I'm Jo and I'm the Hub Leader at Oasis Bath. That basically means I oversee everything Oasis Hub Bath does as a church and community charity, alongside a wonderful team of staff and volunteers. We are a church so we meet together on Sundays, and our charity delivers a range of community work including a food pantry, cooking course, warm space and trauma informed yoga class. We also host the work of other organisations in our building such as addiction support groups and a mental health crisis service (Bath Mind's ‘Breathing Space').

I've had a background in youth and community work and I've been involved mostly in projects that have done things a little differently, or engaged with people groups that might be forgotten, marginalised or misunderstood. Outside of work I love to spend time writing and performing poetry and spoken word. I also enjoy photography, kickboxing and pretty much any kind of cake (doughnuts are best).

I am one of those people, so I totally understand people's nerves and reservations. Sadly churches and other faith spaces historically haven't exactly been safe for LGBTQ+ people and at Oasis Church Bath we're determined to help tell a new story. We have what's known as an ‘open and progressive' theology, which is a growing movement within Christianity that values a faith that's constantly evolving, changing and growing. That's led us to a place where we are fully affirming and celebrate all sexualities and gender identities.

I think this is a really important question because there's a huge difference in my opinion between the words inclusive and affirming. Of course it's great to be included and to aim for full inclusion, this is one of our ethos values at Oasis. But, it's possible to be included and to still experience prejudice, discrimination, and heteronormativity. For me, being included sometimes makes me feel like someone is letting me into their space where they hold the power. Being affirmed and celebrated - where I'm seen as someone that's equal to others, someone with unique gifts, insights and perspectives to bring, someone with just as much value and worth as anyone else, is a beautiful thing. At Oasis this is what we aim for, so that all people can thrive and flourish. We have a banner at the front of our church that says ‘come as you are' and we really mean that! But more than that we're a community of people who want to come as we are, but move beyond that into all we can become. We can't do that without LGBTQ+ people – without them we are incomplete and insufficient.

First of all, we say sorry. On our stall at Bath Pride we'll be giving out a flyer that says this, and explains why we're different. We recognise huge harm has been done (and is still being done) to LGBTQ+ people by the church and the first step in being safe and affirming is to own this. I'd also say it's some big things, but a million little things! So the obvious stuff like having LGBTQ+ people involved at every level of what we do including senior leadership. Employing me as the Hub Leader (I'm gay and married) was a pretty big statement that the church is affirming! But I think it's also the little things – trying not to be heteronormative in our church service content, changing what we do each week to show we value and reflect diversity, not always using male pronouns when we talk about God, not having loads of gendered events that reinforce gender stereotypes and allowing people to choose their pronouns when they sign-up to be part of our database. These sound like small things but when combined I think those are the things that help people experience us as safe and affirming. Finally, we're always learning. We have a long way to go and there are always things we can be doing better. We try to provide regular opportunities for people to help us improve what we do and we've learned so much by listening to the lived experience and advice of others.

For us, our faith is actually very little to do with Sundays! Sundays are important in that our services provide that central gathering point for us to meet as a community, but what's more important is how we live out our faith in the world during the week. Every decision we make, where we buy things from, who we align ourselves with, what we spend our time doing, those are the opportunities to show what our faith looks like and Pride is part of that.

I'd say there are three main reasons we're coming – integrity, protest and celebration. It's easy to say you're affirming and inclusive and words sometimes come a lot easier than action. This is our chance (to use a Christian phrase!) to practice what we preach, to get out there, show up and participate to show this is important to us. I'd also reverse that phrase and say it gives us an opportunity to preach what we practice – to tell others we're affirming and safe and that every church can be too. The march specifically is important because it's essential that protest, awareness and campaigning remain at the heart of Pride. As a society we're not where we need to be – I think particularly of the experiences of trans people at the moment – and there is so much more work to be done, around the world and in this country. We need to speak up about that and raise awareness so we can keep moving forward. We're not free until everyone is free and our liberation is inextricably linked to the liberation of others. Finally, Pride is a chance to celebrate and we love a good party! As Christians we follow Jesus, which means we look to his example and life to show us how to live here and now. This was a guy who turned water into wine and who spent a lot of his time eating, drinking and hanging out with people who partied! There is so much to be thankful for, to celebrate and to enjoy about queerness in all its colour and beauty and brilliance, and we're looking forward to celebrating with people who really get that.

You can find us on The Paragon near the bottom of Lansdown Road, and the best way to contact us is through our website at oasisbath.org. You can find us on Instagram and X as Oasis Bath, and Facebook as Oasis Hub Bath.