Day two of the 2025 meeting of the United Reformed Church General Assembly at the Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick open with worship led by the Revd Andrew Mann-Ray and Andrea Heron, the chaplains to the General Assembly Moderator, the Revd Tim Meadows.
The reading was from Romans 4, about Abraham’s hopeful faith in God’s promise. Andrew shared his poem “Hope is a four-letter word”.
The Moderator, the Revd Tim Meadows, introduced Dr Francesca Nuzzolese, Professor of Pastoral Care at the Waldensian Theological School in Rome, who led a Bible study on the words of Jesus in Matthew: ‘Come to me all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest.’
Dr Nuzzolese invited members of Assembly to receive those words as spoken to them here and now. Are any of us, she asked, carrying a burden, needing the kind of rest that can sustain our holy work of giving hope and care and strength?
Those of us who minister to others, Dr Nuzzolese said, need to be first fully present to ourselves. Burn out, exhaustion and spiritual despair are among the deadliest dangers for those in ministry.
Why are those called to care often the most reluctant to receive care? Professional care givers need to be care receivers.
When weariness becomes chronic, it cannot be fixed by a couple of weeks off but requires something much deeper: repenting the hubris of acting as if we were indispensable, a martyrdom complex, masochism.
What the world needs most is our presence filled with the Spirit.
Dr Nuzzolese reflected on Jesus’ invitation, ‘Come’. Care begins with receiving not doing. We cannot offer what we do not have. Rest is not selfish, but the best act of care we can offer, including care to those closest to us. Rest is not a luxury or a reward but spiritual obedience.
When we receive rest, we are not alone but yoked with Christ. Rest is part of ministry. She said she wanted to remind us as gently as Jesus does: yield to the invitation to go often to Jesus.
Session three
Paper B1 Children’s and Youth Work Committee Final Report
At General Assembly 2025, the Revd Samantha Sheehan, Convenor of the Children’s and Youth Work Committee (CYWC) reflected on seven years of strategic work and introduced a renewed vision for the future. Rooted in the call to “fan into flame the gift of God” (2 Tim 1:6), the committee highlighted the importance of nurturing thriving, inclusive, intergenerational churches where children and young people are central to God’s mission.
Framed around the biblical call to “fan into flame the gift of God” (2 Timothy 1:6), Samantha emphasised that tradition should be understood not as “worshipping the ashes” but as “tending the flame.” Since 2018, CYWC has focused on strengthening congregations in five key areas: faith, community, identity, engagement, and growth. Milestones have included Youth Assembly, training programmes like Youth Mental Health First Aid and Godly Play, and the creation of practical resources such as Go with Greta, Faith Adventures, Youth Mental Health First Aid for churches of all sizes.
As CYWC hands over its work to new structures, the new wider Faith in Action committee, CYWC calls on the Church to continue empowering young people, embedding their voices in decision-making, and building a truly intergenerational future for the URC. In light of this, Assembly was reminded of two key resolutions previously passed:
- “To consistently mindful of the voice of children and young people and of the impact of decisions on future generations. To enable this, all councils of the church are encouraged to review how they are able to hear and respond to children and young people.
- Recognise work with children, young people and families as ministry.
Education and Learning presentation
Pippa Hodgson, Convenor of the Education & Learning Committee, made what could be the final report from the Committee (subject to other resolutions at the Assembly).
“Looking at the Education & Learning General Assembly reports since 2005, it is quite remarkable how education and learning has changed,” Pippa began.
“Collaboration between and across Synods, Resource Centres for Learning (RCLs) and those at Church House, not only for the three Education For Ministry (EM) levels, but also in developing a range of programmes to meet the needs of all has been a notable success. Not always without bumps along the way!”
There have been significant changes to the funding of higher education in England, Pippa continued, developments such as blended and virtual learning, working collaboratively with the RCLs and across Church House Committees, and the expectations of EM1 education.
Wider programmes, such as the Assembly Accredited Lay Preachers programme and its predecessor TLS, and Stepwise have provided a Reformed ‘platform’ for those who wish to serve their churches as preachers and for some to develop their call to candidate for ministry.
Difficult decisions still need to be made, however, “but let us not lose sight of the positives: the opportunities and the gifts that education and learning as a whole brings to the URC and beyond.”
“As we move into a new committee structure, and as other things change, it is right that the education and learning of the whole people of God is integrated across the work of the Church. It is not something for a separate committee, rather education, learning and personal growth is ‘everybody’s business’.”
Paper BDFH1 Update on a Ministry of Children’s and Youth Work
Revd Samantha Sheehan also presented the final joint paper from the work group in the form of Resolution 20 which is itself in response to Resolution 13 that was presented and resolved at GA 2023, inviting CYWC, Ministries and Education and Learning to explore what would be needed to introduce a formal Children’s, Youth and Families ministry. Resource Centres for Learning also joined the conversation.
An update was brought to Assembly Executive earlier this year, however it was noted that there were questions remaining regarding the proposals, therefore the task group considered alternative proposals including Assembly Accredited Children, Youth and Families Workers. Although RCLs provide training for Children, Youth and Families Workers, the task group struggled to see who would come forward and how those offering this ministry, could be supported.
The final report therefore acknowledges and commends the training programme offered through RCLs for local children and youth workers and instructs new committees to explore how training can be accessed by local people in terms of financial support and encourages the Church Life Review to join the conversation.
Resolution 20 passed unanimously, and a round of applause was given.
Place for Hope mediation team launch
The United Reformed Church’s mediation team, trained by Place for Hope, was launched at General Assembly.
Carolyn Merry, Director of Place for Hope, spoke to Assembly about the need to be agents of transformation in our world.
Martha Hunt, leader of Living Reconciliation Programme, spoke of her excitement at reaching this point and said that the objective was to embed a culture of peacemaking in the URC. They had worked to create a programme that works for who the URC is, she said.
First, a team of six mediators have been trained to provide facilitated conversations for those experiencing times of change, disagreement and difference. Then the second strand of the partnership will involve trainers being trained to deliver Place for Hope foundational courses across the URC on topics related to conflict, change, challenging behaviour, and living well with differences.
The Revd Martha McInnes talked about her experience of being scarred by conflict in stipendiary ministry, having left it, and now being called back with a ministry of reconciliation, and finding in the process others have had similar experience.
The mediation programme is initially being rolled out in the National Synod of Scotland and North Western Synod this weekend and the roll out will continue across the other synods over the coming five years.
The Revd Lindsey Sanderson, Moderator for Scotland, said Place for Hope started in Scotland and the synod had the advantage of four practitioners already being there. ‘We want to embed a culture of conflict transformation,’ she said, ‘especially as congregations address questions of their future, questions which can be accompanied with anxiety.
The Revd Jenny Mills, the key URC liaison for the partnership, acknowledged the work that her predecessor Adrian Bulley had done in establishing it. She added that the Methodist Church had begun working with Place for Hope before the URC, and was seeing results, not just in conflict resolution but in conflict transformation.
Presentation of candidates for General Assembly Moderator 2026-2027 & vote
The Revd Dr Kirsty Thorpe introduced two candidates for Moderator of General Assembly 2026-2027: the Revd Dr Mitchell Bunting (Bungie) and the Revd Neil Thorogood.
Kirsty introduced the process by which the election would take place: that the nominees would first have three minutes to introduce themselves and three minutes to answer a question posed by the Moderator. The candidates were invited to respond to the question, 2025 is a Jubilee year for our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers with the theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. What does Hope mean for you?’
Bungie received a unanimous endorsement from the March meeting of the National Synod of Scotland to the nomination for Moderator of General Assembly 2026/27.
Neil had been nominated for the role by both South Western and Eastern Synods.
After both nominees had spoken, the Revd Andrew Mann-Ray prayed and Assembly voted.
General Secretary’s address
In his address to the 2025 General Assembly, the Revd Dr John Bradbury, General Secretary of the URC, delivered a historically anchored reflection on the future of the United Reformed Church.
Marking five years in office, and anticipating the extraordinary General Assembly on the Church Life Review in November, John reminded the meeting about the Council of Nicaea and its theological legacy (“There is, after all, a danger in calling a former teacher of Doctrine and Church History to serve as General Secretary…”). He issued a plea: it is time, once again, to believe deeply and radically in the living God made known in Jesus Christ.
John related the Council of Nicaea, convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine 1700 years ago, and the United Reformed Church today.
Far from being ancient irrelevance, he argued that the council’s wrestling over Christ’s divinity echoes loudly in our time. Arius, the priest whose theology sparked the council, sought to preserve the singularity of God by positioning Jesus as subordinate.
But the Church led by Athanasius instead proclaimed a God as not distant but incarnate, in the world, in the flesh, in the pain and joy of human life. This, John insisted, is the foundation on which the Church stands: a belief in a God who is not safely abstracted but present.
He confessed that both his personal theological journey and the early URC were shaped by a “modernising” impulse – one that tried to make Christianity credible to secular, scientific minds. But in a world ravaged by war, ecological crisis, and mental distress, such a “safe” God is “no use to us.”
He called for a return to a bold and incarnational theology: one rooted in encounter with the crucified and risen Christ, and in the transformative presence of the Holy Spirit. “God is not a distant, philosophical idea,” he said. “God is known fully in Christ.”
“However, something is shifting and moving. Something in the tributaries that make up the Church in the western world is changing.”
Despite decades of decline, John struck an unexpectedly hopeful tone. Referencing podcast host Justin Brierley and journalist Lamorna Ash’s recent explorations of youthful faith, he highlighted the emerging spiritual hunger among younger generations (see reports in Reform magazine). These stories, he noted, point toward encounters with the living God, not only in traditional cathedrals or evangelical megachurches, but across the spectrum of Christian worship.
He challenged the Church to ask whether, using the words from the Nicene Creed, it truly believes itself as “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic,” or whether it has surrendered its confidence in being a place where God meets people.
Noting that some young people find “transformative, engaging, inclusive” worship outside the URC, John warned that the denomination must rekindle its own spiritual vibrancy or risk irrelevance.
He was clear about the limitations of institutional strategy. The Church Life Review, he said, won’t renew the URC by itself. It may lift burdens, free up resources, and enable lay ministry, but it cannot rekindle the flame of faith.
That task belongs to local congregations, ministers, Elders and worship itself. “We must deepen our confidence in the reality of the living God,” he said. “We must become more confident evangelists… and significantly improve the quality of our worship.”
In closing, John issued a challenge not just to treat church renewal as a bureaucratic exercise, but as a spiritual vocation.
He called for churches to become spaces where people can truly “taste and see” that God is good – where worship is not simply a weekly routine, but an encounter with the divine that transforms lives and communities.
The address ended an appeal: “May God’s Spirit be with us as, together, we discern how we build one another up in faith, discipleship and worship such that we might respond faithfully to the call of God to be God’s Church.”
Community Project Awards
Seven church projects offering outstanding service to their communities were recognised at General Assembly.
Three projects won the 2025 Community Project Awards:
- Dove Dementia Cafe, Diss URC in Norfolk
- Food with Friends, Rivertown URC in Shotton, North Wales
- Food for Thought, Union Church Margate in Kent
Another four community projects were highly commended:
- Forget-Me-Not Café, St Andrews Roundhay URC in Leeds
- Stepping Out for the Community, Longton URC, Stoke on Trent
- Vine Gardening Club, Vine URC in Ilford, Essex
- Soupermums, Wilsden Trinity Church near Bradford
The award winners receive prizes of £2,000 each for their projects, and the highly commended projects receive £1,000. The community project awards have been sponsored by Congregational for 16 years, and gratitude was expressed for their increased support this year.
Introducing the awards, General Assembly Moderator, Tim Meadows, said the awards recognise projects that “demonstrate the love of God and the mission of the Church by reaching out in many different ways to help the local communities in which our churches serve”. Today’s awards, brought the total of church projects recognised to 82, receiving a total of£150,000.
Helen Doran, Head of Church Underwriting Operations at Congregational, presented the prizes. Assembly also watched short videos about each of the projects, hearing from volunteers, users and ministers. The videos will be available on the URC YouTube channel.
Session five
Paper X2 Emergency Statement on Israeli Military Activity
At the start of session five, an emergency resolution from the West Midlands Synod against Israeli military actions in Gaza was presented, following a statement released by the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, between 18-24 June.
In support of the WCC statement, the Revd Steve Faber, Moderator of the West Midlands Synod, introduced Resolution 42 to the URC Assembly.
“Atrocities have continued,” Revd Faber said, citing Israeli breaches of ceasefire agreements, deliberate blockade of aid, indiscriminate civilian casualties, and comprehensive air strikes ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resulting in the deaths of thousands of civilians.
“This is about ethics, not ethnicity,” he emphasised. “We must not allow people to believe that all Jewish people are responsible for these actions. The condemnation is directed at the Israeli government and its military, not the nation or Jewish people.”
Resolution 42 explicitly commends the WCC statement, which calls for an end to “apartheid, occupation, and impunity in Palestine and Israel”. It also accuses the Israeli military campaign of grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention, acts which may amount to genocide and/or crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Steve acknowledged the contribution of Revd Dr Susan Durber, a URC minister, who serves as WCC President for Europe, who had a key role in the process that led to the WCC statement.
“We are witnessing genocide, and we must have the courage to name it as such,” he said.
During the debate, a member, whose family is Jewish, expressed support for the resolution. They affirmed the call to combat antisemitism, though asked for an understanding of the nuance within the Jewish diaspora around the actions of the State of Israel. Within their own family, there were both Zionists and pro Palestinians.
Speakers from the floor encouraged the URC to support the WCC’s position. There was a call for members to write to MPs, calling on the UK government to put an immediate end to UK arms sales to Israel, and urging the government to avoid breaches of international law.
After a period of impassioned discussion in favour of the motion, Resolution 42 was adopted with overwhelming support by the Assembly, affirming the URC’s commitment to justice, peace, equity, and a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in the Middle East.
Session six
General Assembly Moderator 2026-2027
Following a time of prayer, the Revd Dr John Bradbury, URC General Secretary, announced that the Revd Neil Thorogood had been duly elected General Assembly Moderator-Elect 2025-2026.
Ecumenical pilgrimage to the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Philip Brooks, Deputy General Secretary (Mission), introduced a film recording the recent visit of an ecumenical delegation to the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The visit was made to demonstrate solidarity with partners in the region. It comprised representatives from the Methodist Church in Britain, the URC, the Church of Scotland, the United Methodist Church in the US, and the General Secretary of the World Methodist Council.
Many statements have been made, and resolutions passed, by the URC General Assembly over the years concerning Israel and Palestine. These have all been responses to the question, what can we do individually, collectively, and as a denomination? However, though statements are important, Philip said, they can be impersonal and abstract. They don’t describe the personal struggles and pain of people living in contexts of violence.
The film, by Kevin Snyman, Programme Officer for Commitment for Life, tries to do that. Its focus was on the South Hebron Hills in the southern West Bank, specifically the municipality of Masafer Yatta. Recently, the area has been subject to an Israeli court order declaring it to be a “firing range”. Philip said this gives full rein to settlers to destroy Palestinian homes and ethnically clear the area.
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(Masafer Yatta is the focus of the 2024 documentary film No Other Land, winner of a Best Documentary Oscar.)
Paper ADH1 Assessing education and learning need in the URC
Assembly endorsed the findings and themes from the Education and Learning (E&L) Consultation in April and instructed the working group and others to enact the outcomes listed in section four of the paper.
Assembly further instructed the Business Committee, the proposed Faith in Action Committee, and the Ministries Committee to report back to next year’s General Assembly with an update on progress.
Jenny Mills, Deputy General Secretary (Discipleship), said that the paper followed an intense piece of work following February’s Assembly Executive. “This is a testament to great teamwork, and this is truly a conciliar document. We believe it has given us a good direction.”
Mary Thomas, Convenor, Ministries Committee, said that the Church aspires to satisfy the three Cs: collaboration, communication and commitment.
Collaboration between RCLs, Synods and networks; looking at resources to make them current and contextual; communication between practitioners, Synods and RCLs; and a commitment to collaboration and open communication.
There is no room for competition or for going it alone, continued Mary. “How do we put the needs of our members in our churches first?”
Following Assembly Executive in February 2025, a consultation was held at High Leigh in April. Themes emerging from the consultation included the role of the URC’s identity, its culture and leadership, the current Education & Learning offering, design and delivery, the learning needs of different groups, and the future of E&L provision.
Resolution 13 was carried.
Reporting team: Ann-Marie Nye, Steve Tomkins, Laurence Wareing and Andy Jackson. Video and photos Kevin Snyman.