Open Table – A Place for Everyone

“Glory to God, whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.’  Ephesians 3:20

Since 2018, the Open Table community at Wesley Church Centre, Chester, has been discovering what can happen when God's grace works through a community of welcome.  LGBT people, their families, friends and allies gather monthly to explore faith, encounter God and find a place where they are welcomed and affirmed.

Open Table Chester brings together 20-30 people on the second Sunday evening of each month, moving to the third Sunday evening in August to celebrate Chester Pride.

Some belong to Wesley’s Sunday congregation; others come from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. Some have a long-established Christian faith, while others are exploring faith for the first time or finding their way back to church after difficult experiences. We share a desire to discover what it means to follow Jesus in a fellowship where everyone can belong.

Open Table Chester is part of the national Open Table Network, a growing partnership of Christian communities across England and Wales which genuinely welcome and affirm LGBT people, our families and friends, and anyone who wants to belong in an accepting, loving community.

The name ‘Open Table’ expresses the heart of our Christian faith. At the Communion table, we encounter Christ’s grace, receive spiritual nourishment and share in the life of the Church. In the Methodist tradition, Holy Communion is a means of grace: a gift through which God meets us, sustains us and draws us deeper into Christ’s love. The open table is both a sign of welcome and an invitation to grow in faith and discipleship.

Open Table Chester is also a story of Christians working together. Hosted by Wesley Church Centre, the community is supported by ecumenical partners in local United Reformed and Anglican churches, and includes people from other traditions too. We also give thanks for the newly established Open Table community in Runcorn, which launched in January 2026, meeting on the first Sunday evening each month at Halton Trinity Church.

These relationships remind us that welcome and inclusion are part of our shared calling to embody God’s love.

Chester Pride is an important opportunity to make that welcome visible beyond the church building. Open Table has a stall at Pride, and members join Wesley’s presence in the march, publicly celebrating the dignity and worth of LGBT people.

That welcome can transform lives. Craig Bailey discovered Open Table Chester after visiting its Pride stall and was baptised and confirmed as a member of the Methodist Church on Palm Sunday 2025. Reflecting on his journey, Craig wrote: ‘I feel I have found myself, and in doing so I have also found God.’ His story reminds us that finding a place to belong can open the way to a deeper journey of faith.

We give thanks for everyone who makes this community possible, and for all who have found friendship, encouragement and a deeper connection with God around the table. We cannot know what God may bring about as people discover welcome, friendship and the freedom to grow in faith. But, as the Open Table prayer says, we give ‘Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.’

Kieran Bohan

Kieran Bohan is a part-time student presbyter based at Wesley Church Centre, Chester until Summer 2027. He is also Director of the Open Table Network.

Find Open Table Chester on Facebook: facebook.com/groups/opentablechester

Find Open Table Runcorn on Facebook: facebook.com/opentableruncorn

Read more about the Open Table Network: opentable.lgbt