Mission completed: Letting go
Unreservedly and joyfully welcoming: Gathering for the Open Table Blackheath community's fifth birthday in January 2023 with OTN Director Kieran in the Open Table t-shirt.
Revd Anne Bennett [seated in white] at the first Open Table Blackheath gathering in January 2018. Anne is vicar of the Church of the Ascension Blackheath which hosted an Open Table community since 2018. Anne campaigns for equal rights, especially in the Church of England, having seen first-hand the pain of rejection and the injustice of discrimination in her own family. Anne was one of the founding trustees of the Open Table Network when it became a charity in March 2021.
LAST MONTH the Open Table community in Blackheath, south London celebrated six years and met for the last time.
On the anniversary of their first meeting in January 2018, they met to celebrate all that they had learned, achieved, and contributed to the spread of Open Table communities across Greater London. Revd Anne Bennett, vicar of the church which hosted the community, and Open Table Network trustee, shares her reflection on the journey:
It’s never easy to bring a regular act of worship to an end, especially when it is your favourite service.
Our Open Table service at the Church of the Ascension, Blackheath, was always a peaceful time, an act of worship where there was more sharing than leading, a safe space to be amongst friends. When we broke bread together, it was truly sacramental, affirming the grace of each one of us in communion with the grace of God.
Nevertheless, in 2023 our numbers were declining as the new community in Waterloo developed, and we decided that Open Table Blackheath was coming to a natural end. At our final service, two of us had been there at that first meeting. It was a chance to remember those who had passed through our doors. Some people started out at our Open Table before going back to do similar things in their own churches, or began to worship in inclusive churches locally after finding Open Table a ‘way back’ to worship.
However, the Church of the Ascension is hidden away in an obscure corner of Blackheath, and it’s a large and chilly building for a small service. It’s not ideal for a service where people come to from considerable distances, and Waterloo and Bromley are far better locations for the Open Table communities in South London.
The Church of the Ascension is, and always will be while I am vicar, a truly welcoming, inclusive, and affirming space. While I’m not sure what comes next for our ministry, Open Table remains dear to my heart, not least because it gave me a chance to explore my own identity among friends.
