2012 looks to be quite a year

The Revd Roberta Rominger, general secretary of the United Reformed Church, sets out some of the challenges and excitements facing the denomination in 2012.

“We have quite a year ahead of us. The Queen celebrates her diamond jubilee in June. The 2012 games come to the UK in August. Events like these are occasions for creativity in United Reformed Church mission.

What can we do that will catch the public imagination, deepen our community engagement and enable us to share what we believe? Imagination is already hard at work in many of our congregations.

“Alongside the public celebrations we have New Year prospects of our own to look forward to.  It has been awhile since we’ve seen any serious progress in ecumenical relations, but 2012 begins with a service in Westminster Abbey to express reconciliation between the United Reformed Church and the Church of England. This is the fruit of bilateral conversations that resulted in resolutions at URC Mission Council and the Anglican General Synod in 2011. Our service on 7 February will mark the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Great Ejectment by looking to a future of shared work and witness.

“My personal hope is that developments in our relations with the Church of England will also allow us a proper place at the table which they share with the Methodist Church under the Methodist-Anglican Covenant. This will offer opportunities in England to mirror the Episcopal-Methodist-URC (EMU) partnership already established in Scotland. Similarly there is renewed energy in the life of the Commission of Covenanted Churches in Wales with October 13 planned as the date for a major gathering in Aberystwyth in which we and the Methodists will play a significant part along with our other Welsh ecumenical partners.

By this time next year I expect that significant progress will have taken place in joint working with the Methodist Church across the three nations. Conversations these days are determined and practical and I believe that we are on the verge of a major ecumenical breakthrough.

“When General Assembly meets in Scarborough this July we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the URC. I look forward to hearing about local celebrations as well as being involved in the national ones. My plea would be that we use this occasion to reach out a hand of friendship to nearby Congregational Federation churches. We must not forget that it is their 40th anniversary too.

“In the meantime, some of our churches will be celebrating their 350th anniversaries this year. Many of them have invited me to visit and I look forward to hearing their stories. The unofficial theme for this commemoration is ‘Courage, conscience and conviction’. That is the title of an innovative conference to be held at Mansfield College in March to ponder the meaning of dissent in our time. Watch for details shortly.

“Courage, conscience and conviction are indeed what we offer in our determination to live faithfully in these challenging times. Our valiant church makes contributions out of all proportion to its size.  God bless you for all the lives you will touch in the year ahead and the faith that will shine from you.”