Stories Around An Open Table took place at St Bride's Liverpool, home of the first Open Table community, on Saturday 9th March 2019 in the 10th anniversary year of Open Table.

In June 2018 around 120 people gathered to celebrate with the Liverpool community hosted at St Bride’s. Last weekend around 80 people gathered to celebrate the growth of the Open Table Network across the Diocese of Liverpool and far beyond. Representatives from nine Open Table communities were present.

The event was part of the Church of England Diocese of Liverpool's turn to host Bishops In Mission, an initiative of the Archbishop of York where each Diocese in the north of England hosts visiting teams headed by northern bishops. We first heard of Bishops In Mission in March 2017 when Open Table North East launched during the event with 39 people attending including the Bishop of Jarrow!

When we heard that Bishops In Mission was coming to Liverpool in 2019, we knew we had to host an event. In 2016, a year after Open Table became a network, we got the first four communities together and asked them to imagine creatively what Open Table would be like in 2019. One of the groups imagined Open Table hosting an LGBTQIA+ Christian festival, showing 10 communities across England and Wales. At the time it seemed unbelievable - but now there are 16 Open Table communities, and more than 60 other churches have sought our guidance. We aimed to create a festival atmosphere at this event.

As the theme of this year’s Bishops In Mission was Tell Serve Give, we invited Open Table members and friends to tell stories about reconciling gender identity, sexual orientation, faith or spirituality, and how Open Table has played a part in that for some.

Andrew Bullock from Liverpool Queer Collective was among the story-tellers. Liverpool Queer Collective hosts story telling events which inspired this celebration. Extending the invitation to Andrew from the wider LGBT+ community was just one of the ways we accepted the Diocese of Liverpool's campaign to #BringOneFriend as part of our Bishops In Mission Tell Serve Give event.

One of the team of Bishops In Mission visitors from across the Church of England, Anna Macham, Priest-in-Charge of St Philip's Camberwell, sang solo the hymn from where we got our motto 'Come As You Are', and also shared also her story.

The motto of Open Table is #ComeAsYouAre because, as it says in the Open Table vision:

We believe our lives, our identities and our relationships are precious gifts from God, which we are called to live out with integrity. Our desire is to continue to build a community where this is evident, and which equips others to go out and do the same.

Liverpool Rainbow Chorus performed musical interludes in between the stories and poetry, including Seasons Of Love from the musical Rent, Let It Be by the Beatles, Lean On Me by Bill Withers, and Love Shine A Light by Katrina and the Waves.

Archdeacon of Liverpool Mike McGurk commissioned Kieran Bohan as Missional Leader for the Open Table Network communities in the Diocese of Liverpool. Kieran called forward representatives from nine of the Open Table communities present to assist Mike in his commissioning: Warren from Liverpool, Gail from Warrington, Alan from Sefton, Stephen from Wigan, Heather from Widnes, Lynne from St Helens, Nick from Manchester, Desiree from Stoke and Mark from Chester.

Taking inspiration from Inclusive Church and OneBodyOneFaith, with whom we encourage Open Table host churches to register as a way of communicating their commitment to inclusion, each Open Table community present received a poster of Open Table's Mission, Vision and Values from Archdeacon Mike McGurk. Host churches are encouraged to display these visibly with their communities as a sign of their welcome and affirmation for LGBTQIA+ people. Those who were not present will receive theirs when Kieran visits them.

Kieran also launched a new Open Table prayer card, to invite Open Table members and supporters to pray for us. The first part of the prayer is based on one of the readings Kieran reflects on when he visits new Open Table communities:

Glory to God, whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine

- Ephesians 3:20

It’s a reminder that it’s not our own kingdom we’re building, and that those six people who met in Liverpool in June 2008 to create a safe sacred space for LGBT+ Christians had no idea we were starting a movement that would ‘do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine.’

The final part of the Open Table prayer is inspired by the prayer Jesus taught us:

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, among us in Jesus' name. Amen

Another story Kieran shares when visiting Open Table communities is the one Jesus tells about the mustard seed. We gave thanks for that small seed of faith in the group of six people that started Open Table in Liverpool, and has planted new seeds in the rich soil of many other churches which have opened their doors and their hearts to Open Table communities across the Diocese of Liverpool and far beyond.

As Kieran told the story of the growth of Open Table, each community was represented by a candle which was lit as the story unfolded, and presented to representatives of each community present. Those who were not present will receive theirs when Kieran visits them.

We also welcomed Rt Revd Dr Toby Howarth, Bishop of Bradford, who is part of the coordinating group behind the Church of England's new resources on identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage - Living In Love and Faith. He was there in 'listening mode' but gave a blessing at the end, after taking off his shoes as he recognised he was standing on 'holy ground'.

The blessing was adapted from Prayers for an Inclusive Church by Steven Shakespeare:

May the outrageous welcome of the Father accept us for who we are;
May the incarnation of the Word touch and hold us close;
May the wandering of the Spirit help us risk ourselves for love;
And may the blessing of God,
Life-giver, Pain-bearer, Love-maker,
be with you now and always. Amen.

After the event, many stayed to share more stories over a simple supper of soup, bread and rainbow cake!

Unfortunately our photographer was unavailable at the last moment, so thanks for photos go to Warren Hartley, Nick Campbell, David Austin, Danielle Dawkins, Yew Fook Sam and Wesley Church Centre in Chester.