The United Reformed Church has become a founding member of new campaign coalition Together With Refugees.

The coalition, made up of more than 100 national, local, refugee-led and grassroots groups, calls for a better approach to supporting refugees that is kinder, fairer and more effective, and believes in showing compassion to people fleeing war, persecution or violence. 

The United Reformed Church (URC) Eastern Synod has joined 35 faith institutions from 11 countries in announcing its divestment from fossil fuels.

The announcement, made on 17 May, comes from institutions in Brazil, Argentina, India, the Philippines, Uganda, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, the UK and the US, along with the URC, Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, and Baptist churches, among others.

These commitments highlight the urgent need to divest from fossil fuels and invest in clean alternatives in response to the growing climate crisis.

The URC General Assembly Moderators joined 450 academics, politicians, charities, faith leaders, and healthcare workers on 10 May to urge the prime minister to waive vaccine patents.

In an open letter, organised by Global Justice Now, STOPAIDS, and Just Treatment, the group called on Boris Johnson to "stand on the right side of history". 

The letter urged the UK to follow the US example which saw the Biden administration announce on 5 May that it would support a waiver to help scale up global vaccine production to produce safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines for all people, in all countries.

Do you have a good photo of your church building? Or do you have a keen photographer in your congregation?

The URC is publishing a calendar of church buildings for 2022 to give a flavour of the length and breadth of the denomination in its anniversary year.