Diocesan website promotes church tea party for participants in gay pride festival

Anglican Churches in Brighton have created a range of inclusive events to celebrate the UK’s biggest Pride Festival at the weekend on Saturday 6 August.

St John’s Church near Preston Park and St. Luke’s Prestonville are among a number of churches across the City with open doors to celebrate all that the Pride Festival stands for.

St John’s will be hosting a special service for all  LGBT people, their family, friends and supporters at 2pm and will open its doors at 1pm with space for picnics, free refreshments and access to toilets. To download a poster take a  look at their website here

St Luke’s is holding a Pride Teaparty on Saturday  from 5pm-8pm and members of the church will be taking part in the parade in the morning and attending a celebration service at St. John’s church Knoyle Road at 2pm.

The tea party is designed as an alternative to the party atmosphere of the event in the park and will offer a space for conversation and sharing of experiences around faith and sexuality.

Revd. Martin Poole said: “Here at St. Luke’s we want everyone to know that God loves and affirms them and there is a welcome here that reflects that. We acknowledge that there is a complicated relationship between sexuality and the church which has often been difficult and we want to give people an opportunity to talk about this in an open and non-judgemental environment. A tea party felt like just the right sort of atmosphere to have these kinds of conversations and will provide a place for those who might not be attracted to the exuberance of the festival in the park.”

The event will also be the launch of the Brighton Hub of ‘Diverse Church’ a community for LGBT Christians. Visit www.diversechurch.website or go along to find out more.St. Luke’s is a family friendly Church of England church with a main service every Sunday at 10.30am.

For more information go to their website at www.stlukesonline.co.uk or email info@stlukesonline.co.uk