7 September 2020
We are pleased to announce that at the Annual General Meeting on 5th September 2020, The European Forum of LGBT Christian Groups unanimously voted to admit Gathering Voices to their membership.
Gathering Voices was formed in 2017 by members of the Evangelical Fellowship of Lesbian and Gay Christians, Accepting Evangelicals, the Open Table Network, and other partners (including Stonewall, Sybils, Oasis UK, Two:23 Network, OneBodyOneFaith).
Gathering Voices is passionate about improving the welcome and affirmation for all Christian LGBTQIA+ people. We do this by embracing collaborative working with LGBTQIA+ people and organisations, and their allies by creating safe spaces to enable, strengthen and challenge inclusion.
We continue a UK presence on the European Forum that until recently included the Evangelical Fellowship, which formally disbanded in 2020 but continues in a changed role as part of the steering group of Gathering Voices.
The European Forum was founded after Émile Letertre, a Roman Catholic priest from the French group David & Jonathan invited groups from all over Europe to the first gathering of LGBT+ Christians in Paris 1982. The first meeting was attended by 16 people from seven groups over five countries. Since then, the European Forum has grown and currently has 40 member groups from 20 countries. European Forum secretary, Dr Carol Shepherd was a keynote speaker at Gathering Voices 2019: Extending the table.
Note for editors
Gathering Voices is a collaborative network of Christian organisations that encourage churches to be fully inclusive and affirming of all people without regard of gender and sexuality. We aim to run a conference around October each year and where possible we work with grass-roots organisations within the locality of the conference. The 2020 conference will be virtual as a response to the continuing pandemic.
The European Forum of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Christian Groups is an ecumenical association of LGBT+ Christian groups in Europe that aims to achieve equality and inclusion for LGBT+ people within and through Christian churches, other religious bodies and multilateral organisations.
The Forum usually organises an annual conference in a European city arranged and hosted by local member groups, although for 2020 this has been held online.