Radical Welcome – course for churches exploring inclusivity

Church leaders and social action teams are invited to join a four-week Radical Welcome course to begin to explore how we can be not only more inclusive, but “radically welcoming” to everyone in our communities.

Together Liverpool is partnering with the Open Table Network to deliver this free series, running every Monday night in June.

We’ll be guided through the sessions by Warren Hartley, Open Table Liverpool LGBTQIA+ Ministry Facilitator, meeting at St Bride’s Church, Liverpool city centre, from 7.30pm-8.30pm on June 3^rd, 10^th, 17^th and 24^th.

The course is suitable for church leaders and leadership teams of any denomination, size or tradition in the Diocese of Liverpool area.

All churches think that they are welcoming and friendly; Radical Welcome encourages and enables your church to think through its welcome from the perspective of being truly inclusive.

The course encourages churches to considers all issues of inclusion and access including disability, LGBTQIA+, mental health, poverty, race, gender, and neurodiversity. Warren will facilitate four sessions using Radical Welcome course materials from Inclusive Church to explore:

1. How did we get here - An opportunity for people to get to know one another, to reflect on the nature and identity of their church – and begin to identify how inclusive it is.
2. Remembering Exclusion – Reflecting on our own memories of exclusion and the experiences of others as a basis for considering “what does it mean to be welcomed?”
3. How radical are we in our welcome? To help people begin to see how being Radically Welcoming might impact in their context.
4. The journey to Radical Welcome - Exploring where our church is on the journey to Radical Welcome – are we inviting, inclusive or radically welcoming? We kook forwards to the next steps churches may wish to take.

We will hear about examples such as how community consultations led to both the Open Table Network growing out of work at St Brides’ church in Liverpool, and a Roma community outreach started at St Dunstan’s also in the city.

We will explore the power of language and how seemingly small actions such as using ‘big print’ service sheets, or praying for a Pride event, can make a huge difference to promoting inclusivity.

The aim is for churches to use the course as a first step to develop their own pathway, and further resources will be signposted relevant to support these journeys.

This is a four week course with sessions running from 7.30pm-8.30pm on June 3^rd, 10^th, 17^th and 24^th. Please let us know if you can't attend all four sessions - email: james.green@togetherliverpool.org.uk