Living in Love and Faith: Taking Part in The Course - OTN Co-Chair in new short film
Presenter Joanna Adeyinka-Burford [centre] invited four people to share their experience of taking part in the Living In Love And Faith course: [L-R] Jayne, a curate from Kent; James, a vicar from Bristol; Sarah, OTN Co-Chair, who is also the director of an HR consultancy; and Dele, a vicar from Birmingham.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND has published a new video aiming to encourage people to take part in its Living in Love and Faith (LLF) course on identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage.
WATCH Living in Love and Faith: Taking Part in the Course [11 minutes]
In the short film, four people share their experiences of taking part in the LLF course, including OTN Co-Chair Sarah Hobbs.
The five-part course is designed to help people learn and reflect together about questions of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage, which can be divisive in some Christian communities. Sarah’s experience of the LLF process to date has been positive. We are aware that this has not been the case for everyone in our communities across England who has chosen to take part.
The 11-minute video comes a year after the LLF resources were published in November 2020. The Trustees and Coordinator of the Open Table Network issued a response, which said:
We welcome the publication of the LLF resources, as part of an ongoing process that seeks to listen to LGBTQIA+ voices. We want to encourage members of the Open Table Network within the Church of England to offer constructively critical engagement with the process, but only if it feels safe enough to do so.
In December 2020, our Co-Chair Sarah Hobbs and co-ordinator Kieran Bohan were appointed as Advocates for the LLF process, in the Church of England Dioceses of Leeds and Liverpool respectively. Kieran was also appointed as a chaplain for the LLF process, to support those who might need spiritual and pastoral support while taking part in the course. For this role, he wrote these prayers for everyone involved, and those who feel unable to be involved.
In May 2021, our other Co-Chair, Revd Alex Clare-Young, who served on the LLF Coordinating Group from February 2019 to November 2020, responded to the House of Bishops’ call for ‘a working group on gender identity and transition’, questioning the need for such a group, given the extensive work already done in this area as part of the LLF resources. Then in August 2021, Alex published an academic article drawing on professional expertise and lived experience to critique the LLF process.
Meanwhile, in July 2021, the LLF Next Steps Group, a group of bishops who took over from the LLF Coordinating Group following the publication of the LLF resources in November 2020, announced that the deadline for submitting responses to the LLF course would be extended to April 2022. The Next Steps Group said that
‘Despite this extension, there will be a clear sense of direction about a way forward by November 2022’
when the Church of England’s governing body, General Synod, is planning to meet and review feedback on the LLF course.
The Next Steps Group also approved a plan to develop guidance for church communities wanting to use the LLF materials with young people aged 14+. These were published in October 2021 on the LLF Learning Hub. This is free to access for those who register and log in.