WE’RE EXCITED to share that The Open Table Network [OTN] has secured a Charity Champion funder for this year’s Big Give Christmas Challenge, the UK’s biggest match-funding campaign! The Together Fund will match every pound raised from our supporters during the campaign, helping us reach our ambitious £10,000 target. Here's how you can help.

OCTOBER 1st marks the first anniversary of the Director of the Open Table Network taking on the role. Thanks to the charity’s first grant from a national church, Kieran Bohan became the charity’s first Director on this day in 2023. Here's what OTN has achieved this year.

AN ART EXHIBITION which travelled cathedrals and town centre churches for a year ended last month with the donation of the centrepiece painting to the church where Open Table began. Fine artist and theologian Elizabeth Gray King donated 40% of the sales of original artworks and prints which people bought because of this exhibition, to OTN.

THIS YEAR the Open Table Network [OTN] is taking part in The Big Give Christmas Challenge, the UK’s biggest match-funding campaign. The first step is to ask our supporters to become Pledgers, whose promise to give after the campaign ends in December will help OTN to attract match-funding and double the impact of donations made during the campaign.

ATTENDING a church service or Christian event can be hugely daunting for LGBT+ Christians and those exploring faith. The Open Table Network (OTN) is working with the United Reformed Church (URC) to help people create safer sacred spaces for LGBT+ people as part of Greenbelt, an inclusive, affirming Christian festival of artistry, activism and belief.

IN A LOCAL newspaper interview published this week, the leader of the Open Table Warrington community has shared her joy and disbelief following her wedding this month. Gail Rose, 55, lived most of her life suppressing her sexuality as she believed she couldn't be both gay and Christian.

THE HEAD of a charity which creates and sustains welcoming and affirming spaces for LGBT+ people within Christian communities has been approved for ministry training by the Methodist Church in Britain this week. This recommendation was confirmed at a meeting of the Methodist Conference, the governing body of the Methodist Church In Britain, on Wednesday 3rd July.

IN JUNE 2021 we asked Open Table community members and volunteers: ‘Imagine it’s Saturday 15th June 2024: We’re celebrating 16 years of the first Open Table community and 9 years as a network. We've achieved three years’ funding. What does OTN look like?’ Here are some of our members’ and volunteers’ responses, and what we have achieved three years’ on.

JUNE 3rd-9th is Volunteers’ Week - a chance to recognise the fantastic contribution volunteers make to our communities and say thank you. The Open Table Network wouldn’t - and couldn’t - exist without the volunteers who give energy, time and talents.

AT OUR AGM on Tuesday 12th March 2024 we thanked one of our Co-Chairs and founding trustees of the Open Table Network as they stepped down from the role. Now we are delighted to announce that Revd Dr Alex Clare-Young has agreed to become the latest patron of the charity.

THIS FRIDAY, 17th May, is International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia [IDAHOBIT]. This year’s theme is ‘No One Left Behind: Equality, Freedom and Justice For All. How are you planning to mark the day this year?

OTN Patron Revd Dr Barbara Glasson has edited a new book of prayers to empower church communities to focus more fully and publicly on matters of justice. These original prayers commissioned specifically for public worship were contributed by a diverse range of people including two from a founding member of the first Open Table community.

THE 2021 CENSUS was the first time residents aged 16 and over in England and Wales had been asked voluntary questions on sexual orientation and gender identity. A report from the BBC this week analysed data from the Office for National Statistics [ONS] which shows that while 3.2% of the general population identified as Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual or another minority sexual orientation (LGB+), only 1.7% of Christians identified as LGB+.

AT OUR AGM on Tuesday 12th March 2024 we welcomed FOUR new trustees to our board for the next three years. Our trustees are responsible for thinking through and putting into practice plans which will develop the Open Table Network (OTN).

THE RECTOR of Liverpool Parish Church, one of the most significant civic roles in the Church of England, announced on Sunday that he could no longer, ‘in good conscience’ represent the Church which ‘perpetuates bias and discrimination against sections of society on the grounds of sexuality, race and gender’.

REFLECTIONS from Open Table members and friends have come third in the FeedSpot 5 Best Queer Bible Podcasts ‘ranked by traffic, social media followers and freshness’. Do you have a story to share?

MOVING TRIBUTES to the Right Revd Dr Alan Wilson, Bishop of Buckingham in the Church of England Diocese of Oxford, have been published following the announcement of his sudden death on Saturday. Bishop Alan actively advocated for LGBTQIA+ people and survivors of abuse for more than 20 years.

This year the Methodist Church in Britain has shared a prayer for this month by Pam Gold, coordinator of the Methodist LGBT+ Solidarity Circle. Pam was the former Co-Convenor of the Evangelical Fellowship of Lesbian & Gay Christians and founder of two Open Table communities.

BISHOPS are like buses: we wait ages for one then two come at once! On Sunday 21st January two Open Table communities are hosting their local Church of England leaders.

THANKS to 46 generous donors our Advent & Christmas Crowdfunder appeal raised more than £2,000! This was almost 82% of our £2,500 target. With these gifts, OTN can offer the #PromiseOfJoy to even more LGBTQIA+ people in 2024.