What might be the nation’s smallest Protestant denomination — if you can call it that — has hired its first part-time director.
Open Table Network is now in its third year and has approved ordination credentials for 50 ministers in that time. The group is a small collection of clergy who seek community and credentials often after being expelled from their home denominations for their views on LGBTQ inclusion.
The group’s website says its goal is “to assist faith leaders in their journey of becoming people of love within communities of love.”
Toward that end, Open Table Network provides ordination credentials to progressive religious leaders including pastors, spiritual directors, hospital chaplains, military chaplains and hospice chaplains. The group is a recognized endorser with the Board of Chaplaincy Certification and the Association of Professional Chaplains.
Jonathan J. Foster
Now, the network has named Jonathan J. Foster as its first director. He’s a church planter, writer and podcaster who serves as chief advocate for lovehaiti.org, an organization doing education and health care in overlooked and underserved areas.
He holds a doctorate in theology from Northwind Seminary, where he studied under Thomas Jay Oord, one of the group’s founders. After thirty years of ministry he was asked by his former denomination to surrender his credentials because of his insistence on full LGBTQ inclusion. That led him to co-found OpenTable Network.
In a letter to constituents, board President Dana Hicks said hiring a part-time director was necessary due to growth.
Dana Hicks
“We started this network as a bunch of ecclesiastical nomads filing paperwork and creating websites in our spare time,” he said. “But now that we have grown, it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to stay on top of the administrative snowball.”
The need for ministers to find a new ecclesial home is much greater than anticipated, he added. “There are so many who have been kicked out of their ecclesiastical homes for having boundaries of grace that were considered way too wide. Our connection to this ‘Island of Misfit Toys’ has been authentic and meaningful. We realized we had unintentionally stumbled upon a means of grace. What we are doing is critical to many people’s spiritual journeys.”
For now, Foster will function as the “pastor of pastors” in the group, Hicks said.
Note: The U.S.-based Open Table Network should not be confused with a UK group bearing the same name.
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