‘Will it be Open Table?’ The question that started a movement
The graphic created by the Methodist Church for Kieran’s blog post, showing Kieran (right) with Christians At Pride in Liverpool in 2018 including the former Archdeacon of Liverpool, the former Chair of Liverpool Methodist District (centre), the current Archdeacon of Liverpool and former Bishop of Liverpool (right of centre).
FEBRUARY is LGBT+ History Month, an annual celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and non-binary history. It was first celebrated in February 2005 - 2025 marks its 20th year.
The Methodist Church in Britain has published resources for LGBT+ History Month since 2022. This year they asked the Director of the Open Table Network, Kieran Bohan, to share the story of how Open Table began and has grown from one to many communities.
The blog reflects on the journey from a gathering of just six LGBTQIA+ people in 2008 (of whom Kieran our Director was one) to a community from across north west England and north Wales because there was clearly a need not being met locally. From there came ‘the surprise of the abundant growth of this ministry’ since 2015 as Open Table has become a growing network of communities across England and Wales.
As Kieran is now training part-time to be ordained as a Methodist minister, he also shares ‘the surprise of my call to ministry in the Methodist Church’.
