Monthly Archives: March 2021

Day three of Mission Council opened on 17 March with worship led by the Revd Helen Everard, Chaplain to the Moderators of the United Reformed Church General Assembly.

Session five

Paper A2: General Assembly 2021
The Assembly Officers shared their thinking about the decision to hold a virtual General Assembly in 2021 instead of a regular meeting.

Major events planned for this summer have been cancelled or postponed, including the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Glastonbury and the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is taking place virtually this year.

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Day two of the spring meeting of Mission Council was held digitally on 16 March. 

Opening prayer and Bible study
The Revd Helen Everard, chaplain to the Moderators of General Assembly, led worship on the second morning of Mission Council. Rosie Martin, a member of the URC Equalities Committee, read from the story of the woman at the well in John chapter 4, and the Revd Samantha Sheehan, a special category minister working as a university chaplain in the Yorkshire Synod, offered a reflection on the passage.

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The spring meeting of Mission Council, the executive body of United Reformed Church (URC) General Assembly, opened on 15 March. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the meeting was held digitally.

Opening worship
After a welcome from Peter Pay, one of the Moderators of the URC General Assembly, Mission Council began with worship.

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The spring meeting of the United Reformed Church (URC) Mission Council is due to take place digitally from 15-17 March.

Mission Council is the executive body of the General Assembly and meets twice a year to reflect on and make decisions about the day-to-day life of the Church. 

Topics on the agenda include new ways to access funding for lay discipleship development, new pathways for people to prepare to become worship leaders and accredited lay preachers, and the pension fund deficit.

The news pages, Facebook page and Twitter account will include updates on the main decisions made throughout the meeting with a daily report being posted after the close of business each day.

Mission Council papers can be viewed and downloaded here.

_{Published: 12 March 2021}

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Congratulations to the United Reformed Church West Midlands Synod which has become the first across the denomination to achieve an A Rocha UK Bronze Eco Synod award.

In its award application, the Synod evidenced a long-term commitment to reducing its environmental impact by rewriting their eco-policy which was approved last October, and agreeing clear mission pledges to reduce their carbon footprint and reporting annually on progress.

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While grateful for the advances in technology which have allowed many people to remain connected during the pandemic, United Reformed Church Related Community Worker, Jo Patterson, says we must be careful not to exclude those who do not have access to the internet or adequate technology.

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“The Church has developed its online presence wonderfully well during the past year. We are probably very well placed to host virtual hustings of all the groups in our communities.” The Right Rev Dr Martin Fair, Moderator of the Church … Continue reading →

The report into the conditions at Napier Barracks, a former army base where asylum seekers are now detained, makes appalling reading. The Government’s own inspectors set out how asylum seekers are still being forced into unsafe, unclean and unfit accommodation. It … Continue reading →

As lockdown restrictions and governments’ stay-at-home requirements begin to gradually ease across the UK, the United Reformed Church (URC) Synod Moderators provide updated advice to churches.

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In this Budget, the Chancellor faced the difficult task of setting financial and economic priorities at a time when unprecedented support has been needed, and continues to be needed, to help the country get through the pandemic. As well as … Continue reading →