Faith in the Community: Join us around God's Open Table
by the Rev Wendy May Jacobs, associate priest, St Mary's and St Faith's, Portsea parish
I love being a guest. I love being welcomed and looked after, cooked for, and shown hospitality. And I also love to be a host – to welcome people, make sure that they are comfortable and feel safe and have what they need.
I want to tell you about a beautiful thing I’m involved in. It’s called ‘Open Table’ and is a community of Christians who gather monthly to worship together, hosted by LGBTQ+ Christians and their friends.
We meet in the hall of Holy Trinity Church, Fareham, and people come from all over the Solent each month to be together.
We have some great musicians – Sue, Pete, Sophie and others – and the singing is always great! We share Holy Communion, hence the name – God’s ‘Open Table’.We’re made up of all sorts of Christians – Methodist, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Church of England, and others who aren’t part of any church.
There are plenty of LGBTQ+ people in our Portsmouth churches, including some leaders. Often they are warmly welcomed and a valued part of every aspect of church life. Sometimes they are welcomed, as long as they remain single.
But one thing our churches have in common... LGBTQ+ people are usually the guests, rarely the hosts. They are often welcome and cherished guests, other times – perhaps – they are guests who may sense a bit of uneasiness.
It helps when churches are open and honest about where they stand around gender and sexuality, as historically many LGBTQ+ people have suffered deeply from being rejected or misunderstood by the church. As Christians, this is something for us to grieve with our whole hearts.
But Open Table is different. At Open Table it is LGBT+ people who are the hosts. This brings a quiet sense of unconditional belonging and safety. In general the Church is good at issuing invitations, sometimes less good at receiving the hospitality of others.
Would you like to be a guest at Open Table? You would be made so welcome! Our motto is ‘Come as you are’, because we believe that this is how God calls us – and how else can we come?
We meet at 5pm on the second Sunday of every month – our next meeting is on December 14th. We would love to see you. Just come as you are. To find out more, see: www.opentable.lgbt / [email protected]