Sean and Gillian, along with their 4 boys, Levi, Liam, Isaac and Brandon, are passionate about building the local church in Ireland and seeing people receive hope and life change through Jesus Christ.

The story of Open Arms began on April 4th 2000 in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, when PJ and Elizabeth Booth started a small church with 30 people. That small church expanded and grew to reach over 700 people today.

Newbridge is Sean’s hometown and he was there from the very beginning along with his parents who founded Open Arms. Gillian joined soon after in 2004 and experienced transformational life change in giving her life to Jesus and committing to the local church.

Sean and Gillian met in Open Arms and began serving as Youth Pastors together in 2006. It was then that God called them both to full time ministry and they made the commitment to give their lives to building a life giving church in Ireland.

In 2011, God laid the vision on their heart to plant a large and life giving church in the city of Dublin. After 7 years of learning, growing and developing as leaders and pastors (as well as starting a family) they launched Open Arms Dublin on March 11th 2018 in South Dublin.

Open Arms has experienced tremendous growth in both Newbridge and South Dublin, and most recently through our online location.

Sean and Gillian officially became Lead Pastors of both locations on April 5th 2020. They have a burning desire to see Jesus build his church in Ireland, and they have a vision to see Open Arms continue to reach thousands of people for Jesus.