Executive Director Appointed

Executive Director Appointed

Two years to the day since the launch of OneBodyOneFaith, we are delighted to be able to announce that we have appointed Luke Dowding to the new role of Executive Director.  Our Chair of Trustees, Peter Leonard, said, “The Trustees are delighted that Luke has accepted the invitation to become OneBodyOneFaith’s new Executive Director. He arrives at a very exciting time in the organisation’s long history and brings a range of skills and experience which will build on and develop the excellent work done by out going Chief Executive Officer Tracey Byrne. The Trustees would like to thank Tracey for her commitment and dedication and are very much looking forward to the future under Luke’s direction.”

For those if you who don’t know him already (here’s a clip of him at our Rainbow Awards in 2017) Luke has a degree in Theology from Spurgeon’s College and a Masters in Biblical Studies from King’s College London.  A Governor of Northern Baptist College he also finds time to act as a Stonewall School and Faith Role Model and in a faith context, as Co-Director of Affirm he’s a pioneer of LGBT+ inclusion within the Baptist Union of Great Britain. He is Co-Founder of Soho Gathering, and Faith & Belief Representative and Deputy Chair of the Community Advisory Board for London Pride and Committee Chair for Christians at Pride in London.

Luke is a fervent campaigner and fundraiser for LGBT+ rights in Albania, believing that at the core of Christian identity is the inclusion of the marginalised regardless of their beliefs or orientation, and he was recently appointed the first Patron for “Streha”: the first shelter for LGBTQ+ homeless young people in the Balkans.

Luke will also bring to OneBodyOneFaith a breadth business management experience from his 8 years of working within the advertising industry in London, where he now provides Inclusion and Diversity training for corporate, charity and faith bodies.

Luke is married to Steven, the first same-gender marriage to be held at Bloomsbury Central Baptist and the first within the wider Baptist Union of Great Britain.

If you haven’t yet joined us, now might be a time to find out more.  See what our members have to say about what OneBodyOneFaith means to me.  Membership makes our work possible;  there is still much to do but many opportunities for us to advance our vision of inclusion and affirmation for LGBTQ+ people;  will you help us make that vision a reality?