The Table

The first book written by Paul Bayes as Bishop of Liverpool offers a radical new vision of the Church as a table, built by Jesus the carpenter and stretching down every street and into every home. At this table, everyone sits, eats, worships, agrees, and disagrees together, as equals. The Church of England used to be in "a spiritually dangerous place: cushioned by privilege, in the middle of our society and at the top." Today, however, it is more often "on the edge and underneath—marginalized, not always taken seriously, sometimes mocked." But that this is good news, because on the edge and underneath is where the people are. Equality and justice are at the heart of The Table—justice that does not come without struggle, patience, and quiet perseverance, as demonstrated by the Hillsborough families in Liverpool over the last three decades. Bishop Paul argues that a Church that knows justice and Jesus is a Church that can best accommodate our rich and diverse communities and embody the hopes of future generations.