OTN patron Bishop Paul Bayes calls for same-sex marriage and announces retirement

Right Revd Paul Bayes, Bishop of Liverpool addressing 8,000 assembled marchers at Pride in Liverpool in 2017. PHOTO: LCR Pride.

WATCH Bishop Paul’s message to the Open Table Network [2.5 mins] & our Q&A with Bishop Paul, in conversation with OTN Coordinator Kieran Bohan here [59 minutes]

THIS MORNING BBC Radio Merseyside spoke to Bishop of Liverpool Paul Bayes about his speech last week advocating a change to the laws of the Church of England to permit same-sex marriage.

In the same week, Bishop Paul announced his retirement. He plans to step down in February 2021.

You can listen to Bishop Paul’s interview here [11 mins]

After Bishop Paul, presenter Helen Jones spoke to Open Table Coordinator Kieran Bohan about his reaction to the news of Bishop Paul’s advocacy for same-sex marriage in the Church of England, and to the retirement of one of OTN’s biggest supporters.

When the Right Revd Paul Bayes became Bishop of Liverpool in 2014, in his inaugural sermon he spoke of an 'open table' made by a poor, generous carpenter who offers a place at the table to anyone who wants to sit and eat.

In July 2015 he visited the first Open Table community and charged us with a mission to give ‘the love that you share, and the openness that you manifest’ as a gift to the wider church, which struggles to receive it.

He has become an outspoken ally - In 2017 he became a patron of Pride In Liverpool and marched with the Christians At Pride group, the first Diocesan bishop in the Church of England to do so.

In 2018 he became Chair of the Ozanne Foundation, which tackles prejudice and discrimination on the grounds of sexuality and gender in religious organisations.

In 2019 he published The Table: Knowing Jesus: Prayer, Friendship, Justice which expands his vision of Christ’s church as an open table.

In 2020 he became a Patron of the Open Table Network, and Co-Chair of the Global Interfaith Commission on LGBT+ Lives which calling for an end to violence and criminalisation against LGBT+ people and for a global ban on conversion therapy.

In June 2021, speaking at a conference of MOSAIC (Movement Of Supporting Anglicans For An Inclusive Church), which advocated for inclusivity in the C of E, he called for a gender-neutral marriage service, such as they have in the US Episcopal church and Scottish Episcopal Churches, and conscientious freedom for the church’s ministers and local leaders to honour, recognise and bless same-sex unions.

You can listen to Kieran’s interview here [6 mins].