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URC Moderators join call for urgent action to end violence in Syria

Syria map The United Reformed Church General Assembly Moderators, Derek Estill and the Revd Nigel Uden, with leaders from the Methodist Church and Baptists Together, have urged the UK Government to work for peace in Syria. Recent military attacks in the north-east of the country have left unarmed civilians caught between two fighting parties.

The pastors of three local churches have shared their concerns for the desperate situation facing families in the area, which includes disruption to the water supply, bombings, food prices soaring, people unable to attend their workplaces and some aged under 45 being forced to join the fighting. With the cold of winter fast approaching, people of north-eastern Syria are understandably deeply distressed and wish to live in peace and safety but they need help.

Statement on Syria

Following reports from our Church partners in Syria, we are extremely concerned about the impact on civilians of the assault on north-eastern Syria by Turkey.

Next Moderator of North Western Synod nominated

The Revd Brian Jolly has been nominated as the next Moderator of the North Western Synod of the United Reformed Church.

Born in 1956 in north London, Brian moved to the north west in 1978 for his initial ministerial formation at the University of Manchester and the Congregational College.

He was ordained in 1982 and has served pastorates in Blackburn, Bolton, Stockport and Altrincham. He serves now as Clerk of the North Western Synod and has been covering some of the duties of a Synod Moderator during a vacancy period.

He has served extensively in the wider church and as a trustee of the UK Christian charity Embrace the Middle East (formerly BibleLands).

A fellowship of 32

URC General Secretary the Revd John Proctor reports from the Council of World Mission's (CWM) meeting of church leaders

The Council for World Mission is a fellowship of 32, mainly Reformed, churches around the globe, worshipping and working in some 40 countries.

Many of these churches came into being through the missionary work of British Christians in the 19th and 20th centuries. Yet now some are much bigger than we are – in Korea, Madagascar and South India, for example. And others are smaller – in the various Pacific islands.

Prayers for Halle attack

On the holiest of days in the Jewish calendar, a gunman ruthlessly shot dead two people in Halle, East Germany yesterday.

The man allegedly attempted to gain access to the city’s Humboldt Street Synagogue, where 70-80 people were marking Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. A video was posted online by the suspect, who is now in custody, filled with hatred and anti-Semitism, including denial of the Holocaust.

“The senseless attack is yet another reminder of the rise in the kind of extremism, which so often targets people of faith at worship,” says the Revd Philip Brooks, the United Reformed Church’s Secretary for Ecumenical Interfaith Relations.

Prayers from the heart

Featuring prayers for every week of the year, the 2020 United Reformed Church (URC) Prayer Handbook - Prayers from the heart is now available.

Edited by Karen Campbell, a Church Related Community Worker, and the Revd Ian Fosten, a URC Minister, Prayers from the heart features a mixture of prayer styles and approaches for all readers.