Open Table Network Explained

Open Table Network
Abbreviation:OTN
Region:England and Wales
Type:Charity
Status:Charitable Incorporated Organisation
Leader Title:Director
Leader Name:Kieran Bohan
Leader Title2:Co-chairs
Leader Name2:Andrew Howorth
Sarah Hobbs
Registration Id:1193868

Open Table Network (OTN) is a Christian charity which supports church communities for LGBT people and their allies in England and Wales.

Organisation

The Open Table Network is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, registered by the Charity Commission on 19 March 2021, whose charitable object is the "advancement of the Christian faith, in particular but not exclusively amongst lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex or asexual Christians".[1] At the time of registration, there were 18 Open Table communities.[2] [3] According to the charity's annual report for 2023, there were 35 communities by the end of that year.[4]

Kieran Bohan is Director since October 2023,[5] having previously served as Coordinator of the Open Table Network.[6] Bohan broadcast a reflection on Open Table as part of a BBC Radio 4 service led by Rachel Mann in September 2020.[7] In May 2022, he and his partner celebrated the tenth anniversary of their civil partnership, the first in the UK to be celebrated in a religious building.[8]

The co-chairs are Andrew Howorth and Sarah Hobbs.[9]

Patrons of the charity are: Rachel Mann,[10] John Bradbury,[11] Bishop Cherry Vann,[12] Bishop Paul Bayes,[13] John L. Bell,[14] and Barbara Glasson.[15] [16] [17]

History

In June 2008, the first Open Table community was founded at St Bride's Church, Liverpool; by 2019, the network consisted of 17 communities in England and Wales. An article in the book Journeys in Grace and Truth, edited by Jayne Ozanne, describes the founding and history of Open Table.[18] [19] In Christianity, "open table" refers to the custom of offering communion to all baptised Christians regardless of denomination.[20]

Open Table began as a fresh expression hosted by the Team Parish of St Luke in the City, Liverpool,[21] which is served by the churches of St Bride, St Dunstan, and St Michael in the City.[22] [23] In 2019,Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, Team Rector at St Luke in the City, advocated offering control of church organisations to marginalised groups, such as LGBT Christians; she describes Open Table as an "electrifying" example of this idea working successfully in practice.[24]

In 2016, Paul Bayes, Bishop of Liverpool until February 2022,[25] called for changes in the Church of England's attitudes to lesbian and gay people; recalling to The Guardian a visit to the Open Table congregation in Liverpool, he said: "I saw their faithfulness as Christians, often in difficult circumstances, sometimes in trying to say who they are within the church. I want to make room for a congregation like Open Table."[26] In 2019, Bayes described Open Table as "one of the fastest growing Church planting movements in England".[27]

In 2018, Open Table Cambridge was established at Downing Place United Reformed Church, Cambridge.[28] Gay Christian co-founder Alison Binney said she had "immediately felt safe to be myself" at the church. Asked about the exclusion of LGBT+ Christians from church life, she said: "I think sometimes people who feel unloved and frightened come from churches which say things like, “We take the Bible seriously” as a way to justify exclusion. And perhaps it would be helpful for you to hear this: We take the Bible incredibly seriously too."

In 2019, Open Table successfully campaigned for the Home Office to grant Yew Fook Sam, a gay Malaysian, asylum for five years.[29] [30] The campaign started by Open Table and promoted by the Liverpool Echo gathered more than 5000 signatures to an online petition.[31]

In 2020, the Open Table Network received a £15,000 grant from the National Lottery Community Fund to fund staff time and technology to help support members of OTN communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, Civil Society Consulting prepared a report for the Open Table Network,[32] arguing that "LGBT Christians have been adversely affected by national lockdowns" and called for more support.[33]

In November 2021, the Bishop of St Asaph Gregory Cameron blessed the civil partnership of Lee Taylor and Fabiano Da Silva Duarte at St Collen's Church in Llangollen.[34] The ceremony was the first since blessing of same-sex couples was approved by the Church in Wales in September 2021.[35] Kieran Bohan of the Open Table Network said: "It is heartwarming to see a bishop embrace a priest whose civil partnership he has just blessed."

In January 2023, the Church of England decided that same-sex couples could "give thanks" and "receive God's blessing" for their civil marriage or partnerships in church, but that Holy Matrimony continues "unchanged" to be between one man and one woman.[36] Kieran Bohan said: "This is sad news. Other Christian denominations now welcome same-gender couples who wish to be joined in holy matrimony. We regret that England's own established church still denies LGBT+ people this equality."

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 19 March 2021 . THE OPEN TABLE NETWORK Charity Number 1193868 . 2 April 2021 . Charity Commission.
  2. News: 23 April 2021 . UK news in brief . 3 May 2021 . Church Times.
  3. Web site: 19 April 2021 . Charity Commission says 'Yes' to LGBT-affirming Christian network . 3 May 2021 . Open Table Network.
  4. Web site: March 19, 2024 . Trustees' Annual Report for the period from January 2023 to December 2023 . April 24, 2024 . Register of Charities, Charity Commission of England & Wales.
  5. Web site: Open Table founding member becomes charity's first director . April 24, 2024 . Open Table Network.
  6. Web site: 21 December 2020 . A CHAT WITH: KIERAN BOHAN, OPEN TABLE NETWORK COORDINATOR . 1 January 2021 . LCR Pride Foundation.
  7. Web site: Sunday Worship (27 September 2020) . 1 January 2021 . BBC Radio 4.
  8. Web site: McAuley . Paul . 2022-05-06 . Liverpool couple who made history celebrating anniversary . 2022-09-17 . Liverpool Echo . en.
  9. Web site: Meet our team . 2024-04-27 . Open Table Network . en-GB.
  10. Web site: 19 November 2020 . Meet Our Patrons - Rachel Mann in conversation with Alex Clare-Young . 18 April 2021 . Open Table Network.
  11. Web site: 17 December 2020 . Meet our Patrons - John Bradbury in conversation with Kieran Bohan . 18 April 2021 . Open Table Network.
  12. Web site: 21 January 2021 . Meet our Patrons - Bishop Cherry Vann in conversation with Sarah Hobbs . 18 April 2021 . Open Table Network.
  13. Web site: 18 March 2021 . Meet our Patrons - Bishop Paul Bayes in conversation with Kieran Bohan . 18 April 2021 . Open Table Network.
  14. Web site: 15 April 2021 . Meet our Patrons - John Bell in conversation with Alex Clare-Young inc BSL interpretation . 18 April 2021 . Open Table Network.
  15. Web site: 20 May 2021 . Meet our Patrons - Barbara Glasson in conversation with Kieran Bohan . 18 April 2021 . Open Table Network.
  16. Web site: Handley MacMath . Terence . 30 November 2018 . Interview: Barbara Glasson, President-elect of the Methodist Conference . 3 May 2021 . Church Times.
  17. News: Glasson . Barbara . 5 October 2019 . The Methodist Church is rethinking its position on identity and sexuality . 3 May 2021 . The Times.
  18. Book: Ozanne . Jayne . Jayne Ozanne . Journeys in Grace and Truth: Revisiting Scripture and Sexuality . 2016 . Ekklesia . 978-0993294242.
  19. Web site: Bohan . Kieran . A brief history of Open Table – A journey in grace and truth (21 June 2016) . A brave faith: One gay Christian seeking authenticity . 21 June 2016 . 1 January 2021.
  20. News: Wilson . Alan . The Book of Common Prayer, part 6: Fencing the table . 31 December 2020 . The Guardian . 27 September 2010.
  21. News: 15 August 2008. Faith in schools. Liverpool Echo. 22 August 2021. THERE is a service at St Bride’s Church this Sunday at 8.30pm for LGB&T Christians – and any seeking a more inclusive church – followed by a pub visit.The group, Changing Attitudes, is behind the service and it has a meeting planned with the Bishop of Liverpool next Wednesday. If you would like any points or views expressed to the bishop then please arrive at the church an hour early on Sunday to discuss them. The service, known as Open Table, will take place every third Sunday..
  22. Web site: THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST. LUKE-IN-THE-CITY, LIVERPOOL . Charity Commission for England and Wales . 1 January 2021.
  23. Web site: The Team Parish of St Luke in the City Liverpool . 1 January 2021.
  24. News: Threlfall-Holmes . Miranda . Evangelism isn't just for the Evangelicals . 31 December 2020 . Church Times . 11 January 2019.
  25. Web site: 'I do not want to die in a Church that will not marry same-sex couples' says Bishop Bayes . 2022-10-23 . www.churchtimes.co.uk.
  26. News: Sherwood. Harriet. 16 June 2016. Senior bishop calls for change in C of E attitudes to gay people. The Guardian. 19 October 2021.
  27. News: Davies . Madeleine . A bigger table: an interview with the Bishop of Liverpool . 31 December 2020 . Church Times . 1 February 2019.
  28. Web site: Bailey . Jesi . 4 March 2023 . The LGBT+ church members making Cambridge a more inclusive place to be Christian . 2023-12-06 . Varsity Online . en.
  29. News: Pidd . Helen . Home Office gives man asylum after accepting people can be gay and single . 31 December 2020 . The Guardian . 23 December 2019.
  30. News: Shennan . Paddy . The man who's 'not gay enough' to stay in the UK - according to the government . 31 December 2020 . Liverpool Echo . 20 February 2019.
  31. News: Parsons . Vic . The Home Office told this man he wasn't 'gay enough' to stay in the UK. Now, he's been given asylum in time for Christmas . 31 December 2020 . PinkNews . 21 December 2019.
  32. Web site: Open Table Network: Research & Case for Support 2021 . 17 September 2022 . Civil Society Consulting.
  33. News: 2 July 2021. Open Table: LGBT Christians 'need more support'. Church Times. 22 August 2021. LGBT Christians have been adversely affected by national lockdowns, because they have lacked access to in-person emotional and spiritual support, a report from the Open Table Network (OTN) suggests. 'These are all people who have experienced prejudice and exclusion at home, in the workplace, local community, but especially in faith communities,' its report, prepared by Civil Society Consulting, explains..
  34. Web site: Chudy . Emily . 2021-11-15 . Gay priest and partner make Church in Wales history with same-sex blessing . 2022-09-17 . PinkNews .
  35. Web site: Wakefield . Lily . 2021-09-06 . Church in Wales to bless same-sex unions after historic vote . 2022-09-17 . PinkNews .
  36. Web site: McAuley . Paul . 2023-01-19 . Christian group 'saddened' after CofE refuse to back gay marriage . 2023-03-11 . Liverpool Echo . en.

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