Members of the new URC Nominations Committee introduce themselves and how the drive to safer recruitment is having a positive impact on the committees and volunteers that help the church in its life and mission.

2 0

Welcome to this broadcast of induction of Revd Dr Tessa Henry-Robinson as incoming moderator of the Free Churches Group.

5 0

0 0

A film about the importance of Chorley United Reformed Church and the Hollinshead Centre for the people and communities of Chorley, Lancashire.

2 0

In February 2025 representatives from a number of church organisations shared in an ecumenical visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.

Participants included

Jude Levermore - Methodist church in Great Britain, Rebecca McGonigle from the Church of Scotland, Reynaldo Ferreira Leão Neto, President of the World Methodist Council, Kevin Snyman of the United Reformed Church, and Jin Yang Kim from the United Methodist Church in the US.

We were joined by local workers and activists including Dave, Jane, and Samar from the Methodist Liaison Office, and Muriel Pearson (CoS) based in Tiberias.

We stayed at the St George's College, East Jerusalem, hosted by Richard and JulieAnn Sewell.

What we witnessed was deeply distressing. Both Israelis and Palestinians are desperate and fearful. The current Israeli government is determined to annex the Palestinian territory not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank using ‘security’ as its raison d’être. The government funds the building and populating of illegal settlements backed by occupational military forces to expunge Palestinians slowly, but relentlessly, from the land.

Many of the Israelis and the Palestinians we met look to the UK as a vital ally in solving this ongoing catastrophe, not least because of our history during, since, and before the Balfour Declaration.

Yet, despite the deeply ingrained problems, the group has returned filled with hope. There will be justice in Palestine. There will be peace in Israel. There will be equity and prosperity for all who call that precious land home.

0 0

The United Reformed Church works in 13 Synods - the National Synod of Wales, the National Synod of Scotland and 11 Synods in England, each with a Moderator and a team to help churches with property, finance, training, safeguarding, ecumenism and youth work matters.

1 0

At the URC's Assembly Executive in February 2025, a session was dedicated to the ongoing work after the confession and apology in 2022 for the role of the church's antecedents in transatlantic slavery, and its continuing complicity in the legacies of the trade today.
Introduced by Sarah Lane Cawte, Convenor of the URC's Mission Committee, the meeting was shown the film of the URC-led ecumenical trip in 2023, when its apology was delivered by the Revd Tessa Henry-Robinson. The film shares some of the atrocities of slavery, its impact past and present, and how the apology from the URC was received.
After the film, Reform magazine editor Steve Tomkins interviewed the Revd Geoff Felton, Moderator of the URC Mersey Synod, about his sabbatical which focused on Legacies of Slavery. Steve also read answers from Tessa, who was unable to be at the meeting.
You can read about Geoff's sabbatical on the Reform magazine website, www.reform-magazine.co.uk
Photo: Social History Archive/Unsplash

1 0

The United Reformed Church in support of Ukrainian refugees...

After the devastation of the Second World War bombing raids across the UK, communities belonging to the Reformed Church in Transcarpathia collected funds and sent them over to the Reformed churches that now makes up the United Reformed Church: family looking after family.

It is only right at this time of war in Ukraine, that the URC helps out its family in Transcarpathia in wester Ukraine. Thousands of refugees now live in that region as Internally Displaced Persons. Many more are living in Hungary as refugees.

The United Reformed Church wants to help. We have set up a donations appeal to support both the Reformed Churches in Transcarpathia and in Hungary. Both are helping refugees.

You could help them by supporting this URC appeal (GoFundMe) on behalf of Ukrainian refugees.

https://gofund.me/d99524e8

0 0

Members of the United Reformed Church travelled to Jamaica in April 2024 as part of an ecumenical pilgrimage to learn about the legacies of slavery.
Those on the trip included the Revd Dr Tessa Henry-Robinson, URC General Assembly Moderator 2023-2024, who talks about the URC’s apology and the impact of slavery today, along with contributions by Karen Campbell, the URC's Secretary for Global & Intercultural Ministries.
Read more about our work and watch more videos on the URC website https://urc.org.uk/legacies-of-slavery/

1 0