Zoey: 'Yes! You can do this!'

An extract from Zoey’s poem (below)

I’ve been coming to Open Table since the end of 2015. I was attracted by the warm, welcoming community.

As I came in, I could just feel and see the whole inclusion of everyone when I looked around the space.

At a time when I was feeling lost and alone, at the point of being excluded from a place of faith, making me doubt my faith and self-belief, Open Table was shared with me. It renewed my faith, and my emotional well-being, as well as my relationship with others around me. I struggled a bit with that at first. I’d never really had faith relationships before.

But I found I could just truly express myself and share my faith without having to hide or hold back. I feel truly welcome and accepted at Open Table, and I look forward to staying a part of it.  There’s a wholesome inner feeling you feel there, coming from the care and connection that's there. I feel that I can share openly with everyone and listen as we support each other through our journeys.

There were parts of the LGBTQIA+ community that I didn't realize that were there. Like, I didn't realize that I was asexual until I started talking to all the members in Open Table and I thought: ‘That sounds like me!’ So I discovered another part of my identity; and that gave me more self-confidence. I thought: ‘I'm not broken in this respect, because there are other people like me’.

I've spoken to people in Open Table who have come along and been blown away by how welcoming it is. Within their other communities they weren’t included. They were told: ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that.’ Not allowed to do a reading. Not being treated wholly as who they are. Not treated as human beings. They were being brought down.

When you come along to Open Table, you can be completely blown away by how inclusive we are in catering to your needs; how inclusive and welcoming we are.  We say: ‘Yes, you can do this!’ and ‘Yes, we'd like to hear your view about this.’

Here is a poem I wrote about my experience:

What Open Table means to me

It's a warm welcoming community in which you can be free
for you can share yourself completely and honestly,
for no one stares but really cares
as you share around the table with empathy and light,
in heartfelt solidarity

It's the peace we share freely, that's also with you,
the songs we sing, the joy, laughter, and tears -
All welcome here as kindness and love abound all around,
you don't just see it, you feel it inside,
as it moves you in ways you just can't describe.

Come as you are, just as you are,
not just a reflection of who you are,
but purely and wholly, like clear droplets of water
that let light in and give it out again
in a beautiful ray of rainbow colours.

That light is the love of God to all,
for no one is left out, as it's love above all that we share
with one another - that is most important of all.