‘Queer & Christian’ – Book Tour
On Saturday 15 November, join Brandan Robertson, hosted by OneBodyOneFaith, for an afternoon of discussion, audience Q&A, and book signing for his most recent book, with music from Northern Proud Voices.
Find out moreOctober & November 2025 – Before planning your visit, please see our ‘Visitor Notices’ page for any temporary changes to opening hours and accessibility updates. Click here to visit.
DONATE
NEWCASTLE CATHEDRAL
NEWCASTLE CATHEDRAL
A BEACON OF LIGHT
A Radical Welcome: Beginning My Journey as LGBTQI+ Chaplain
Published September 2025
The Bishop of Newcastle will commission two new LGBTQI+ volunteer chaplains, Izzy McDonald-Booth and David Casati, at a special Evensong on Sunday 21 September at 4pm. Izzy and David will work in the Diocese of Newcastle’s LGBTQI+ Chaplaincy alongside Lead Chaplain, Revd Emma Duff.
In this article, David writes about the Chaplaincy and the transformative power of creating spaces of radical welcome.
The day is approaching! I am very excited to be commissioned as volunteer LGBTQI+ Chaplain, and to witness how the Chaplaincy will develop in the future. As a queer person in the Church, I have seen and experienced what it means to be made an unwanted guest at the table. This doesn’t need to be blatantly obvious; it mostly happens very subtly, causing pain and rejection, and not allowing gifts to flourish in the Church. This Chaplaincy is here to say that we encourage and affirm the gifts and ministries of those who belong to the LGBTQI+ community.
We offer a ministry of support and a ministry of visibility. Being visible is just as important as being quietly supportive of individuals and communities. The lack of visible representation in my younger years, and a culture surrounding me where being queer was not acceptable, made it impossible for me to find somebody to talk to until later in life, and undermined my self-confidence.
But no matter what some people in my life said, did or failed to do, their actions, words and failings couldn’t penetrate my core identity as a beloved child of God to the point of breaking me.
However, this is not everybody’s experience. Some of us are deeply wounded by past and present situations of not being accepted or affirmed, some of us to the point of developing internalised hatred towards themselves.
By creating the LGBTQI+ Chaplaincy and by allowing it to grow with volunteer Chaplains, our Diocese is making a clear statement. The LGBTQI+ Chaplaincy is here to be a safe space of radical welcome and acceptance. It is here for peer support, for mutual recognition, and prayerful walking together.
We are here to listen, to pray, to discern together, to walk alongside, to be visible with our own experiences and witness. We are here to be part of the ministry and mission of Christ, sharing the radical love of God. I am so delighted to be part of this journey.
You are warmly invited to come and celebrate with us as David and Izzy are commissioned.
Please click here to RSVP if you would like to attend the service in person.
The service will also be live-streamed via our YouTube channel (see below).