'A culture of radical welcome' - Meet the churches with LGBTQ+ rights firmly on their agenda
OTN trustee Revd Anne Bennett
STUDENT JOURNALIST Christopher Boyle has interviewed representatives of the Open Table Network as part of a report on those within the church who are fighting for inclusivity for all on a local level.
Revd Anne Bennett, a trustee of the Open Table Network, and vicar of the church which hosts Open Table South London, told Christopher:
I am passionate about marriage being allowed for lesbian and gay couples. Because why should their marriage not be honoured in the sight of God and his people? We are all children of God.
Open Table Network Coordinator Kieran Bohan also said:
We encourage any Christian community to reflect together on how inviting, inclusive and welcoming they are.... creating an inviting culture is not as straight-forward as it might seem. It might sound like: ‘Come, join our community and share our cultural heritage’, but that is in fact just another way to say: ‘Come and be like us’. A culture of radical welcome for us would be: ‘Bring your culture, your voice, your whole self - we want to engage in a truly mutual relationship.... people must be able to bring their whole selves to the church. They need to know they can belong, feel safe enough to be vulnerable, and to grow... and to become more fully alive with God’s help.
