Holy Trinity Northwood Any Questions: 30 August 2026

There were 8 inaugural participants in this first HTN Any Questions session. Folks picked up coffee in the hall and then made their way back into church where we formed a circle of chairs in the nave area. I wasn’t sure if there would be any questions in the box, as it had been empty right up until the last moment, but I was pleasantly surprised at the 8 o’clock service to find that two questions had been posted ?

We began our discussion with these two questions, but our conversation ran much wider and was a wonderful exchange of ideas and information. We will definitely be running HTN Any Questions again. The next one will be on the last Sunday in November at 11.30am after the 10 o’clock service. I hope to see you there!

Our first question was as follows:

1. Please can you explain why we have to have all these visual reminders about LGBT? (reference to the rainbow Lego People).

I began by explaining that the ‘Everyone’s Awesome’ Lego people were in church following the Lego themed holiday club and, although the rainbow might connect people to the LGBTQIA+ community, for me it makes a much broader statement about the rich (especially racial) diversity of God’s creation and the uniquely beautiful identity of each and every person made in God’s image, as each Lego person in the set is unique and different (not just in colour). Indeed, they had last been in church for Racial Justice Sunday.

We then had a conversation about what other kind of symbol(s) might be used to represent all of the various minority groups/ subjects we had explored over the last few years (e.g. racial justice, mental health, dementia, bereavement, neurodiversity, age, visual impairment and disability). We concluded that there was no one symbol which captured all of these groups, and some felt that the rainbow people were perhaps the best attempt at a universally inclusive symbol.

I also reminded everyone that, sadly, the LGBTQIA community is still at risk in many churches of being shunned best and openly discriminated against or even abused at worst. Even seemingly friendly colleagues here in Willesden, have deliberately chosen not to share space or a platform with me because I am gay.  We might find it hard to believe, and may know this church to be different, but members of the LGBTQIA+ community really are unwelcome in many churches.

Indeed, this is an argument for being on a list of churches committed to welcoming everyone regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality et cetera. (There are more in 1000 churches on such a list nationally, but only one is listed in our deanery!) We might all know what our Church community is like, and we are probably appalled at the idea of anyone being turned away because of these things. Yet how would someone from outside our church know? How would they know it’s safe to enter?

One of our participants shared how cautious there were to enter unknown spaces, fearful (in their case) of their family members experiencing racial discrimination. Indeed, the reason they joined our church was because they perceived it was a church inclusive of difference, open-minded and kind. I feel like this is something to be celebrated!

Another participant said they really liked the rainbow people and would like it to stay. As a compromise, I promised to leave it up one more week before returning it to the vicarage.

We then turned to our second question:

2.  Would we be able to, at the end of the sermon, have 10 minutes for questions? Or say, ‘if you want to stay for 10 minutes after the service, I will be answering questions’?

I explained that, personally, I would be very glad to have questions raised during the service, and I reminisced with the group about a placement I did in Oxford in a small mission Church where they exactly this, and where preachers where often heckled! However, our congregation here is much larger, and so such an informal approach might not work here. It would also make the service longer than otherwise intended. Nonetheless, I promised to take this idea to the ministry team and explore the idea further, perhaps considering more interactive sermon formats, particularly in all age worship, or to make a way for people to speak with the preacher after the service.

A big thank you again to everyone involved in our conversation, much food for thought, and it was great to be with you!

Ann Lynes, Vicar