Contacts for Safeguarding People who are LGBT+ in the Methodist Church
The Methodist Church are not responsible for content of external websites:
Dignity and Worth
Dignity and Worth are a cooperative group of Methodists & Wesleyans – LGBTQI+ and Straight, all genders and ethnicities, lay and ordained, from Britain, Ireland and around the world – committed to act for Gospel justice in our church and society.
Churches that have registered to conduct marriage of same-sex couples.
Dignity and Worth have started a list of those Methodist Churches that have signed up to do marriage of same-sex couples.
Resources & Study Material - Dignity & Worth (dignityandworth.org.uk)
Diverse Church
Diverse Church is a charity which provides pastoral care to support and encourage LGBT+ Christians to grow in their faith, as well as seeking to mobilise communities to act as local and online sources of peer support and encouragement for LGBT+ Christians to grow in their faith and promoting theological discussion in the wider church through enabling LGBT+ Christians to share their stories.
Website: Diverse Church
Gendered Intelligence
Gendered Intelligence, established in 2008, is a registered charity that exists to increase understandings of gender diversity and improve trans people’s quality of life.
They run a support line via telephone (0330 3559 678), What’sApp chat (07592 650 496) and email (Email Gendered Intelligence Support Line) open from 2-7pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 10am to 3pm on Wednesdays and Fridays. The helpline is for anyone who is personally impacted (including family and friends) by the NHS gender care waiting list and is in need of support and information.
Website: Gendered Intelligence
Open Table Network (OTN)
The Open Table Network (OTN) is a growing partnership of ecumenical Christian worship communities across England & Wales which welcome and affirm people who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, & Asexual (LGBTQIA), their families, friends & anyone who wants to belong in an accepting, loving community. OTN is run by, and for, LGBTQIA+ people, their friends and families. We meet, in person and online, hosted by inclusive churches. If you would like to find out more, please visit the OpenTable website or email OTN Coordinator Kieran Bohan.
Website Open Table Network
Stonewall
Stonewall runs an email service, providing information and signposting support to the LGBTQ+ community and allies, on a range of issues from mental health and wellbeing, discrimination at work, hate crime, marriage and civil partnerships, fertility and parenthood to immigration and asylum. They seek to enable LGBTQ+ people to remove barriers to accessing their potential and dealing with inequity through effective signposting for support and advice, providing options for them to consider as they move forward in their life or offer support to a member of the LGBTQ+ community, for example, a friend, family member or colleague.
Two:23
Two23 are a Christian LGBT+ group (the name is taken from a verse from the Old Testament prophet Hosea, who uses his own life as an allegory for God’s promise of love to the outsider, the excluded, the person considered a 'nobody':
I will say to those called ‘Not my people’, ‘You are my people’; and they will say ‘You are my God’.
Hosea 2:23
They are a network of Christians, connected by LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) issues, who meet five times a year in a central London location on a Saturday afternoon (also opportunity to join online). The meetings involve some prayer and worship as well as a talk, and of course creating lots of opportunities for people to connect with new people, as well as catching up with old friends.
Website: Two:23