‘Life-giving not life-sapping’ - What we learned about belonging at Greenbelt
A collage of contributions written or drawn on the paper tablecloths during the OUT @ the Long Table event. Click to enlarge.
REFLECTIONS from the annual celebration of art, activism, and belief on belonging, welcome, faith, and building communities where everyone can flourish.
“Honesty gets me through the door. Diversity makes me belong.”
Those five words, handwritten on a paper tablecloth on the last evening of the festival, capture something many of us are searching for: community that gives us life.
What does that look like? A friendly welcome? Shared faith and values? A place where we can arrive as our whole selves, find friendship and purpose, discover our gifts and leave with more hope than we arrived with?
For LGBTQIA+ people of faith, and anyone who has wondered whether there is a place where they truly belong, these questions matter.
Participants gather around the tables during OUT @ the Long Table at Greenbelt 2026, sharing food, conversation, music, and reflections on what makes a community welcoming and life-giving.
Around the table
On the final evening of Greenbelt 2026, around 70 people gathered for OUT @ the Long Table, co-hosted by Inclusive Church, OUT@Greenbelt (the festival’s LGBTQ+ volunteer team), the Open Table Network (OTN) and the United Reformed Church.
Over food, conversation and glorious live music, we explored four questions on our ‘menu’:
Starter: What gets us through the door?
Main: What makes us stay?
Pudding: What makes community worth it?
Fancies: What do you take with you?
Paper banqueting roll covered the tables, giving people space to write and draw their responses. The result was a wonderfully honest collection of reflections on belonging, faith, friendship, joy, and the communities we want to create.
Getting through the door
A welcome is more than an open door. Participants talked about seeing LGBTQIA+ people represented, encountering inclusive language, and knowing that they could be welcomed as their whole selves. One person wrote:
‘Honesty gets me through the door. Diversity makes me belong.’
Another offered an important challenge:
‘Welcoming doesn’t mean inclusive.’
True welcome means more than saying ‘all are welcome’. It means creating spaces where people can relax, stop ‘masking’, participate without fear and see people like themselves not only attending, but leading and shaping the community. As one handwritten reflection put it:
Staying, belonging and getting involved
Getting through the door is one thing. Finding a reason to come back is another. Again and again, people spoke about friendship, connection, and being known: someone remembering your name, noticing when you’re absent, checking in, moving beyond small talk. People also wanted opportunities to contribute:
‘How do we get in, get involved?’
That means making space for participation, leadership, and decision-making, including meaningful opportunities for LGBTQIA+ people to shape community life. It also means recognising that trust takes time, particularly for people whose experiences of church have included exclusion or harm:
‘How do we build trust when that trust has been abused in the past?’
There is no quick answer. Trust is built through consistent action, relationships, listening and a willingness to change.
Singer Martha Boon’s performances brought joy, and opportunities to sing together. On her left is a British Sign Language interpreter.
What brings us joy
Our third question was about what makes community worth showing up for. The answer wasn’t simply more activity or better organisation. People talked about joy: music, singing, inclusive worship, accessible liturgy, laughter, and the freedom to celebrate faith without separating it from identity.
One participant reflected on the OUT@Greenbelt Communion service:
‘The Out Eucharist changed my Greenbelt! I was welcomed with open arms & love, which enabled me to share it with others.’
That captures something at the heart of inclusive community:
We receive welcome - and then become people who can offer welcome.
We experience love - and discover that we have more love to give.
We find community - and help create it for someone else.
What do we take home?
The final question looked beyond Greenbelt, as the festival prepares to take a ‘fallow year’ in search of a new home in 2027.
People spoke about hope, encouragement, friendship, mutual care, and safe spaces. They highlighted the importance of accessibility and practical inclusion, and the need for communities where people can both receive care and contribute their gifts.
One question on the tablecloth asked:
‘Can feeding others’ needs help us meet our own better!?!?’
Perhaps that is one of the secrets of community. We all have needs, and we all have something to offer.
The conversation also looked beyond our own communities. Inclusive churches can challenge exclusion, share learning, and demonstrate that another kind of church is possible.
Kieran (Open Table Network), Dave (OUT@Greenbelt) and Chantal (Inclusive Church), three of the partners who co-hosted OUT @ the Long Table.
What happens when we go home?
Greenbelt ends. The tents come down and we return to our churches, communities, and ordinary lives. But the questions around the table remain:
Who needs an invitation?
Who is still standing at the door?
Who has been welcomed but not yet included?
Who has something to offer but hasn’t been asked?
Where does trust need to be rebuilt?
For LGBTQIA+ Christians, inclusive community can be a source of encouragement and strength. It can also help us imagine - and demonstrate - a different kind of church: one where people are welcomed as they are, where diversity is valued, where LGBTQIA+ people can belong, worship, serve, and lead, and where activism and celebration can share the same table.
