Rooted in gratitude, renewed in hope: Open Table community relaunches
Members and friends of Open Table Warrington celebrate the community’s relaunch at St John’s URC, marking a new chapter of welcome, worship and belonging.
THE SECOND community in the Open Table Network (OTN) has relaunched with gratitude for all that has gone before, and hope for what is still to come.
Our Warrington community, which has met at St John’s United Reformed Church since 2015, was the first Open Table community to gather outside Liverpool.
From the beginning, it has offered a safe, sacred space where LGBTQIA+ people, families, friends and allies could worship, belong and know that God’s love truly includes them.
“We’re here to keep the table open, the kettle on, and the welcome wide.”
Earlier this year, the community gathered for a consultation to reflect on its life and future after what the event publicity described as ‘a number of changes and challenges’. OTN Director Kieran Bohan and Revd Jenny Travis from St John’s URC, guided the conversation, helping the community discern its next steps together.
OTN Director Kieran Bohan speaks at the Open Table Warrington relaunch service, beside a cross dressed in rainbow colours as a sign of inclusive welcome.
With unanimous support from the consultation, Open Table Warrington celebrated the start of its next chapter on Sunday 10th May with a Communion service and a reflection on the Open Table story and the parable of the mustard seed, followed by an abundance of cake!
The community will continue to meet on the second Sunday of each month at St John’s URC, with refreshments from 6.00pm and Communion at 6.30pm.
The relaunch was also a moment to welcome new co-leaders Revd Linda Bishop, and to give thanks for those who have shaped and sustained the community over many years, including Pam Gold, who founded the Warrington community, and Gail Rose, whose faithful leadership helped hold the community through seasons of change until she left in December 2025.
Revd Jenny Travis said:
‘As we relaunch Open Table Warrington, we’re really aware that we’re stepping into a story that began long before us. The people who first shaped this community created something brave and beautiful - a place where LGBTQIA+ people could breathe, belong, and know that God’s love truly includes us.
‘We want to honour that foundation and keep building on it together. Our hope is simple: that more people across Warrington will hear the good news that they are loved, welcomed, and wanted, just as they are.
‘We’re here to keep the table open, the kettle on, and the welcome wide.’
The Warrington community has played a significant part in the wider Open Table story. In 2016, St John’s URC hosted an ‘Appreciating Open Table’ day, bringing together 24 people from the first four communities in Liverpool, Warrington, Manchester and North Wales communities to reflect on Open Table’s shared vision, mission and values, which are still the guiding principles of the Open Table Network charity today.
That day helped shape the language of Open Table as ‘a safe, sacred space’ where LGBTQIA+ people can ‘come as you are’, integrating faith, sexuality and gender identity in a community of welcome, worship and belonging.
Those same themes were clear at the relaunch. One person said:
'Thank you for providing my daughter with a place where she feels welcome, loved, and safe. She doesn’t need to pretend; she can come as she is.’
Another reflected:
‘When I come to Open Table I find it humbling to worship alongside, and share communion with, people of such strength, many of whom have been rejected by other churches simply for being the people God created them to be.’
Looking to the future, Open Table Warrington hopes to grow not only in numbers, but in courage, compassion, friendship and joy - continuing to offer a place where LGBTQIA+ people and allies can find rest, healing and community.
