While the media coverage focused on coughing fits, pranksters and collapsing lettering at the Conservative Party Conference, Alan Yates, Moderator of the United Reformed Church’s General Assembly concentrated on offering politicians pastoral support.
Mr Yates, along with Church leaders from the Baptist, and Methodist churches attended the conference in Manchester from 2 to 3 October.
Together with colleagues from the Salvation Army and Quakers they met with MPs including Andrea Leadsom, Dominic Grieve, Stephen Crabb and other politicians who live out their vocation in public.
The Revd Mark Meatcher, United Reformed Church minister for the Chelmsford and Area Group of United Reformed Churches, reflects on Down in the River: Festival-on-Sea, a multicultural celebration of music, art, poetry, and film in Southend-on-Sea.
The Revd Philip Brooks, Secretary for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations for the United Reformed Church, reflects on the World Council of Churches (WCC) conference entitled ‘The motor engineer of the ecumenical movement’ in Geneva on 18 September.
Francis Brienen, the United Reformed Church’s Deputy General Secretary (Mission), attended the Labour Party Conference in Brighton this week as part of a delegation of Free Church leaders. She was delighted with the response from many of the politicians she met during the event: ‘It was a fruitful and inspiring time. We met with a number of MPs and were impressed with the many concerns they share with the churches, how much they appreciate the role of the churches in their constituencies and how committed they are to public service.’ 
