Worship on the second morning of General Assembly was led by the Revd Lindsey Sanderson, Chaplain to the Moderator. Meg Warner, Lecturer in Old Testament and biblical Hebrew, led a Bible study on Leviticus 25.
Ms Warner received ironic cheers from the Assembly audience when she announced, ‘We’re going to be spending a lot of time in Leviticus.’ She added, ‘If it isn’t your favourite book you just don’t know it yet.’
Ms Warner explained that the seventh day and seventh year were times of remission in the Hebrew Bible. The year of jubilee came every 50th year (= 7×7+1) and was ‘a great reset, a return to factory settings’. Like the sabbath, it was a year of holiness, proclamation of liberty and rest. Jubilee, she said is ‘nothing less than a reimagining of the relationship between God, earth and humanity’. The rest it offers is not primarily for people, but as the passage says: ‘for the land’. The land is a character in Leviticus just like people are.
Land expelled Israel into Babylonian exile for not observing sabbath.
Ms Warner noted that the Leviticus passage deals with slavery. Bible is generally neither for nor against slavery, she said; it was just written against background where slavery was a reality. However, there are times when biblical writers really start to get their teeth into the subject, and this passage is one of them it. ‘It won’t go far enough for you,’ she said, ‘but it is a start.’
The passage is related to the creation story of Genesis 2, where the core concern that leads God to create human beings is the wellbeing of the earth and the fact that it needs to be watered. The man and woman are made as servants of the earth and Adam is literally ‘made to rest’ in garden.
These texts, Ms Warner said, were written in exile in Babylon, the land of gardens. They draw on the Babylonian story of the gods as masters of the ziggurat gardens who create humanity as slaves to look after the gods; Genesis changes story so that humans are made to serve God’s creation. The expulsion from Eden reflects the Hebrew experience of being expelled from their own land.
Ms Warner also talked about how Aboriginal Australian culture has a close connection with the land but no ownership of it, rather caretaking. She related how some people from that culture have found connections between it and the teaching of Leviticus.
A presentation of the candidate for General Assembly Moderator 2023-2024 and a vote followed. The result of which was revealed in session five.
Session three
Paper I6: Mission, Legacies of Slavery, remainded.
Session four
Paper B1: Children’s and Youth Work
The report of the Children’s and Youth Work committee presented an overview of work undertaken over the past two years. Addressing the Assembly, the acting convenor Revd Samantha Sheehan said that, due to the pandemic, 2022 had become a year of consolidation of the CYWC strategy approved by Mission Council in November 2018. “This was not a time of stagnation,” the convenor said, “and we offer our thanks to the church house and CYDO+ team who worked hard in producing a variety of resources for the changing face of children and youth work and ministry.”
Introducing Resolution 3, Ms Sheehan said that, following on a decision made at General Assembly 2021, the formal work of the Pilots Subcommittee has come to an end. It was proposed that the committee will look at new, continuing ways of supporting Pilots companies through the Children’s and Youth Work office, within the wider context of URC Children. Funds held by Pilots will be held by the Children’s and Youth Work office who will administer them going forward, for the continued work of Pilots. Resolution 3 was agreed by Assembly.
Jo Harris, URC Youth Assembly Moderator, then brought three resolutions from the Youth Assembly. In a year that saw Philippa Osei become the Youth Assembly’s first BAME Youth Moderator elect, two resolutions were a response to the Youth Assembly’s reflections on a lack of diversity among key office holders in the general, and the Moderator of General Assembly in particular. Ms Harris underlined the fact that, since 1972, the great majority of General Assembly Moderators have been “white men of middle age”. Resolving that “nominations for Moderators of the General Assembly may be received from Youth Assembly in addition to synods” would help ensure that future Moderators would be more representative of the URC as a whole.
In response to a question, the Assembly Clerk confirmed that it is in order for young people who are not members of the URC to participate in its work and decision making through Youth Assembly. Listening to our young people and recognising the “precious gifts they bring to the life of our denomination” is very exciting said one member. Saying that this is another step in enabling greater diversity, another member asked that future discussion would also consider recording non-binary representation in roles.
It was argued that the resolution offers one more avenue for young people to make a nominations, when it isn’t always easy to do so via a local church situation. This issue was heard by two synod moderators, one of whom said that there is still a need for synods to listen to the voices of young people; and that synods should not be forgotten in the process.
The resolution was passed by an overwhelming majority.
Ms Harris then asked the Assembly to reaffirm the Youth Assembly’s commitment to tackling stigma surrounding mental ill health (Resolution 2). She said that one in four individuals will experience some poor mental health in a year and that much mental health starts before the age of 18. Youth Assembly strongly encourages individuals to take part in mental health first aid training and for local churches, synods and General Assembly to look into ways to help individuals access this training. The Youth Assembly also recommends that local churches endeavour to ensure that at least one member of the leadership team has undertaken this training.
One member wanted mental health first aid training to cover individuals of all ages, not just young people.
The rest of this debate was moved to remaindered business.
Community Project Awards
The Moderator, the Revd Clare Downing, introduced the 2022 Community Project Awards, thanking Congregational Insurance for financing the awards since 1997.
Margaret Slater of Congregational Insurance presented the awards to three winners.
The first was Skipton Wellbeing Café at St Andrews URC/Methodist. The café offers support to people with mental health conditions and was set up after a local mental health group lost their funding.
The second winner was the Community Uniform Swap Shop, at St Columba’s URC, Wolverhampton. The shop allows parents and students at 58 schools to exchange second-hand uniforms and keeps records of the environmental savings made.
The third winner was Roker Life, at Roker United Reformed Church. Working with local partners, Roker Life offers activities, such as cookery training, for refugee family and isolated adults in the area.
Two other projects were highly commended and invited to apply for the award again in the future. They were the WestCan Show Choir, at Westfield and Cannington URCs, Bridgwater , and the Dulwich Grove Community Lunch, at Dulwich Grove URC.
Full reports on each of the winners will be published in Reform.
URC Children Launch
Members of the Children’s and Youth Work team and committee with children ran into Assembly with placards to launch URC Children, a new umbrella for children aged 0-to-12-years-old connected with the Church.
Lorraine Webb, Programme Officer, encouraged Assembly to remember that the decisions they make affect the children of the Church today.
The initiative seeks to provide the same support, resourcing, participation, and voice for children within the URC, and those who work with them, that URC Youth provides for young people aged 11-25.
Children addressed Assembly to speak about issues they felt were important; that the Church should not only be a safe space but one that cares for people and gives second chances; that children are more involved in planning and leading worship to help them feel more part of it; a Church that says ‘yes’ in listening to children; more church parties for families and friends.
The Revd Samantha Sheehan, acting Convenor of the Children’s and Youth Work Committee, was then invited by the children to present Resolution 4.
Samantha explained that the hope for URC Children is that support for all children and family groups within the Church can be streamlined, the production and sharing of resources will be made easier, and the voices of children heard in all structures and councils of the Church.
During the information stage, members of Assembly spoke about the importance of the resolution and affirmed the fact that steps were being taken to focus on children, especially when during the pandemic many families with children were prevented from attending Church and unfortunately haven’t returned.
Resolution 4 then passed by consensus.
Session five
At the start of session five, the result of the election for the Moderator of General Assembly Moderator 2023-2024. The Revd Dr Tessa Henry-Robinson was duly elected Moderator for 2023-24, becoming the first woman from a black and minority ethnic background to hold the position in the URC’s history.
Paper G5: Future pension arrangements
General Assembly endorsed the new defined contribution pension scheme to replace both the URC Final Salary Scheme and the URC Ministers’ Pension Fund, and authorised the formal consultation with members of the existing schemes about the proposals. It also approved the signing of the contract with Aon Master Trust.
General Assembly also authorised Assembly officers to consider the outcome of the consultation to finalise the new scheme and close the existing schemes if approved, to begin the new scheme from 1 January 2023, or soon after, and if not possible to start it to ensure that revised proposals are brought back to General Assembly or Assembly Executive.
Ian Hardie thanked those who had joined the pre-Assembly Zoom sessions about pensions.
We need to ask what God wants, Ian said, not what’s in our own interest. Last year’s Assembly took a profound decision to move away from the existing pension schemes. The review group devised an alternative scheme which he hoped was acceptable to the meeting.
The schemes were ceasing to be good value for money for the members and the church, Ian continued, and what we have now is a generous scheme for those going forward. Two Defined Contributions Scheme, one for ministers, the other for lay workers and ministers on employment contracts, were proposed.
The scheme for lay workers has annual contributions of 16% of salary, with members paying 7% but they can pay more. The scheme for ministers has average contributions of 18%, with 7.5% payments from members but again with the option of paying more.
Rob Weston asked about the eco-credentials of the proposed scheme, reminding Assembly about the decision of Mission Council in 2019 to divest from fossil fuels.
Ian Hardie said the system allowed members to make their own decisions about where they invest. Currently, the ministers’ pension fund has no fossil fuel investments in the pension fund.
When all members are liberated to make their own decisions, the Church can’t force them to choose where to invest their money. The default fund is not a perfect match, but we will signpost members to where they can sustainably invest.
Ruth Whitehead asked why the better fund couldn’t be the default fund. Ian Hardie said that we didn’t control over Aon’s Master Fund, but we did about where the money could be directed and invested.
After further clarifications, Resolutions 11, 12 and 13 were carried, and Bridget Micklem, Chair of the Ministers Pension Fund Trustees, thanked Ian Hardie and others from the pensions task group for the huge amount of work to date. This was affirmed with warm applause.
Papers R4, R5, and Paper R6 Mind
Resolutions from MIND (Ministerial Incapacity and Discipline Advisory Group) were brought to Assembly by the Revd Dr Janet Tollington.
2021 Assembly approved a new process for disciplinary process – to come into effect from the close of this current Assembly. As a result of testing out the new process, MIND brought several resolutions in order to fine-tune the new process, allowing it to be operated in a smooth and transparent way.
For information, Dr Tollington drew members’ attention the resolution in Paper R5, which makes provision of assistance from an investigation panel for an accused minister.
Turning to the substantive business, Dr Tollington turned to disciplinary cases where to remove a minister from the roll may seem to be a draconian response. Resolutions 33 to 36 would enable the advisory group to enforce a decision that a minister move to another setting. They add the capacity for the Assembly Commission for Discipline to curtail a pastoral tie or appointment in the event that a breach of vows has occurred “because of specific circumstances in their appointment or pastorate whereas, in a different context, the breach may not have happened”. The facility is designed to enable a minister to stay on the roll but work in a different context, so supporting a fresh start. These resolutions also underline the authority of an Assembly Commission to enact a curtailment with the authority of the General Assembly.
Answering questions, Dr Tollington agreed that the new appendix takes into account safeguarding issues. Dr Rosalind Selby from Northern College asked if the idea of curtailing a pastoral tie affects the concept of ministerial call but Dr Tollington felt that the wider councils of the Church all play a part in affirming ministerial call. A synod moderator asked why there was no role for synod bodies in the decision making and healing processes. Dr Tollington said that by bringing the recommendation of a curtailment would allow time for an appeal and for synod bodies to engage with the decision.
In response to a further question, Dr Tollington said that the application of a curtailment process to ministers appointed under NSM Model Four (locally ordained ministers) had not yet been considered. She said it will be, though noted that only the options of a warning or removal from the roll may be available in such situations.
Resolution 33 was agreed. Resolution 34 was clarified and amended to read: “Where a decision to curtail a pastoral tie or appointment is made, the General Assembly, through its Pastoral Reference and Welfare Committee shall grant a period of, normally, three and six months, from the conclusion of the disciplinary case, for a new Call to be sought by the minister.” Other clarifications were offered by the advisory group, including an assurance that the Pastoral Reference and Welfare Committee would be involved in resolving any ongoing issues. This resolution, too, was accepted by the Assembly, as were Resolutions 35 & 36, which added some detail to the substantive proposals.
Turning to Paper R6, Dr Tollington said that Resolution 42 asked Assembly to agree a new statement on confidentiality, dissemination of information, and retention of records. A new Appendix Y, containing the statement, is designed to show who needs to know details of a discipline case at its various stages throughout the process. A need-to-know approach to making information about a disciplinary case will protect the minister and also ensure complainants are treated as fairly as ministers, so that “confidentiality is not used as a weapon to impede justice or future learning”. The group wishes congregations to have the right information to enable some healing to occur while avoiding false speculation.
In answer to questions, Dr Tollington said that who a “complainant” varies according to the context; she said “common sense and natural justice” make clear to us who has a right to know the outcome of a disciplinary case.
A synod moderator pleaded that in reviewing a completed process all parties in the case be consulted; the advisory group was very happy to amend the relevant wording in Appendix Y and to bring the revised text to Assembly Executive. The Assembly accepted the new resolution; Dr Tollington thanked everyone for their participation in drawing up and agreeing processes that, she prayed, would only very rarely be used.
Session Six
Paper B1 Children’s and Youth Work Committee
The report of the Children’s and Youth Work committee presented an overview of work undertaken over the past two years. Addressing the Assembly, the acting convenor Revd Samantha Sheehan said that, due to the pandemic, 2022 had become a year of consolidation of the CYWC strategy approved by Mission Council in November 2018. “This was not a time of stagnation,” the convenor said, “and we offer our thanks to the church house and CYDO+ team who worked hard in producing a variety of resources for the changing face of children and youth work and ministry.”
Introducing Resolution 3, Ms Sheehan said that, following on a decision made at General Assembly 2021, the formal work of the Pilots Subcommittee has come to an end. It was proposed that the committee will look at new, continuing ways of supporting Pilots companies through the Children’s and Youth Work office, within the wider context of URC Children. Funds held by Pilots will be held by the Children’s and Youth Work office who will administer them going forward, for the continued work of Pilots. Resolution 3 was agreed by Assembly.
Jo Harris, URC Youth Assembly Moderator, then brought three resolutions from the Youth Assembly. In a year that saw Philippa Osei become the Youth Assembly’s first BAME Youth Moderator elect, two resolutions were a response to the Youth Assembly’s reflections on a lack of diversity among key office holders in the general, and the Moderator of General Assembly in particular. Ms Harris underlined the fact that, since 1972, the great majority of General Assembly Moderators have been “white men of middle age”. Resolving that “nominations for Moderators of the General Assembly may be received from Youth Assembly in addition to synods” would help ensure that future Moderators would be more representative of the URC as a whole.
In response to a question, the Assembly Clerk confirmed that it is in order for young people who are not members of the URC to participate in its work and decision making through Youth Assembly. Listening to our young people and recognising the “precious gifts they bring to the life of our denomination” is very exciting said one member. Saying that this is another step in enabling greater diversity, another member asked that future discussion would also consider recording non-binary representation in roles.
It was argued that the resolution offers one more avenue for young people to make a nominations, when it isn’t always easy to do so via a local church situation. This issue was heard by two synod moderators, one of whom said that there is still a need for synods to listen to the voices of young people; and that synods should not be forgotten in the process.
The resolution was passed by an overwhelming majority.
Ms Harris then asked the Assembly to reaffirm the Youth Assembly’s commitment to tackling stigma surrounding mental ill health (Resolution 2). She said that one in four individuals will experience some poor mental health in a year and that much mental health starts before the age of 18. Youth Assembly strongly encourages individuals to take part in mental health first aid training and for local churches, synods and General Assembly to look into ways to help individuals access this training. The Youth Assembly also recommends that local churches endeavour to ensure that at least one member of the leadership team has undertaken this training.
One member wanted mental health first aid training to cover individuals of all ages, not just young people; Ms Harris said that the NHS courses for youth and adults were very similar. She also said that the recommended course covers a range of subject matter, not just suicide prevention. The qualification requires to be renewed after 3-5 years.
Another speaker hoped that training wouldn’t be aimed solely at leadership teams; but someone who has delivered mental health training noted that being a mental health first aider is largely about building good relationships, and that a degree of leadership/availability comes with the role. Another member recommended “cascading” the information available from a first aider course to – for example – smaller congregations with insufficient members to undertake the training themselves.
With the inclusion of an amendment requiring training be “regularly refreshed and renewed”, the resolution was passed.
Greetings from ecumenical and international guests
The Congregational Federation
Yvonne Campbell, General Secretary of The Congregational Federation, congratulated the URC on its 50th anniversary (and its creative range of merchandise!). The Federation is also celebrating its 50th anniversary.
“Here we are, celebrating our 50th anniversaries together, and it is a wonderful blessing to be in good relationships with one another after 50 years. God is gracious, and we give him our thanks for both organisations and how we help and support each other.
“John Bradbury and I weren’t born in 1972. Which means that we share a mutual respect for our histories, and we have no hesitations about how we can support each other and face the similar challenges we face together.”
Yvonne shared her delight about the jointly published book, Golden Threads, with contributions from both denominations, and also the work of the recently launched Newbigin Pioneering Hub.
She shared her thoughts on the letters that formed the word GOLD, with a range of challenges for both denominations.
The G is for good news. When was the last time, Yvonne asked, when you shared your testimony? How can we do that better?
O is for Over. “Over 50 years we have done amazing things as national church organisations, but the world is now a different place. Can we allow something new from how worship and church was in the 70s, or do we need to remember that it’s 2022 and forget what church was like 50 years ago?”
L is for local, “because that’s where community is”. Everything has a local focus but is your church involved in local community groups. How is the local churches together grouping work together to share the good news?
D for distinctive. Reflecting on the passion and determination of those involved with the formation of the Federation and the URC, as it was their hard work, prayers and hope that set up both, may we too be inspired to recapture that passion.
Presbyterian Church of Myanmar
Revd Ramthanga, General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Myanmar (PCM), sent the General Assembly greetings by video. In February 2021, the country’s military seized power, an event which sparked widescale protests, armed resistance and mass killings.
“I wish the URC to remain faithful to the Reformed church of Christian and world history. I wish the URC to be a witnessing church for our Lord Jesus Christ locally and globally. The PCM greatly values your continued support. The pandemic and military rule have put a stop to that work.
“I hope righteousness will be restored in Myanmar in the near future, and at that time we will be worshipping with you all. I request that you pray for the peace of Myanmar and for the Christian community, in particular.
“May the Lord guide and bless the United Reformed Church with his full many blessings.”
Evangelical Church of the Palatinate, Germany
Pfarrer Martin Henninger from the Evangelical Church of the Pfalz, Palatinate, Germany, congratulated the URC and gave thanks to God for the church’s 50 years of service in a truly ecumenical understanding.
“I’m often asked ‘what is the purpose of the convenant between our churches’,” which predates the formation of the URC. “It is an opportunity to share our stories,” Martin said.
“I grew up with the motto of Frieden schaffen ohne Waffen – secure peace without weapons. And I thought this was the way forward for peace with our world. But now, with the war in the Ukraine, causing so much death and destruction, I’m wondering if it’s really the right path to peace. So, let’s talk about which story of peace we are going to follow.
“God is a God of hope who never gives up, Martin continued. Are there stories about how we get church members encouraged and excited about participating in the mission of God? “What stories are we telling about our ecumenical understanding?”
Martin concluded by looking forward to the golden anniversary of the URC by saying that there’s a lot to talk about.
Links
- Golden Threads: https://urcshop.co.uk/golden-threads-reflections-from-50-years/
- 50th anniversary merchandise: urcshop.co.uk/50
- Free tickets for October 1 anniversary events:
Paper I1: Mission, Reinvigorating the ecumenical vision
The Revd Philip Brooks, Deputy General Secretary (Mission), addressed Assembly about the ecumenical vision of the URC.
However, before doing so, he paid respect to ecumenical colleague the Revd Elizabeth Clarke who retired last year as Rural Officer a role shared between the URC and the Methodist Church to which she belonged.
Sadly, on 6 June Elizabeth died very suddenly and unexpectedly. A service of thanksgiving for her life will be held on 18 July.
Philip said: “Elizabeth was a popular member of the URC Mission Department, beloved for her ready wit, creativity, and passion for rural mission. In the words of Steve Faber, on her retirement we lost a great asset.”
In presenting Paper I1, Philip, said: “We only truly live out our Christian calling when we are in unity. And whilst our 50-year journey seems to have proved that structural union is not where God is leading us, at a local level, we still have a strong story to tell.”
In telling this story, Philip explained how the URC’s a companion toolkit to Churches Together in England’s document ‘A flexible framework for local unity in mission’ is one of the many ecumenical tools at the Church’s disposal which offers practical methods for ecumenical work such as holiday clubs, messy church, foodbanks, community cafés, and fresh expressions of church even in one case being looked at for an ecumenical area of churches.
He shared statistics which showed in 2013 local ecumenical partnerships (LEPs) represented just under a quarter (23%) of the total number of local URCs. In 2022, they have grown to just under a third. In other words, the number of LEPs has increased from 348 churches in 2013 to 367 in 2022.
In contrast, over the same period there has been a 23% decline in the number of URC churches, that are not LEPs, from 1164 churches in 2013 to just 892 churches in 2022.
For the first time, LEPs are being asked to provide information to be included in the URC’s annual statistics this year. Mission has recorded recorded just short of 8,000 joint members. This is against a total membership of 37,400 members, not including joint members.
Philip said: “This is a large number of members to treat as somehow distant or not even part of the URC. At the very best in the past, we have only counted a proportion of these joint members.”
He then presented the resolutions to Assembly along with a film that showcased the ecumenical work of Wharton & Cleggs Lane Church & Community Centre (URC/Methodist LEP), in Salford; an LEP which opened earlier this year in April.
Questions from the floor were heard along with concerns that LEPs are not always positive experiences but can carry challenges. Following these discussions, a change to part d of the resolution was made, however a decision was not able to be reached in session six and the paper was then remaindered.
Reporting team: Laurence Waring, Ann-Marie Nye, Steve Tomkins, and Andy Jackson. Pictures: Chris Andrews.