Small or big, rural or urban, coastal or estate; busy, quiet, growing, surviving or flourishing — United Reformed churches are diverse. Yet many share a common calling: to be welcoming, inclusive, outreaching, anti-poverty, and deeply rooted as community hubs where people can find belonging, support and hope.
The United Reformed Church’s Faith in Action Team, in collaboration with Mike Hart, Transformation Director for North Western Synod, is hosting a series of webinars to help congregations become places where people at the margins are loved, nurtured and empowered.
Jesus elevated people at the margins — not by doing to or doing for, but by being with.
Rather than adding more projects to the busyness of church life, the “A church with people at the margins” series will be a space to share what is working in our churches, how to have more positive impact with what you’re already doing as a congregation and where new opportunities for worship and discipleship might begin.
You must register for each of the upcoming webinars separately using the links below. A Zoom link will be sent to your email address. We will send you occasional updates by email, but you can unsubscribe from these at any time.
Webinar 1: A strategy for mission and ministry
An introduction to the URC’s ‘A Church with People at the Margins’ strategy. Featuring Mike Hart, Transformation Director for North Western Synod, and Fliss Barker, Church Related Community Worker in Wooler, Northern Synod.
Watch webinar 1: A strategy for mission and ministry [YouTube]
Download the webinar PowerPoint [PDF]
Download a list of helpful links [PDF]
Webinar 2: 11 May – Knowing your community
How do we really get to know our neighbourhood? Where are our blind spots? How do we better understand our place and calling within the community in which we are placed? What practical steps can help us notice, listen to and walk alongside those around us?
Register for webinar 2: 11 May – Knowing your community
Webinar 3: 10 August – Places to meet
Can the church be the hub of the community? How can our spaces become a vibrant, life-giving and life-changing environment for the whole neighbourhood? What support and funding is there to help? How can we grow our volunteer base?
Register for webinar 3: 10 August – Places to meet
Webinar 4: 16 November – Community organising
In an increasingly individualistic and hostile society swayed by the loudest and the most privileged, how do we buck the trend and recapture the joy of collaboration and community? How can a community speak and act together to make a positive difference? And what has the church to offer into the mix?
Register for webinar 4: 16 November – Community organising