLOWING the success of our recent Q&As with our Patrons (still available on our YouTube channel), July is the sixth anniversary of Open Table becoming a Network, so we’ll hear more of the Open Table story from Kieran our Coordinator.
Kieran Bohan is one of the founding members of the first Open Table community in Liverpool, which began in June 2008.
Originally from London, he's lived in Liverpool since 2003. He trained for the Roman Catholic priesthood in his 20s, but chose not to be ordained. He also has professional experience in education and training, youth and community work, plus supporting vulnerable adults. He moved to Liverpool to study for Diplomas in Journalism and Web Design and has worked as a freelance marketing consultant for a number of charities, most recently as Communications Officer for Modern Church, which promotes liberal theology.
In May 2012 he and his husband Warren celebrated the first civil partnership to be registered in a place of worship in the UK.
In 2015 Open Table became a network of Christian worship communities hosted by affirming churches in different traditions which offer a warm welcome to people who are LGBTQIA, our family and friends, and all our allies. Since 2015 we have received more than 100 requests for support to offer similar ministries in churches across England and Wales.
Between 2015 and 2017 he volunteered to support the development of the network. In 2018, following a successful crowdfunding campaign, he became the part-time freelance Network Coordinator, to support active Open Table communities and enable those seeking to host an Open Table community in their churches. In October 2020, thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund, he began working full-time to help our communities respond to the coronavirus crisis and raise our online presence to reach more isolated LGBTQIA+ folk.
Kieran will be in conversation with Sarah Hobbs, Co-Chair of the Open Table Network. Sarah works as the Managing Director of a consultancy which supports large organisations to identify and release the talents of their employees. She is an experienced conference speaker and Zoom webinar host with a passion for helping people to realise their potential. In 2017, she publicly came out as a transgender woman and began her transition process.