TODAY YOU CAN HELP support LGBTQIA+ people to find a safe, welcoming community where they can thrive. We're launching our Advent Appeal, following the four weekly themes - Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.

THIS CHRISTMAS, the joy is too much for London to contain and Big Queer Carols is getting bigger, with three new partner churches in England and Wales. The churches we're working with are committed to fairness, equity, and affirmation - and we're inviting you to join us!

AS A PARTNERSHIP of inclusive Christian organisations, we welcome the publication of Together in Love and Faith by the Bishop of Oxford and acknowledge the step forward that it represents in the journey towards full inclusion and affirmation of LGBTQ+ people in the Church of England.

THE TITLE of this article came from one of the 18 community consultations we’ve hosted since October 2021 with churches exploring the need for an Open Table community in their area. During these meetings we ask what are the qualities of the experience they would want to share with others if they host an Open Table community.

A YEAR AGO on National Coming Out Day, we launched a six-week crowdfunding campaign to raise £10,000 to bridge the gap between our budget as a new small charity and the growing demand for our support. This year, we’ve never been busier - please share about, and consider giving to, or fundraising for, OTN if you are able. Thank you!

SUNDAY WORSHIP on BBC Radio 4 this week was recorded at the annual HeartEdge Conference, which hosted the final of the 2022 Theology Slam, a competition that invites young people to reflect on contemporary issues through theology, scripture and tradition. The service incorporated the talks from all three finalists including OTN Co-Chair Alex Clare-Young.

THIS OCTOBER, St Bride’s Church in Liverpool is celebrating the contribution of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT+) communities past and present. Celebrations kick off with a special communion service on Sunday 16th October at 6.30pm led by the Revd Dr Ash Barker.

TODAY marks the second anniversary of the Coordinator of the Open Table Network taking on the role full-time, thanks to the success of our first major funding bid. Here we review highlights of our last 12 months, thanks to your support.

EACH YEAR International Day Of Peace is observed on 21st September. The UN has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire. But achieving true peace also requires building communities where all members feel they can flourish, creating a world where all people are treated equally. This is what we aspire to do in our Open Table communities.

AUGUSTINE TANNER-IHM will share a short video to introduce the theme of this year’s conference on embracing diversity hosted by Gathering Voices, a collaboration of Christian organisations that encourage churches to be fully inclusive and affirming of all people without regard of gender and sexuality.

THE STUDENT CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT (SCM) has launched a new campaign calling on all churches to be transparent about the welcome that LGBTQ+ people receive in their church, asking church leaders to reflect on what they teach, imply and model with regard to LGBTQ+ people.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN to be fully seen and accepted? In a new temporary audio-visual exhibition, OTN trustee Augustine Tanner Ihm recounts the moment when his searching for a space to be ‘all of who he is’ comes to an end.

JOIN AN IT SUPPORT TEAM on a musical quest to stop the Apocalypse. 12+ Adult themes around mental health, domestic abuse and conversion therapy. Skitzoid Productions, which aims to create challenging, entertaining and creative theatre that pushes at the boundaries of what can be done on stage, are excited to bring their third original musical to Waterloo East Theatre this October.

IN THE LATEST episode of a podcast ‘for migrants by migrants’, two people with experience of seeking asylum share their stories, one who won leave to remain in the UK with support from an Open Table community, and another who is afraid to get support from an LGBT-affirming Christian community because she fears that the Black African church she attends will no longer support her.

OTN PATRON Cherry Vann, Bishop of Monmouth, is among 90 bishops who signed a statement saying ‘we believe that LGBT+ people are a precious part of God’s creation’ in response to a Call on Human Dignity at the Lambeth Conference of global Anglican leaders yesterday.

FOR THE FIRST TIME in the Open Table Network, our community in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, hosted an informal and relaxed service of thanksgiving for the civil partnership of regular members CJ and Jake this month.

THE FINAL of Theology Slam 2022 - a competition to find engaging young voices who think theologically about the contemporary world - will feature a talk on the body by Revd Alex Clare-Young.

THIS MONTH has seen Pride events all over the country. It’s 50 years this year since the first Pride March in London in 1972. To mark this milestone, our Coordinator Kieran Bohan was one of a number of faith leaders interviews on BBC local radio on Sunday 26th June.

LOOKING for something to make your community’s Pride celebrations sparkle? This new digital download is just what you need! OTN Co-Chair Alex Clare-Young and their wife Jo have contributed to, and edited this collection by the Iona Community’s LGBTQ+ Common Concern Network as a reflection of all they seek to celebrate and affirm.

CELEBRATIONS for the 14th birthday of the first Open Table community in Liverpool, and seven years since we became a network, reached their peak last weekend, at our national gathering on the theme ‘More Than Welcome’.