North Western Synod

The Revd Dr Gilbert Esambe is encouraging others not to give up on their calling after completing a Doctor of Ministry degree while serving in the Lancashire South East Missional Partnership.

After earlier setbacks and delays to his studies, Gilbert continued learning alongside ministry, studying during evenings, days off, and annual leave. His research explored innovative approaches to mission and ministry within the URC.

Reflecting on the achievement, Gilbert says the degree represents more than academic success—it is a reminder that delayed dreams need not be abandoned. His message to others is simple: trust God’s timing and persevere.

Gilbert said: “As I reflect on this achievement, I do so with gratitude to God, to my family, friends, colleagues, church members, and all those who have encouraged me along the way. I also give thanks to the URC within which I have had the privilege to serve and grow.

“My prayer is that this story will encourage others who are pursuing a calling, a dream, or a vision that seems distant today. Keep going. Trust God’s timing. Stay faithful to the task before you. The harvest may take time, but it will come.”

Elsewhere across North Western

Aftab Alexander Mughal, Director of Minority Concern (UK) and a member of Westbury Gardens URC in Blackburn, led a delegation to Lambeth Palace on 16 June for a special prayer service and meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rt Revd Dame Sarah Mullally.

The delegation, comprising Pakistani Christians from different church traditions, presented a petition highlighting the ongoing issue of the forced conversion and forced marriage of Christian and Hindu girls in Pakistan. They also raised wider concerns about the human rights challenges faced by religious minorities in the country.

Following the meeting, the Archbishop expressed her support for their advocacy and assured the delegation of her prayers.

Aftab said: “We found her Grace to be a humble, compassionate, and deeply concerned church leader who is committed to promoting peace and justice. We are grateful for her time, for arranging this special prayer service, and for demonstrating her concern for human rights around the world, including in Pakistan.”

Minority Concern (UK) hopes the meeting will help increase international awareness of the challenges facing religious minorities in Pakistan and strengthen efforts to promote equality, freedom of religion, and the protection of vulnerable communities.

Thames North Synod

The minister of Newland URC, the Revd Naomi Young-Rodas, joined civic and faith leaders on 24 June for a series of inter-faith visits across Luton led by the Bishop of Bedford, the Rt Revd Richard Atkinson OBE.

The programme, organised by Grassroots Luton, the Luton Council of Faiths and the Near Neighbours Programme, brought together Christian, Sikh and Muslim communities to strengthen relationships and promote understanding.

Newland Church was formed in 2023 when five URC congregations in the Luton and Dunstable area — churches in the Luton & Dunstable Cluster, Bury Park URC, Edward Street URC, St Katherine of Genoa URC, St Ninians URC, and Wigmore Church (URC/Methodist) — voted to unite as one church serving two locations. Naomi was inducted as minister of Newland Church and St Albans URC in May 2026.

During the visit, the group toured several places of worship, including Guru Nanak Gurdwara (Sikh Temple) and Bury Park Jamia Masjid, which now occupies the former Bury Park URC building, where there was discussion about plans for a community garden and environmental improvements, demonstrating how faith communities can continue to serve local people in new ways.

Participants also reflected on shared values of hospitality, peace, compassion and mutual respect.

Naomi said: “It was heartening to witness everyone’s shared commitment to community cohesion in Luton. Together, we reflected on shared values such as hospitality, service, peace, mutual respect, and compassion for all, while also acknowledging the important role faith communities play in supporting social cohesion.”

National Synod of Wales

The National Synod of Wales is continuing to place creation care and climate justice at the heart of its mission. Awarded an Eco Synod Bronze Award in 2023, the Synod has taken significant steps in areas including carbon reduction, biodiversity, ethical investment and environmental education.

Working alongside A Rocha UK, Climate Cymru and other partners, the Synod has supported churches through an Eco Church roadshow, webinars, practical resources and guidance on reducing carbon footprints.

Churches across Wales have embraced a range of initiatives, from installing solar panels and improving energy efficiency to creating wildlife habitats, hosting eco-themed worship, running community environmental projects and campaigning for climate justice.

The Synod’s efforts are yielding results. Wales is now home to two Eco Church Gold Award winners, four Silver Award churches, twelve Bronze Award churches and eleven more congregations registered with the scheme.

Looking ahead, the Synod hopes to build on the momentum of recent years, helping more churches care for creation and embed environmental action into every aspect of church life.

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Senior members of the denomination said: “The premature closure of a faith event in the UK due to a ‘credible threat’, such as the Ijtima at Shrubland Hall at the weekend, is alarming.

“91��Ƭ�� General Assembly, meeting in 2024, expressed deep concern over the unacceptable rise of Islamophobia in our communities and wished to extend a hand of solidarity to our highly valued Muslim neighbours.

“Just over a week ago, our General Assembly ‘warmly (commended) the journey towards a joint Christian-Muslim declaration’ and the work of the Interfaith Enabling Group. We pray that these efforts further encourage our local churches to reach out that hand of solidarity, and we recommend Churches Together in Britain and Ireland’s resource Reaching Out in Love to this end.

The resource is available for free, at .

Image: Andrew Hill/Wikimedia/

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Eastern Synod

Four-legged friends and creatures who have shared the hearts and homes of their owners have been celebrated at a special service in Norfolk.

In partnership with Rackheath Vets, a pet remembrance service was held in June at Wroxham & Hoveton URC and was led by the church’s minister the Revd Tina Wilson.

Tina said: “They greet us without judgment, comfort us without words, and leave a space in our lives that is impossible to fill when they are gone.”

The pet remembrance service included the lighting of candles and the placing of photos and keepsakes. A space was also given for reflection and thanksgiving.

An attendee said: “It was a beautiful event and space, including calm music and caring words.”

The service will now become an annual fixture in the life of the Norwich Area URC Mission Partnership.

Tina said: “Whether you are recently bereaved of a beloved companion or simply wish to pause and give thanks for a life well lived and well loved, you will find a warm welcome waiting.”

Elsewhere across Eastern

South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Cabinet has agreed to progress the award of a 999-year lease to Northstowe Church Network for the first of Northstowe’s four Faith and Community Land sites.

The Northstowe Church Network, a local ecumenical partnership between the URC, Church of England and Baptists in close collaboration with Northstowe Muslims.

The proposal grew out of everyday life in Northstowe and years of listening to residents’ suggestions about ��what the growing town needed.

Revd Beth Cope, Northstowe’s Pioneer Minister, said: “One of the most encouraging things about this process is that Northstowe already has residents, faith groups and community organisations ready to put time, imagination and love into the future of the town.

“As we take forward the first Faith and Community Land site, we recognise the hope, passion and local commitment brought by others, including Hindu Samaj Northstowe and local Hindu residents, and look forward to ongoing friendship and practical collaboration.”

As part of Pride, Abbey Lane URC in Saffron Walden, Essex, held a dedicated coffee morning and in the process raised money for Stonewall UK and the LGBT Foundation. Alison Jiggins, Elder, said the coffee morning was a great opportunity for the church to show support for the local LGBTQAI+ community and share the message that “everyone is welcome”.

North Western Synod

The Lancashire South East Missional Partnership marked its inaugural Global Mission Day on 13 June 2026, bringing together people from across the region and members of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon from around the UK. The event was attended by Catriona Wheeler, Immediate-Past General Assembly Moderator Catriona Wheeler.

Focused on celebrating Cameroon, the day featured cultural displays, presentations, traditional food, and lively worship led by the Cameroonian Christian community. Guests learned about Cameroon’s history, culture, and the witness of the Church in the country.

Organisers hope the day will become an annual opportunity to strengthen global partnerships, encourage mutual learning, and deepen understanding of the worldwide Church. The event highlighted the richness of Christian fellowship across cultures and a shared commitment to God’s mission locally and globally.

West Midlands Synod

Penn URC has welcomed three new members. Congratulations on your new membership!

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The Revd Neil Thorogood, Minister of Thornbury and Trinity-Henleaze URCs��in��South��Western��Synod, who will serve as General Assembly Moderator 2026-2027, called the role an��“honour”.����

Born in Sydney, Australia,��while his parents were serving as missionaries in the Cook Islands, Neil was ordained in 1992 at the age of 28. He served in local churches in Halifax and Welwyn Garden City before serving as Director of Pastoral Studies and then Principal of Westminster College in Cambridge.����

A��visual artist and writer,��Neil��returned to local ministry in Bristol and Thornbury in 2020.��

He regularly contributes to the URC’s Daily Devotions,��the��annual��URC��Prayer Handbook, and��Reformed��magazine. During the Covid lockdown, Neil made small sketches each day and published them on Twitter (now X). These pictures were the basis of his book��, published by the URC in 2023.����

He was inducted��as Moderator at the URC’s 2026 meeting of General Assembly, the denomination’s key-decision making body,��held at the Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick,��Derbyshire, on��3–6 July.��

Neil said: “I’m very conscious of the privilege of being elected Moderator of the General Assembly and hope I can fulfil this new chapter of ministry in ways that can be a blessing for everyone I share with.”��

A theme he hopes to explore throughout his term in office is “Christ’s conspiracy of goodness”.����

Neil explains: “It is inspired by a book about mission written by an American Methodist which has spoken to me ever since reading it in the 1990s.”��The book takes inspiration from rural French Christian communities who protected Jews from the Nazis during the��Second��World��War; undermining evil with faithful goodness.��

As well as��representing��the URC at significant ecumenical and national events and gatherings, Neil��adds: “I��aim to visit many parts of the URC and discover more of the amazing mosaic of faith and action that is our life together.”����

The Revd Dr Susan Durber,��a URC minister��who serves as President of the European Region of the World Council of Churches, was elected��as��General Assembly Moderator-Elect��and will��serve��in the role from July��2027-2028.��

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The Revd Dr Peter Green, Dean of Chapel at Lincoln Bishop University, led a second Bible study, this time on the story of the Syrophoenician woman who asked Jesus to deliver her daughter.

Fully accepting the great difficulty of the passage, Dr Green that when we cannot understand something in the New Testament it is often because we fail to understand the Old Testament background, and he outlined the connection with the story of Elijah and the Gentile Widow of Zarapheth.

Dr Green asked members of Assembly whether they – like Jesus here – had we been confronted with a request for help, and said, ‘We can’t help these people, we have other priorities.’

Dr Green reflected on the way that worshippers in the Church of England have traditionally been invited to use the Syrophoenician woman’s words in Holy Communion, in the prayer known as ‘The humble grumble’: ‘We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table’. He said he has come to see the wisdom of inviting all people to say those words. In this chapter of the Gospel, Jesus has been condemning hypocrisy and the woman is the one without a shred of it. We must put aside hypocrisy and instead accept our solidarity with perpetrators of evil.

Session eight��

Paper G2 – Nominations – List of Committees
The Convenor or the Nominations Committee, Ms Victoria Blunt, spoke to Paper G1 – the Nominations Committee’s Report to General Assembly, which had been passed in the en bloc papers. Victoria wished to speak to two matters and to bring forward two further names as committee appointments.

1. Victoria said that the process of recruiting Assembly-level committee members is now set up. She said there had been issues to iron out, but that the process is working well in the majority of cases. All roles at Assembly level must follow this process.
2. She also spoke to the process of recruiting members of the newly-formed Church Life Fund (CLF) committee. General Assembly 2025 had directed that the committee should include a representative from each of the URC’s 13 synods, and that it should reflect the diversity of URC’s membership. Synods were asked to provide two names each, from which one would be selected in order to form a diverse group. However, Victoria said that of the 26 names put forward, only one nominated person was from a global heritage background.

General Assembly has instructed Nominations Committee to co-opt two more members to the CLF committee from a global heritage background in order to try to reflect the diversity of the denomination. But Victoria asked: Given Assembly’s discussions about Legacies of Slavery and anti-racism, how do we reflect our diverse memberships and heritages in our committee structures?

Assembly then vote on Resolution 16: the Revd Darren Holland appointed as a member of the FiA committee; and Resolution 17: Catriona Wheeler was appointed to serve as a director of the United Reformed Church Trust from 7 July 2026 to 6 July 2030.

Remaindered Business��

A2 – Business Committee – A Fitness to Practice (remaindered from Session 4)
General Assembly welcomed the report of the Ministerial Disciplinary Working Group and affirmed the direction of travel towards a ‘Fitness to Practice’ process. A working group is developing a new process to replace the current ministerial disciplinary arrangements, aiming for a clearer, fairer, more consistent and legally robust system.

The work has widened from discipline alone to a broader ‘Fitness to Practice/Fitness to Minister’ approach, so that disciplinary, capability, competency and health-related concerns can be handled appropriately. Further policy and rules work has been commissioned from Ed Morgan KC, including a review of ministries policies and a revised draft framework to support a coherent new process.

“It’s right to do this right rather than at top speed, even though this is urgent,” John Bradbury, General Secretary, said before a presentation delivered by Dr Morgan.

Dr Morgan said that introducing a fitness to practise process is not about importing a secular disciplinary system into the Church, but about enabling the Church to fulfil its own mission with integrity. He stressed that ministers occupy positions of trust, and the Church must be able to demonstrate that it upholds the standards of behaviour it proclaims, protecting both those who raise concerns and those against whom allegations are made through fair, transparent and consistent procedures.

His speech highlighted how the nature of misconduct has evolved beyond traditional safeguarding issues to include online behaviour, financial exploitation and abuses of pastoral relationships. He warned that churches now face increasing scrutiny from regulators, insurers and the nation’s charity commissions (in England, Wales and in OSCR in Scotland), and that making robust governance is essential, not only to reduce the legal risk but also to preserve public confidence and the Church’s witness.

The proposed framework is intended to provide confidence, transparency, resilience and proportionality. It would establish clear procedures, ensure allegations are investigated fairly and evidence-based, safeguard the rights of both complainants and ministers, and reinforce that ministry is a privilege carrying accountability.

Ultimately, Ed said, such a process strengthens rather than restricts the Church’s mission by ensuring it lives out the values it proclaims.

Before adoption, the proposals will go through wider consultation and testing with Ministers, Church Related Community Workers (CRCWs), Moderators, Safeguarding Officers and others to identify issues and unintended consequences. Implementation, governance arrangements, guidance, training, support, transitional and adoption is now likely to be sought from General Assembly next year.

Paper I2 – Synod Safeguarding Reviews
Introducing Paper I2, Roger Jones, Convenor of the Safeguarding Committee, said the proposals would introduce a programme of safeguarding reviews across the URC’s synods to strengthen safeguarding policy and practice. He said similar quality assurance processes have become standard across churches, charities and social care organisations over the past decade and noted that both the Makin Review and the IICSA report had recommended robust systems of independent scrutiny, audit and learning. The proposed reviews are intended to embed those recommendations and support continuous improvement in safeguarding across the denomination.

Kerry Baker, Policy Development Officer for Safeguarding, acknowledged that the reviews would place additional demands on synods but said the process had been designed to strike a balance between gathering meaningful information and keeping the workload manageable. Drawing on two pilot reviews, she said the process would continue to be refined in response to feedback, with work already underway to streamline self-assessments, clarify expectations and improve scheduling. She also reassured Assembly that the process would reflect the different safeguarding legislation and policy framework in Wales. Kerry said the reviews would strengthen both safeguarding practice and the Church’s accountability.

During the information stage, Tim Crossley, Yorkshire Synod Clerk, sought clarification on whether General Assembly could “instruct” synods, whether the proposals would alter the Basis of Union by placing additional responsibilities on synods, and whether the financial implications understated the workload for already stretched synod staff. The Clerk of Assembly, Sarah Moore confirmed that the wording of the paper was in order.

During the discussion phase of the paper, members voiced support for the proposals. Graham Jennings informed that East Midlands was the first synod to take part, and although there was a lot of work, it was of benefit to the synod taking part.

Following a vote, Resolution 39 was carried. Before Assembly voted on Resolution 40, the Revd Dr John Bradbury, General Secretary, clarified that General Assembly has oversight of the synods and that its role in monitoring safeguarding policy and practice is explicitly set out in the Church’s governance. The resolution was passed.

In the Sunday Worship sermon at the 2026 URC General Assembly, the Revd Geoff Felton, Moderator of the Mersey Synod, challenged delegates to reflect on what the Holy Spirit has been saying during the Assembly, and encouraged them to carry that vision back to their local churches.

While much of the work of the Assembly reflects on the church’s past, Geoff urged the church to look to the future with hope. He said that reports of the church’s decline are exaggerated. He cited the projects shared as part of the Community Project Awards as examples of how the church is flourishing.

Drawing on Jesus’ words in Matthew, he emphasised that the church’s future rests not on human leadership, management or strategy, but on the identity and lordship of Jesus Christ. Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah is the foundation upon which Christ promises to build his church. The church’s calling, therefore, is not to build a larger institution but to be a faithful one. “Chill out! … Size doesn’t lead to faithfulness, but faithfulness leads to size.”

The sermon encouraged a broader understanding of the church. Although many congregations in the UK are closing, this should not be seen as the death of the church. Christianity continues to grow across much of the Global South, and local church closures can be reframed as a mission that has been “completed” rather than one that has failed. There are even some URC’s that are growing.

Turning to Ephesians (where in Ephesus, the church no longer exists), Geoff described the characteristics of the future church. Leadership exists not simply to perform ministry but to equip others for service, creating a community where “everyone gets to play.” Every Christian has gifts to contribute, and leaders should be asking both who they are equipping and how they themselves are being equipped. “How is your equipping going, and let’s flip that – how are you being equipped? We are called to equip one another.”

He stressed that maturity in Christ comes through growing in the knowledge of Jesus. Such maturity enables Christians to resist being swept along by cultural trends or social media narratives. Geoff contrasted the gospel’s message of hope and identity with popular culture, citing songs like Critical Thinking by the Manic Street Preachers, and Trash by Suede, that reflect cultural confusion, superficiality and hopelessness.

Against song lyrics and messages that people are “trash” or should simply “live their truth,” Christians proclaim that every person is created in God’s image, loved by God and given purpose in Christ. “Ephesians calls us God’s workmanship… look at you, you may not be as young as you used to be, you might be falling off the conveyer belt, but you are God’s work of art. However difficult life might be for people, there is a God that loves them.”

In conclusion, he reminded the Assembly that Christ alone is the head of the church. The church belongs neither to governments nor denominational leaders, but to Jesus himself.

Session nine

Paper AB1:��Business/Faith in Action��Committees��–��URC/Methodist Liaison��
This paper was brought jointly by the Business and Faith in Action Committees. The Convenor of Faith in Action, Sarah Lane Cawte said Resolution 4 builds on existing cooperation between the Methodist Church and United Reformed Church, proposing a consultative meeting of Methodist District Chairs and URC Synod Moderators and directing the Business Committee in consultation with the liaison group to report to the 2027 General Assembly with proposals concerning the vision and shape of future possible collaboration.

She noted that the Methodist and URC offices are now “handily located near each other” (both now in Tavistock Place in London) and that there are around 200 Methodist/URC Local Ecumenical Partnerships. She added that the discussions would consider how collaboration could be strengthened without making firm commitments, and at a low cost. Sarah said that the paper “promotes unity, reciprocity and effective stewardship while ensuring that any future proposals are carefully considered and brought back to GA for consideration.”

She added that Methodist Conference passed the same resolution earlier this week.

In discussion, Reuben Watt, East Midland, quoted the Statement Concerning the Nature, Faith and Order of the URC, which speaks of the “visible unity of the Church”. He said Assembly had been honest about challenges it faces and had acknowledged membership decline; but wondered whether, in speaking about collaboration with the Methodist Church, Assembly was thinking broadly enough. Are we setting our sights high enough? Reuben asked; might 2027/2028 be the year when instead of further collaboration, we ask whether the Methodist Church and URC become one?

The Revd Lindsey Sanderson had represented the URC at this year’s Methodist Conference. She asked Assembly the same question she had asked there – a question borrowed from the Australian Churches Covenanting Together Process. “What is possible if we go to the limits of what is permissible.” She said, there is already much that is possible, “but I am firmly of the opinion that there is more that is permissible. So my hope and prayer for this consultative meeting is that we can begin to discern an answer to this question.”

The Revd John Bremnar, Ecumenical Officer for the National Synod of Scotland, spoke of his experience of working with the Waldensian Church in Italy in the 1990s; formally, “the Union of Waldensian and Methodist Churches”. Their pact of integration was a not a way of uniting the Churches in a way that erased their identities. The Waldensian Church remains Waldensian, he said, and the Methodist Churches conduct their business in a very similar way to Methodist Churches in Britain. But for all practical purposes they are one Church. He said there was a possibility in the proposal before Assembly that the URC and Methodist Church each retain their identity but be one in ministry and membership.

The Revd Tom Osborne, the Methodist representative, affirmed the benefit of the conversations. He wasn’t sure that full unity should be on the agenda, but he agreed that what was possible should be fully explored.

The Revd Dr Kirsty Thorpe, a former Moderator, reminded Assembly that “we’ve been down this path before”. She said the URC’s Mission Council and Methodist Council had met together in joint sessions – “large, visionary gatherings” – and endeavoured to lay foundations for further work. However, “we did look at buildings and how they can be used as platforms for mission together, but the other work we hoped to do went into the sand”. Quoting the report, she emphasised that the new proposed conversations should avoid “becoming immersed and lost in process and technicalities”. She also reminded Assembly that the Methodist covenant with the Church of England (CofE) is “a complicating factor for all of us”.

The Revd Dr Romily Micklem also pointed out that the Methodist/CofE covenant was most successful at a national level, but his experience was of churches locally that “behaved as if they’d never even heard of it outside of the [Methodist] circuit meeting”. We have to take the local with us, he said – it can’t be something that just happens at Assembly and synod level. “Don’t just look at the opportunities; we have to be realistic and open-eyed.”

The General Secretary, responding for the Business Committee, said Reuben had called Assembly to a central point of who we are. But he also said, “We’ve done quite a lot of growing up” and asked how we institute the vision of unity. He warned that if we set full unity as our goal, “we will do nothing else for the next 20 years”. He said the Waldensian example was a helpful one. He also said that one of the shadow sides of the formation of the URC was that “we ripped from underneath people their identities”. He noted that there are cultural differences between the Methodist and URC denominations – “and those are the things that can trip us up if we’re not careful”.

Ms Lindsey Brown, Head of Ecumenical Relations and Ecumenism, welcomed the warmth of contributions to the discussion. She spoke of the existing sharing of facilities management and times of prayer between Methodists and the URC in Tavistock Place, but she agreed that there can be complexities at a local level.

Resolution 4 was carried.

Paper P5: West Midlands Synod – Clarifying “pastoral necessity” for lay presidency at the Sacraments��

Presented by the Revd Steve Faber, Moderator of West Midlands Synod, Paper A5, containing Resolution 60, highlights that the URC’s current guidance on lay presidency at the sacraments no longer reflects the realities of ministry. Since General Assembly last reviewed the policy in 2016, the number of churches served by each stipendiary minister has increased significantly — now an average of 1 to 5, whereas in 2016, it was 3.2 — making it increasingly difficult for ministers to preside at each of the churches they serve where the most common pattern for Communion is monthly, without factoring in ministers’ annual or study leave.

While paying tribute to the contribution of non-stipendiary and retired ministers, he said many congregations are finding it a harder to secure authorised sacramental presidency and that the need for lay presidency is growing rapidly. The West Midlands Synod’s Ministry Development Committee is also receiving an increasing number of requests to appoint Authorised Elders.�� Therefore, the paper essentially asks for clearer guidance on what constitutes “pastoral necessity” when authorising elders to preside, so that decisions are transparent, consistent and reflect the realities of ministry across all synods.

Steve posed questions such as: What defines that necessity? How should we manage a Minister being expected to preside at four or five Easter morning Communions, or Christmas Eve services many miles apart?

Following a brief discussion, Resolution 60 was carried.

Session Ten

Paper A3: Business – Resource Centres of Learning – Education for Ministry Phase 1
This session followed on from the initial presentations made on Saturday morning, with questions for clarification.

In response to several questions, the Revd Dr John Bradbury, the General Secretary, said:

• The resolution would be taken as a whole, in order to ensure that the package of recommendations forms a coherent whole
• The reason for recommending having two RCLs, not one, derives from the two pedagogical approaches embedded in Luther King Theological College (LKTC) and The Scottish College, and the hope that increased collaboration between the two would strengthen their shared approaches.
• Regarding the future of Westminster College, he said it wasn’t immediately possible to say whether the URC would continue as “partners” or “customers” of the college – “neither approach is ruled out”. He said there was good reason to believe that partnership would be ongoing, but that the precise shape of that would have to be worked out. He acknowledged that though the report explicitly deals with EM1, the desire to integrate as many strands of learning as possible suggests that it may also be logical for the RCLs that deliver EM1 to also deliver EM2, but this report does not specify that. He could envisage Westminster College making offerings for EM3. Westminster would continue as an RCL at the moment.

Moving to the discussion stage, the Moderator invited those who have a direct conflict of interest to speak first before recusing themselves.

The Revd John Bremnar, who is on the Board of Trustees of The Scottish College, noted that the difference in the numbers of students at LKTC and the Scottish College was not huge, despite the use of the terms “primary” and “complementary” (which he suggested could be misleading). Dr Bradbury said that the main difference between the two institutions was the balance of resources required to maintain them.

Those who have a direct conflict of interest recused themselves before further discussion.

Lythan Nevard, Moderator of Eastern Synod, noted that only one candidate for stipendiary minister would begin training next year. She said that, as a denomination, we have not done enough to raise up potential candidates. She also said that to candidate for stipendiary ministry, an individual has to be under 54 – which of our churches, she asked, has members who are under that age who are being discipled to candidate for ministry?

Simon Cross, Yorkshire, argued that the report was of insufficient quality and detail to be the basis for the Assembly’s decision-making. He asked: if the assumptions in the report “are presented as facts, how can we accept its conclusions?” He said the transitional arrangements are not defined but would be complex; and wondered how Westminster would continue to fulfil its charitable purposes?

Mr Cross proposed an amendment to Resolution 2, Section G: “Assembly instructs the Business Committee and Resources Committee to work with Westminster College Governors to bring forward a clear transitional plan that ensure a fair financial settlement and enables Westminster College to continue fulfilling its charitable purposes, including through agreed areas of ministerial training and development, and to continue to play a full part in the Cambridge Theological Federation.”

The proposed amendment was ruled out of order due to its financial implications which had not been discussed with the relevant committee.

In response to questions to date, Dr Bradbury said that the outcomes of this review could alter the balance of the identities that make up the United Reformed Church, and that the Church would have be to be alert to this in a very intentional way.

He argued that financial modelling is different from presenting facts; and he said he hadn’t heard any inaccuracies pointed to outside of that.

Alan Yates, the URC Treasurer responded to financial questions. He said that while he couldn’t guarantee that the remaining RCLs would flourish as a result of the proposals, the modelling done so far gave him hope. For the record, he said that there had been a difference of opinion over the modelling, and he also that he was never given any data about Westminster College fundraising.

A member of Thames North Synod feared for Westminster’s future – he worried that if the report was accepted, Westminster would soon be recorded in Assembly’s list of closing buildings.

The Revd Dr Charles Baczyk-Bell, the Church of England representative, thanked Assembly for its courage and realism. He said the CofE is having to make its own difficult decisions about theological institutions and that for too long “we’ve had our head in the sand”. He said that he hoped his own Church would learn from the URC’s deliberations.

Pfarrer Martin Henninger, Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz, spoke about his own experience of learning at Westminster. He said Cambridge is one of the best universities in the world – did the URC want to walk away from that; he said people at Cambridge would be forming the future of the country – was it not important for the URC to meet those people? In response, Dr Bradbury said that Cambridge’s reputation did not mean that other institutions didn’t also give excellent experiences for those training for ministry and for engaging with the public square.

Dr Bradbury agreed with the Revd Liz Adam, who took CRCW and Stipendiary modules at Northern College, that we can’t ignore the need to make brave choices – just as we say to local churches they must consider hard choices about moving out of, or closing, their buildings, we should be addressing our RCLs, with their “sub-standard accommodation”. She suggested that, from a carbon footprint point of view, Cambridge is the least easy location to reach without a car.

The Youth Moderator-Elect told Assembly that six young people had spoken to him in recent months about their interest in training for ministry but that he couldn’t say to them that there were flourishing RCLs for them to train at; that he also had to say that they would be training into a very fragile denomination.

The Moderator of Mersey Synod, the Revd Geoff Felton, spoke in part as a governor of Liverpool Hope University, which has recently cut to delivery theological training. He said he was listening hard to the debate and was wavering about how to vote. He was fearful that the “breadth of our theological education will be diminished”. He said that underlying the paper is a question about discipleship – why do people no longer eel called to ministry? – it is a question we need to address, he said. Responding, Dr Bradbury reflected on the contracting theological education. He didn’t quite believe the contribution of non-conformist training colleges was no longer required. Her referred to comments by the Revd Aled Jones, Thames North Synod, who had been trained in Welsh Independence College – he said he had preached at its closure in 2022, but he now brought a word of hope. He had recognised that a long season had come to a close; nevertheless, that didn’t mean God was done with ministerial formation – training has carried on in another way. However, Dr Bradbury did question the wisdom of relying on universities for a full theological grounding and training for URC ministers – he wasn’t convinced this would always be available.�� The Revd Sally Bateman has benefited from the support of all RCLs during her doctoral training. Her concern was that Assembly was being asked to make a decision based on a report with serious issues; that insufficient weight had been given to the location of Westminster College – she spoke of a “soft power” benefit to being associated with Cambridge University. To leave Westminster might also lead to a weakening of ecumenical relations, she believed. She also felt that the criteria included in Paper A3 did not match the criteria set out by 2025 General Assembly; Dr Bradbury responded that the panel’s criteria accurately incorporated the requirements of the Minutes of 2025 General Assembly.

The Revd Dr Susan Durber, who has taught at LKTC and is a former Principal of Westminster College, proposed an additional paragraph (Section H.) to the resolution:

“Mindful of the need for our Resource Centres for Learning to have a strong complement of URC staff, encourages the Resources Committee [later amended to read “relevant committees”] and the RCLs to work together to ensure a flourishing URC presence in staff teams and thus a continuing URC contribution to theological education.”

Dr Bradbury said this amendment reflected a concern that had been felt by the panel, and he said the panel would accept Dr Durber’s amendment, with the change indicated above.

The Revd Dr Romilly Micklem said, “If we wait for complete evidence, we may wait a very long time.” He added that that there has always been over-capacity for URC students; and shared his concern about the money that will be required to look after Westminster’s Grade II Listed Building. Other speakers also contributed their own personal experiences of both training and spaces before the Moderator tested the mind of the Assembly.

On a vote, Resolution 2, including the addition of a new Section H, was passed.

Resolution 3 was also carried.

Both before and following the votes, the Moderator’s chaplain led Assembly in prayer.

Memorial for Deceased Ministers and��CRCWs
The General Assembly remembered the Ministers, Church Related Community Workers and others who had passed since its last meeting. The Revd Nicola Furley-Smith, Deputy General Secretary (Ministries), read out the names and the Chaplain to the Moderator, the Revd Jane Wade, led prayers.

Peter Digby Ball
Robert John Blows
Colin George Bones
Elizabeth Jean Brown
Janet Calderley
John Mackenzie Chisholm
Malcolm Bernard Clarke
John Cranley Cohen
Kenneth Mervyn Coles
Meryl Court
Peter Charles Cruchley
Graham Herbert Dadd
Robert Francis Damer
Lillian Evangeline Dean
Myra D Dillistone
John Colbeck Durell
Richard Eastman
Alan Frederick Theodore Evans
Mary Elaine Elizabeth Frost
James Ronald Garfitt
Richard Hambly
Kenneth Harris
Keith Leonard Havers
Geoffrey Herickx
Malcolm Hill
Alwyn John Knight
Michael John Lay
Lesley Anne McNeil
Elizabeth Denise Megson
David John Netherwood
Robert Freeland Philip
Barbara Plenderleith
Derek Charles Redfern
Michael James Rigney
Anthony Tony Ritchie
Geoffrey Smith
Michael John Bemrose Spencer
John Alan Stanyon
Brian Sadler Stone
Harold Robert Tonks
Valerie Ann Towler
John Wadhams
James Norman Walker
Robert John Way
Stephen Alexander Wilkins
Alan Frederick Edward Wise
Ambrose David Wright

Giving thanks for the life of churches that have closed
The General Assembly gave thanks for the life of churches that had closed, or had ceased being a Local Ecumenical project, since the last meeting. Prayers for the life and mission of those churches were shared by the Chaplain.

Synod 1 – Northern Synod
St Cuthbert’s Heaton LEP, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 31 August 2025

Synod 2 – North Western Synod
Edgeley Community Church, Stockport, 14 February 2026
St Peter’s Church LEP, Manchester, 14 December 2025

Synod 4 – Yorkshire Synod
Lowedges, Michael Church, Sheffield, 28 February 2026
Riddlesden United Reformed Church, Keighley, 31 January 2026

Synod 5 – East Midlands Synod
Trinity United Reformed Church, Lincoln, 31 January 2026
Harrold & Carlton LEP, Bedford, 31 December 2025
Oadby United Reformed Church, Leicester, 29 March 2026
London Road United Reformed Church, Kettering, 31 March 2026

Synod 6 – West Midlands Synod
Baxter United Reformed Church, Kidderminster, 31 August 2025

Synod 7 – Eastern Synod
Southchurch Park United Reformed Church, Southend-on-Sea, 28 March 2026

Synod 8 – South Western Synod
Martock United Reformed Church, Martock, Somerset, 3 August 2025
Curry Rivel United Reformed Church, Curry Rivel, Somerset, 1 June 2025

Synod 9 – Wessex Synod
Hope United Reformed Church, Weymouth, 22 February 2026
Wonersh United Reformed Church, Wonersh, Surrey, 19 October 2025

Synod 11 – Southern Synod
Pagham United Reformed Church, Pagham, West Sussex, 29 November 2025

Synod 12 – Wales Synod
Tabernacle United Reformed Church, Holywell, Flintshire, 30 September 2025
Tabernacle United Reformed Church, Llanvaches, Newport, 7 December 2025

Synod 13 – Scotland Synod
Hamilton United Reformed Church, Hamilton, 28 September 2025
Greenock West United Reformed Church, Greenock, 31 December 2025

Celebrating Jubilee Ministers
The Revd Nicola Furley-Smith, Deputy General Secretary (Ministries), led Assembly in celebrating ministers who have marked significant periods of service:

Celebrating 70 years of ordained ministry in 2026:
Robert William Courtney, Charles Knowlson Meachin, David Stollery Morris

Celebrating 60 years of ordained ministry in 2026:
Clabon James Allen, Robert Andrews, David Batchelor, Michael John Cruchley, David Murray Cuckson, Lesley Gordon Giller, Rosemary Ruth Hartley, Glyn Jenkins, Kenneth William Marsh, Hugh Nixon McKee, Donald William Norwood, Leonard Rees Phelps, David Alistair Pratt, Rodney Alan Ward, Leonard John Wigg, David Wiseman

Celebrating 50 years of ordained ministry in 2026:
Derek Corner, Jack William Dyce, Brian O’Neill, David Raymond Peel, David Trafford, Elizabeth Anne Welch.

Greeting��ministers and CRCWs newly received onto the roll��
Nicola listed those who have been admitted to the Roll of Ministers of the Word and Sacraments, 1 April 2025 to 30 April 2026

By ordination and induction: Margaret Elizabeth Dexter-Brown, Susan Ann Knight, Clare Nutbrown-Hughes, Maurice Philips Omorojie, Tina Louise Wilson

By transfer from other Churches: Packiaraj Asirvatham (Church of South India), Juan Cruz (Presbyterian Church in the Philippines), Nomaqhawe Marambi (United Church of Zimbabwe)

The Moderator greeted the Revd Elizabeth Welch on her 50^th Anniversary of Ordination, the Revd Maurice Philips Omorojie on being Ordained and Inducted as a new Minister, the Revd Juan Cruz after his transfer from the Presbyterian Church in the Philippines, the Revd Nomaqhawe Marambi after her transfer from United Church of Zimbabwe, the Revd Dr Phil Wall, the new Head of Ministries Learning and Development, and Dr Jo Griffiths, the new Head of Children’s, Youth, Intergenerational and Discipleship.

Session��eleven

Synod Moderators’ Report: (Extra) Ordinary Hope
Lythan Nevard, Moderator of Eastern Synod and Geoff Felton, Moderator of Mersey Synod, presented an invitation to reflect on our hope in Jesus and on where we can bring God’s hope into the world today.

Their report said, ‘Hope is rooted not in the achievements of individuals or human institutions but on the character and promises of God as fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.’

Lythan said that ‘hope’ was a word we had heard more than any other through General Assembly – apart from Moderator.

Other synod moderators shared their idea of what hope is, including:

• Something beyond our imagination
• Sharing the unconditional love of God
• What we have to share with broken world
• Found in Jesus
• God’s kingdom coming on earth
• Participating in what God is doing

The Moderators invited Assembly, and local churches, to discuss:

• If we say we put our hope in Jesus, how should this shape how we live?
• How can we demonstrate that we are hopeful people?
• What does hope look like in your context?
• What does it mean to let go of what is known, with hope?

The Moderators’ report is here

The meeting then closed with prayers and worship.

Reporting team: Andy Jackson, Ann-Marie Nye, Laurence Wareing and Steve Tomkins.

The post General Assembly 2026: day three round-up, 5 July appeared first on United Reformed Church.

Mrs Irish Sirmons, Convenor of the General Assembly Business Committee, welcomed members of Assembly.��

The Bible was brought forward by Ms Kacie Hodgson, Moderator of Youth Assembly, and she was followed by officials of Assembly. The Revd Dr John Bradbury, General Secretary, invited the Moderator, through her chaplain, and an act of worship, to constitute General Assembly 2026.��

Opening worship��

An opening service of worship was led by the Moderator’s Chaplain, the Revd Jane Wade; beginning with Bessie Porter Head ‘s hymn “O breath of life come sweeping through us”.��

Having retold the story of the first Pentecost (Acts 2: 2-4), Jane said that, as Assembly, “we do not gather because we have all the answers, but because God’s Spirit is still at work, inspiring and guiding”. She introduced the theme of the weekend’s Bible studies: “God empowers ordinary people in ordinary places to do extraordinary things”.��God does not call the equipped; God equips the called, she said – a theme underlined by a reading from St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, verses18 to 31.��

Jane invited��the��Revd Dr Peter Green��to introduce his Bible study series for Assembly.����

Peter said his Bible studies would focus on individuals who in one way or another were marginal in their societies: Melchizedek; the unnamed Syrophoenician/Canaanite woman who asks Jesus to exorcise her daughter; and the apostle Barnabas.��

He said two principles apply to the readings at the heart of the studies:����

1. The whole of Scripture is the story of��the human race��– “your story and mine is in scripture”,��so we��have to��ask, “Where am I in this story? Who am I in this story?”��
2. The New Testament is hidden in the Old Testament; the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament.
   ��

Inspired by words of C.S. Lewis, Peter added that Scripture passages that include details we nowadays find repellent��more often than not��hold important truths, especially if look for the ways in which Old and New Testaments are intertwined. He concluded that “our hope and prayer is that, with the gift of the Holy Spirit, really ordinary people will be empowered to do extraordinary things”,��adding that “these could be extraordinarily bad things but we hope they will be extraordinarily good things”.��

Jane Wade then led Assembly in the sharing of Holy Communion.��

Ecumenical guests

Ms Lindsey Brown, Head of Ecumenical Relations and Evangelism, introduced ecumenical guests from the UK:

• Fr Marc Homsey, National Ecumenical Officer for the��Catholic Church in England and Wales
• Right Revd Gordon Kennedy, Moderator of the Church of Scotland General Assembly
• Revd Tom Osborne, Methodist Church in Britain
• Revd David Warboys, Baptist Union
• Revd Dr Charles Baczyk-Bell, Church of England

Ms Karen Campbell, Head of Global and Intercultural Ministries, welcomed guests from international partner Churches:

• Janet McConnell, Council for World Mission Secretary for Social Justice
• Pfarrer Martin Henninger, Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz
• Dr Joanna Simpson from Jamaica (Assistant Lecturer, University of the West Indies)
• Revd Najla Kassab, National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon,��and a former President of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (2017–25)
• Sadly unable to be at Assembly in person was the Right Revd Dr Collin Cowan, Moderator, United Church of Jamaica & the Cayman Islands

Fr Marc Homsey and the Revd Najla Kassab were invited to address General Assembly.

Fr Marc Homsey said it is an exciting time for the Catholic Church, with a new Pope who has already shown how important ecumenical relations are to him. He said that the fourth phase of the Roman Catholic/URC Dialogue Group will soon be convened by the URC’s General Secretary, the Revd Dr John Bradbury, and Bishop Paul Hendricks, Auxiliary Bishop for the Kent area of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Southwark. The discussions have the working title, “Being the People of God”.

The Revd Najla Kassab said that, recently, she had walked over a bombed bridge that crosses the border from Lebanon into Syria, in order to visit churches that are in her synod. “The bridge had been damaged, but it still did not stop me from reaching out and to live hope. It reminded me that nothing – not even war, destruction – can separate us from sharing the love of Christ with one another. God’s love always finds a way across broken places.”

She said that though Assembly was gathering in a world marked by uncertainty, conflict, and deep division, “yet we remain people of hope because our hope is rooted in the living Christ”, and she said: “May we all have the courage to cross bridges – not only the physical bridges damaged by war, but also the invisible bridges that divide our communities, our churches. May we dare to see the world from the other side of the bridge, to discover perspectives different from our own, and to stand where God stands – with those who long for justice, peace, and hope.”

Session one��

Introductions and Greeting of Ecumenical Guests��

En bloc��

The following reports and resolutions were passed��en��bloc. En bloc items 1are voted on without debate, having been��deemed��uncontroversial. This has no reflection on their importance.��Read the full reports and resolutions��for��each��paper.����

Synod Moderator’s Report
An invitation to churches to reflect on��our hope in Jesus and on where we can bring God’s hope into the world today.����

Senior Leadership Team Report
An��update on��the work of the team, and the agenda for work��emerging��from the General Assembly.����

A1 – Business Committee Report��
An update on the work of the committee and decisions taken on behalf of the General Assembly since Assembly Executive met in February 2026.����

AD1 – Church Life Fund Progress Update
Approving the terms of reference of the CLF��Committee and��providing for the appointment of committee members.��

B1 – Faith in Action Committee Report��
An overview of the work of the committee and team since September 2025, including children, youth and intergenerational; communications; equalities, diversity and belonging; evangelism and ecumenism; global and intercultural ministries; global justice and interfaith; lay learning; public issues.��

B4 – Future of URC at Greenbelt��
Extending the URC’s presence at Greenbelt festival for three years, granting funding and requiring annual reports on effectiveness.��

B5 – Net-Zero Task Group Report
An update on the activity of the Task Group, including the report on annual synods’ progress towards net zero.��

B6 – Net-Zero Terms of Reference��
Adopting terms of reference for the Net Zero Task Group.��

C4 – Active Ministers Policy��
Adopting the revised Active Ministers Policy, which provides a framework for the recognition,��authorisation��and accountability of active Ministers of the Word and Sacraments, and CRCWs.��

C5��–��Inactive��Ministers Policy��
Adopting the Inactive Ministers Policy, which distinguishes between lifelong ordination and current��authorisation��to minister.

C6 – Review of Ministers Retirement Age��
Affirming the normal retirement age of 68 for Ministers of Word and Sacraments and CRCWs, and the existing procedure for extension.��

C7 – Process for ill-health early retirement��
Adopting the process for the ill-health early retirement of��office-holders, aiming that ministers continue to be treated��in accordance with��the current arrangements.��

C8 – Competencies and Expected Standards��
Adopting the framework of Competencies and Expected Standards of Conduct and��Behaviour��for Ministers.����

C9 – Reasonable Adjustments
Adopting the Reasonable Adjustments Policy, which aims to remove barriers arising from disability or health conditions for Ministers, CRCWs and those in training.��

C10 – Sickness and Ill-health��
Adopting the revised Sickness and Ill Health Policy for Ministers of the Word and Sacraments and Church Related Community Workers, following changes to the law.��

C11 – Accreditations Sub-Committee Terms of Reference��
Adopting the revised terms of reference for the Accreditations Sub-Committee of the Ministries Committee.

CD1 – Ministry & Mission Fund Review Task Group
An update on the work of the Resolution 46 Task Group,��established��to undertake a URC-wide consultation on the sustainability of the Ministry and Mission Fund. The process is being developed, and findings and options will be brought to��General��Assembly in 2027.��

CH1 –Ministries Support and Wellbeing Sub-Committee��
Creating a single Ministries Support and Wellbeing Committee, bringing together the work of the Pastoral Reference and Welfare Committee and��the��Maintenance of the Ministry Sub-Committee.��

G1 – Nominations Committee Report��
Establishing best practice for selecting synod reps for General Assembly, to be communicated through��new resources. Two members of the Church Life Fund Committee will be coopted to ensure diversity. Appointments include the Revd Dr John Bradbury as General Secretary, and the Revd Jamie Kissack as Moderator of the Yorkshire Synod, both for second terms.��

H1 – Pastoral References and Welfare Committee Report��
Update on the work and future of the committee and its oversight of welfare funds.��

I1 – Safeguarding Committee Report��
Annual update of safeguarding in the URC, including highlights, risk areas, areas of development, and a summary of church safeguarding returns.��

J1 – Worship,��Faith��and Order Committee Report��
An update on the work of the committee.��

J4 – Assisted Dying��
Commending ‘A Theological Resource on Assisted Dying’ to churches as an aid to discussion.��

J5 – Permission to Coopt Members
Allowing the Worship,��Faith��and Order Committee to��co-opt��specialists and URC members of ecumenical or international bodies.����

P1 – New Synod Name��
Changing the name of the Wessex Synod to the Wessex and Islands Synod, from 1 January 2027.��

Nomination��of individual��appointments��
The��appointments��were��celebrated��at General��Assembly��and greetings were offered to:����

• The Revd Dr��John Bradbury is appointed to serve as General Secretary for a further term of five years.��
• The��Revd Jamie Kissack��is appointed to serve��as Moderator of Yorkshire Synod��for��a��further five-year term.��
• The Revd Revd Nicola Furley-Smith is reappointed to serve a second term as Deputy General Secretary (Ministries); and ����
• Karen Campbell is reappointed to serve a second term as Head of Global and Intercultural Church��
• Mike Thomason was also welcomed as Moderator of��North Western��Synod.��

Keynote — Dr Krish Kandiah on “The Surprising Power of Hospitality – how to respond to the rise of Christian Nationalism with grace and truth”��

is founder of The Sanctuary Foundation, a charity that supports refugees to find welcome, work and housing in the UK. He is also a passionate advocate for supporting children out of the care system through adoption, fostering and kinship care. He was invited by the Moderator, Catriona Wheeler, to address Assembly.

Krish said that his theme was radical hospitality and what he regards as its polar opposite – toxic nationalism.

He spoke about his own family, which has grown out of a mixed-race heritage. His mother was brought over to Britain from an orphanage in India and became a nurse, “to give something back” to the country that had given her a home, but experienced extreme racism and xenophobia. She responded by cooking up a meal every Friday and inviting others who didn’t “fit in” (including “a tall, young Malaysian student” who became Krish’s father).

Krish, who has founded a fostering and adoption charity, used this topic as way of helping Assembly understand what radical hospitality can look like. He said that one of the ways we show what the grace of God is like is by caring for the most vulnerable in society. He said that, though we are all experiencing the same world (and Assembly members chose quite dark words to describe it – “concerning, worrying, challenging, confusing”), as Christians we should see the world differently. Sometimes we struggle to do this, Krish said.

He used the example of Robert, a child in care, who, at five-years-old has “difficult to manage behaviour”. Krish said that most prospective adopters who consider Robert’s profile move on because they are concerned about what that behaviour will look like when he’s 15. Krish’s question was: “When God looks at Robert, what does God see?” A range of possibilities were offered, with discussion focusing on questions of vulnerability and humanity. Krish then used these responses to speak about what he sees as a parallel issue: attitudes to those coming to the UK from other countries.

Krish compared the public response to providing a home for refugees from Ukraine with similar appeals to provide hospitality to refugees from Sudan and young medical evacuees from Gaza. “It probably took as much effort to get five Gazan children over [to the UK] with their mothers as it took to bring 250,000 Ukrainians. He cited his experience of Christians who were critical of what Hamas had done in Israel but had then applied the same anger towards the care of Gazan children in need.

Using a clip of an interview he had given to GB News, Krish emphasised the need to see as human those who disagree with you. He argued that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, had a voice for those who were weary and heavy laden, and another voice for “the wolves” – a voice that criticised religious leaders. He said that sometimes “we use the wrong voice on the wrong people. I think if Jesus was looking at the audience of GB News, he would offer them rest too.” He argued that we need to be welcoming to those white, working-class people who have been left behind as well as those who have fled to our country for asylum. It’s both/and, not either/or, he said. As people of God, in our local church we are part of the local but care about the global. “You can’t choose between your heart or your lungs – one is not more important than the other. When we are speaking out for the vulnerable, speak for local and global at the same time so that you can’t be accused of being for one and not for the other.”

Finally, Krish spoke of Christian leaders taking distinct political positions: some ��“jumping into the culture war with both feet, mainly from the right-wing end of the political spectrum” and using the Christian faith as a barrier to keep other people out; others drawn to “the other end of the political spectrum – equity, welcome, fighting injustice –“ but arguably pursuing a “progressive project that goes beyond what the Bible says”. Others avoid both extremes but end up “neutering” the Bible and abdicating from the Church’s prophetic task. Our work, Krish concluded, is to be discerning – to show the world that God calls us to radical hospitality.

Paper B3 – Faith in Action – Inter Faith
The Faith in Action Committee presented a report on the URC’s interfaith work, with three resolutions, in different areas, which were all passed.

Resolution 7 is to work towards a joint Christian-Muslim declaration. The past year has been a wake-up call for the Church’s commitment to interfaith work, the committee says. The rise of far-right nationalism invoking the name of Jesus to vilify other religions is sending shockwaves through the Church.

However, there is no established structure for Muslim-Christian engagement at senior denominational level. The resolution is intended as a step towards such an organisation. The committee will report back on progress to the 2027 Assembly.

Sarah Lane Cawte, Convenor of Faith in Action Committee, said the resolution was about overcoming division and intolerance, and developing more cohesive and resilient communities.

She commended the publication ‘Reaching Out In Love’, an interfaith toolkit developed by the Revd Peter Colwell, and published by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. .

Resolution 8 commends prayerful study of ‘Kairos II’, a document produced by Palestinian Christians reflecting their experience and perspective. Ms Lane Cawte said that ‘Kairos II’ was offered for reflection, not in the expectation that readers would necessarily agree with all of it. She said the committee had consulted with the Council for Christians and Jews, who would be responding to ‘Kairos II’ in due course.

Resolution 9 creates a task group to address antisemitism in the Church. Ms Lane Cawte said members of Assembly might be shocked by the idea of antisemitism in the URC, but she compared it to the URC having learned that it needed to tackle racism and start to become an anti-racist church. The Woolf institute has identified areas for review.

A point emerged in debate which Ms Lane Cawte heartily agreed with: commending involvement in local authority Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) meetings.

Paper B2 – Five Marks of the Faith in Action Team
General Assembly commended the Five Marks for the Faith in Action (FiA) team, which was created last September following a restructure with the staff of the Office of General Assembly.����

The framework for the team was to support its work and help to set priorities. It used a framework based on the Five Marks of Mission and adapted it for the work of the team, helping it to ensure coverage of all areas related to discipleship and mission.������

Jenny Mills, Deputy General Secretary (Faith in Action), said: “We knew that a clear framework for our work would help us become better at not only asking ‘what shall we do’,��but also what should we stop doing. This idea blossomed and is already providing the what, the how and the why whilst��we’re��focusing on mission and discipleship in their widest forms … I offer this paper to the General Assembly as an act of encouragement for the whole��FiA��team.”��

The team is responding to a wide range of General Assembly��work��so there is need for a broad, descriptive framework to clarify it.

The paper included next steps, future��suggestions��and the��FiA��Team Creed.��

Paper P6 – Mersey Synod – Evangelism
Presenting Paper 6 on behalf of Mersey Synod, its Moderator, the Revd Geoff Felton, said that the paper wasn’t so much about bringing resolutions as about inviting local congregations to express, confidently, the hope that we find in Christ and the Gospel life we express through worship. The paper had arisen out of the Synod’s Talking Faith project, designed to help churches build confidence among church members to enter into conversation about questions of faith.

Emphasising the centrality of worship, the report described evangelism as “a matter of discipleship not desperation” and as best understood as “invitation to encounter”. It argued that hesitancy to speak confidently about the Church as Christ’s presence in the here and now “can unintentionally weaken evangelistic confidence”.

One member of Assembly asked, with reference to a comment in the paper, which forms of mission and theologies are “insufficient”. Mr Felton said there was concern about when the work of God is not considered to be active in the world today but did say no particular theology was being criticsed. Another speaker asked about materials that might be recommended to help churches make evangelism integral to their work. Mersey Synod has produced some resources that are available to others but Mr Felton said it would be helpful if other URC resources were produced nationally.

In response to another question, Mr Felton said that evangelism in Mersey Synod became increasingly “relational” as a result of the Talking Faith initiative – it wasn’t about enforcing certain ideologies.

Resolution 61, containing Mersey Synod’s invitation to affirm evangelism as integral to the life and mission of the United Reformed Church, was passed.

Session two

Paper B7 – Legacies of Slavery: Affirming the will and finding the way(s)
Introducing the discussion, Lindsey Brown, Head of Evangelism & Ecumenism, explained that the paper on the Legacies of Slavery being presented to General Assembly was, in one sense, a formality. Much of its content had already been considered by previous General Assemblies, which had authorised the work undertaken so far. However, she stressed that some formal decisions and processes still needed to be completed. The purpose of both the paper and the discussion session was therefore to enable the Assembly to formally ratify work that was already underway, while also providing an opportunity for questions, concerns and further reflection. Lindsey noted that although the journey began several years ago, not everyone in the Church has been part of those conversations. She encouraged members to engage with the issues, share differing viewpoints where necessary, and help shape the work going forward so that as many people as possible can participate in the Church’s ongoing journey of learning and action.��

Lindsey then asked each of the panel members — David Reynolds, Joanna Simpson and Karen Campbell — to introduce themselves and explain why they had engaged with the issues around Legacies of Slavery. ��

David Reynolds, Convenor of the URC’s Legacies of Slavery group
David explained that he became involved after being asked to take on the role by John Bradbury. As a historian who teaches and writes about the past, he was concerned that Britain is often not fully honest about its history, an issue that he believes is closely connected to his Christian faith. Reynolds described his involvement in the project as both a responsibility and one of the most moving experiences of his Christian life. Working alongside people from a range of backgrounds and perspectives has deepened his understanding and reinforced the importance of the Church engaging honestly with the legacies of slavery and their continuing impact today.��

Dr Joanna Simpson, Lecturer in Community Social Work – University of West Indies
Joanna reflected on how her work in community social work and her upbringing in Jamaica shaped her understanding of justice and social transformation. As the daughter of a pastor committed to social justice, she was exposed from��a young age��to communities facing significant challenges and saw the impact faith could have on people rebuilding their lives. Her later research into crime and violence in Jamaica led her to examine the deeper social and historical causes of these issues. She concluded that many present-day inequalities and patterns of violence are rooted in the enduring legacy of colonialism and its impact on communities. Joanna emphasised that tackling these challenges requires addressing the social factors that undermine dignity and opportunity. She also highlighted the vital role of churches and faith volunteers in promoting justice,��mercy��and transformation, particularly through supporting young people and responding to issues such as youth violence.��

Karen Campbell, Head of Global & Intercultural Church
Karen reflected on her journey with the URC’s Legacies of Slavery programme, which began in 2017 through the Council for World Mission’s work exploring the history and continuing impact of transatlantic slavery. She explained that, despite growing up in the UK as the daughter of Jamaican parents and being aware of racism and inequality, she had not fully understood how deeply these experiences were connected to the legacy of slavery. Through her involvement in the project and later the URC task group, she embarked on a significant journey of learning and reflection. Since taking a leading role in the work in 2020, she has sought to encourage others to engage with the same process of learning. Karen��emphasised��that people begin from��different backgrounds��and levels of understanding, but the important thing is a willingness to��grow in��awareness, become allies, and help bring about positive change.��

Lindsey Brown, Head of Evangelism & Ecumenism
Speaking about the URC’s work on the legacies of slavery, Lindsey recalled that many local churches initially felt disconnected from the issue, seeing it as something from the distant past with little relevance to them. As an elder, Lindsey experienced this reaction firsthand during the consultation process. Joining one of the Legacies of Slavery subgroups gave her the opportunity to��represent��those perspectives, but it also became a significant learning journey. Lindsey reflected on how much she had not previously understood about the subject and described the process as both eye-opening and challenging. Lindsey said she believes the URC’s extensive consultation, which engaged the whole Church from the outset, has enabled it to make greater progress on the issue than some other denominations.��

Video presentation by the Revd Dr Collin Cowan
The Revd Dr Collin Cowan, Moderator of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands (UCJCI), praised the URC for its “courage and commitment” in acknowledging its historical involvement in transatlantic slavery and committing to reparative justice.��

Speaking from the UCJCI’s first Garden of Justice, Reconciliation and Peace, Dr Cowan described the URC as the first church within the Council for World Mission to respond to the call to address the legacies of slavery through apology and practical action.��

He said reparations are not about charity or token gestures, but about repairing broken relationships and working together to create a more just future.��

“When we talk about reparations, first and foremost we’re talking about building bridges of reconciliation,” he said. “Only after we have repaired broken relationships can we talk about financial relinquishment.”��

Reflecting on the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, Dr Cowan said the storm had exposed the continuing legacies of slavery, with the poorest communities suffering the greatest losses. Many people��remain��without secure housing months after the hurricane, leaving them vulnerable as another hurricane season approaches.��

He urged the URC to continue its partnership with the UCJCI by supporting the creation of three new villages to provide safe housing for communities most affected by both the hurricane and the long-term effects of historic injustice.��

“If the United Reformed Church were to work with the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, we could build at least one of these three villages,” he said.��

Calling on churches to confront their shared history, Dr Cowan concluded: “We must do whatever it takes to change that narrative and create hospitable communities in which all of us will flourish together, live in peace and harmony, serve one another and give��honour��and glory to the God of justice.”��

Lindsey then explained the three-strand ‘repairing justice’ proposals of the paper: global, regional, and local aspects.��

David and Karen highlighted key points of the Global strand. David explained that the legacy of slavery��remains��visible in Jamaica today. He highlighted that around 30% of the population has no legal right to the land on which they live, leaving many families��living��in insecure housing.��

He said Hurricane Melissa had exposed that vulnerability, with many of those already living in precarious circumstances suffering the greatest losses.��

Referring to Issue 3 of��Reformed��magazine, David explained that the Churches Reparations Action Forum (CRAF) is working to use church-owned land to develop sustainable, hurricane-resilient housing as a practical response to the continuing legacy of slavery.��

Joanna — who visited the URC’s central office in November as part of a collaborative project between the URC and the Ascension Trust about a��mentoring project for young black man in key demographic areas of the URC��— shared powerfully about the��Regional��strand.��

Joanna started by reflecting on a biblical basis for reparative��justice and��said that the Church is called not only to pray and worship, but also to take practical action against injustice.����

Drawing on Isaiah 58–61, she argued that God calls Christians to “loose the chains of injustice”, care for those who are oppressed, comfort the broken-hearted and work for justice and mercy. Jonna went on to say that the legacy of slavery, including its ongoing trauma, is part of that calling, and added that the Church’s mission is to combine evangelism with practical expressions of love and justice. “God requires it,” she said. “Faith must be lived out in acts of justice, mercy and love for our��neighbour”.��

Karen outlined the third strand of the Legacies of Slavery programme, which focuses on anti-racism within the URC itself. She said the Church’s anti-racism training is designed to encourage reflection rather than��provide��simple right-and-wrong answers, inviting people to examine privilege, challenge assumptions and��recognise��systemic racism. While the training has been well received, Karen said lasting change will require more than individual learning. The challenge, she said, is transforming the culture and structures of the��Church��so they no longer unintentionally perpetuate inequality. “We have yet to make that individual journey come together to change the��organisation,” she said.��

Each panel member then spoke about what has brought them joy about the work so far. A key moment��mentioned��was the URC’s confession and apology for��its��role in��the��Transatlantic��Slave Trade.��

Assembly then broke up into groups, to discuss the follow questions:

• How do you understand the term “reparations” or “repairing justice”��
• What does it mean for the URC to be a community of justice in the face of injustice (how��might this relate to our response to the Legacies of Slavery?��
• What clarification do you need��regarding��these specific proposals��

The paper will be discussed again on day two of Assembly.����

Reporting team: Andy Jackson, Ann-Marie Nye, Laurence Wareing, Steve Tomkins. Pictures: Kevin Snyman.

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General Assembly meets annually to celebrate, discuss, worship and make decisions about the life and work of the URC.��It is the URC’s central decision-making body.

Items on the agenda include Legacies of Slavery, sustainability of stipendiary ministry, gendered language in the Basis of Union, the place of URC Youth, Resource Centres for Learning, the 2026 Community Project Awards, and much more.

A round-up of all the business discussed and decisions made will be available on the��news pages of the URC’s website��and Issue 5 of��Reformed��magazine. A summary will be included in News Update, the denomination’s monthly e-newsletter.

• General Assembly papers can be viewed and downloaded��here

• The proceedings will also be livestreamed on the��URC website��and��.

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Friday 3 July marks 100 days since the installation of the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dame Sarah Elisabeth Mullally DBE as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury.��

The Revd Dr Tessa Henry Robinson, a United Reformed Church (URC) minister — who serves as Moderator of the , a , and one of the — was asked what her presence at the installation meant to her at a recent meeting of the URC’s Racial Justice Advocates. Here is Tessa’s powerful response:

My presence at the installation of the Archbishop of Canterbury carried significance on several levels and each of these mattered deeply.

I attended in my capacity as one of the Presidents of Churches Together in England and through my role as Moderator of the Free Churches Group. My presence was ecumenical, public, and representative of a wider Christian witness; one that recognises that moments such as these reach beyond one denomination. They speak into the life of the whole Church and reveal something about where we are, what we are willing to affirm, and what kind of future we are prepared to inhabit together.

On a personal level, I felt it was important to be there in support of a woman stepping into a role of immense visibility and responsibility at a time when there were already strong voices seeking to diminish that moment.

There were those who opposed her appointment simply because she is a woman. There were those who sought to deny its legitimacy before she had even begun. For me, that was not a small matter because it tells us that the struggle around women’s leadership in the Church remains active, organised, and deeply theological in the ways it frames power, authority, and permission. My showing up was an act of solidarity and a way of saying that when a woman is called into a place of leadership, especially under pressure, she should not enter that space alone.

My attending also held a denominational significance for me. I am a minister and a visible member of the United Reformed Church, a denomination that, by the grace of God and through the courage of those who pressed for change, was among the early churches in this country to ordain women. That history is important! It reminds us that progress in the Church never falls from the sky. It comes through prayer, struggle, courage, support, biblical wrestling, institutional challenge, and the costly persistence of those who reject the idea that the image of God can only be contained within male authority. My presence was also a quiet testimony to a tradition that has sought, however imperfectly, to widen the space for women’s full participation in ministry.

I also attended as the first Black woman to serve as United Reformed Church General Assembly Moderator. That also shaped the meaning of the moment for me. Because whenever a Black woman stands in spaces of ecclesial significance, that woman carries more than the title she bears. She carries memory, struggle, ancestry, and the full force of those who are overlooked, patronised, resisted, or welcomed only on terms set by others. She also carries the knowledge that institutions often find symbolic change easier than structural transformation. She carries the hope that presence can become participation, and participation can become change.

From a sociological perspective, moments like this hold significance because institutions teach through symbols as much as through speech.

Who is seen at the centre matters. Who is trusted with authority matters. Who is blessed, affirmed, robed, seated, heard, and publicly received, matters. These things help shape the moral imagination of a community. They signal to girls and women whether they are truly called or merely tolerated. They tell Black women whether leadership can ever hold their full humanity, their intellect, their spirituality, and their experience without requiring them to shrink. Representation and participation alone do not complete the work; but they do break open the old script and make new possibilities visible.

From a theological perspective, I believe such moments push us toward the God who keeps calling beyond the boundaries people construct. The witness of scripture is full of God raising voices that established systems have discounted. God entrusts testimony to those whom society has treated as secondary. God brings good news through those the gatekeepers did not expect. If we look carefully, we will see that the resurrection itself arrives first through the witness of a woman, and we would also notice that Pentecost disrupts the fantasy that God speaks through one kind of body, one class, one gender, one people.

The Spirit keeps moving ahead of the Church’s comfort, drawing us toward a wider obedience.

That is why my presence at the Installation of the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury mattered to me. It was never simply about attending a grand occasion. It was about what kind of Church we are becoming. It was about whether we have the courage to recognise the gifts of women when those gifts are exercised at the highest levels. It was about whether we are willing to confront the misogyny that still circulates in religious language, religious culture, and religious structures. It was about whether the Church can receive leadership from those whose very presence exposes the limits of old assumptions.

For me, being there was an act of witness. It was an act of encouragement. It was an act of solidarity. It was also an act of hope; that is, hope for a generation present, and to come.

Because every time a woman steps into a place where some said she could never stand, the Church is offered a chance to become more truthful. And every time a Black woman stands in such a space, the Church is confronted again with the breadth of God’s calling and the poverty of its own exclusions.

I was glad to be at the installation service; glad to stand with a woman carrying a demanding call; glad to stand as part of ecumenical bodies; glad to stand as a daughter of a denomination that has sought to honour women’s ministry; glad to stand as a Black woman in the Church, bearing witness to the God whose call continues to exceed our boundaries, disturb our certainties, and draw us further into justice.

Images: Church of England.

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The campaign called “Time to Act” has been organised by the of churches and charities, and also includes All We Can; Amos Trust CAFOD; Christian Aid; Christians for Palestine; EAPPI UK and Ireland; Embrace the Middle East; Iona Community; Justice and Peace Scotland; Methodist Church; Pax Christi England and Wales; Quakers in Britain; Sabeel-Kairos UK; SCIAF; Undeb Yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg/the Union of Welsh Independents; FaithJustice; and Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru/Church in Wales.

They say the conflict in the Middle East and the rise in Israeli settler violence in the West Bank has decimated communities — Christian and Muslim alike — and destroyed the lives and life chances of millions.

Coalition spokesperson, the Revd John Plant explained the initiative was an opportunity to act in solidarity with churches in Palestine and ensure their voices are heard by those with the power to change things: “We are united in our belief that a just peace in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory is possible. But until our leaders act, the violence, displacement, detention and fear will carry on. Communities will be decimated, whole families wiped out, along with the possibility of a Palestinian state.

“We are mobilising church��communities��across the UK to stand with our sisters and brothers��and raise their voices in��a united��call for��stronger��action��to work towards��a sustainable and just peace for all those��who call��the Holy Land home.��By adding your name, you are joining a growing movement of people committed to listening, learning, living differently, and��taking action��for justice, accountability, and peace.”

Church leaders around the UK are supporting the campaign.

The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said: “Time to Act provides us with the opportunity to come together as Christians and to advocate for a just peace in Israel and Palestine — a peace characterised by the active promotion of justice and the nurturing of equitable relationships within and between communities so that everyone can live life in all its fullness. I encourage all Christians to join this campaign and to seek this peace and to pursue it with all the urgency that it requires.”

Catriona Wheeler, Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church, said: “I pray that this call reaches those who may hear and respond, so that in the darkness of troubles there may be hope.”

The Revd Mark Slaney, Chair Scotland District & Shetland District and Designate Methodist Conference President, visited the West Bank this year. He said: “I have been in the West Bank with Palestinian Christians and heard their longing desire for a just peace. Time To Act offers church leaders and partners an opportunity to share and respond to this desire in active solidarity and in strong united prayer and protest.”

And the Most Revd Cherry Vann, Archbishop of Wales, Church in Wales, said: “Time to Act��is about courageous voices – Israeli, Palestinian, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and others – who continue to advocate for��justice,��reconciliation, and peace. These voices deserve our support, and they demand a response in action from the UK government and Welsh government alike. People of goodwill, faith communities, civil society organisations, and citizens everywhere must speak clearly and courageously: enough is enough. The pursuit of justice, peace, and human dignity for all should be our chief driving passion and force.”

Theologian and writer the Revd Dr Munther Isaac from the Bethlehem Bible College and Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem is supporting the movement and urging UK churches to sign up to a shared commitment for justice, peace, and human dignity.

He said: “We need churches in the UK to speak up because we are one body. When one member suffers, all suffer together. Solidarity is not optional; it is part of our calling as followers of Christ.

“There is also a particular responsibility. Given Britain’s historical role, both through its colonial legacy and its support for��Zionism, and��given the ways Christian theology has at��times been used to justify injustice, churches in the UK have a special moral obligation to speak with clarity and courage.

“Moreover, the United Kingdom��remains��one of Israel’s closest allies. This gives churches in the UK opportunities and influence that we in Palestine often do not��possess. Their voice matters.

“What is at stake is not only the future and very existence of Palestinian Christians and the wider Palestinian people, who are facing a brutal assault in Gaza and increasing violence and displacement in the West Bank. What is also at stake is the credibility of the Christian witness itself. In the face of such blatant violations of human rights before the eyes of the world, silence is not neutrality; it is a failure of discipleship.

“That is why we need the church in the UK to speak��–��with unity, moral clarity, and the courage to stand on the side of truth, justice, and human dignity.”

Coalition members and supporters are urging the UK government to:

• Ban trade with and investment in illegal settlements��and suspend the UK–Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement until Israel ends its illegal occupation and respects human rights.

• Suspend all arms��sales to Israel until it��complies with international law.

• Impose sanctions on Israeli ministers and political leaders who are inciting or are responsible for severe human rights violations against Palestinians.

• Co-operate��with and support��the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court��to ensure��accountability��for all parties. Accountability includes prosecuting UK citizens who have committed war crimes abroad.

To find out more��about how you and your church can get involved, please go to��.

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Now, through the United Reformed Church’s Stepwise programme, she has discovered a new way of expressing faith — through poetry, worship leading, and a deeper understanding of where God is calling her.

Liane, a member of Trinity Church in Bedlington, had been an active musician since the age of nine, playing clarinet, saxophone, flute and piano, and working as a peripatetic woodwind teacher for more than 25 years.

Her life changed dramatically in 2017 after a serious accident at a local theatre, when a large piece of stage scenery fell into the orchestra pit where she was waiting to perform.

“I was ready to play,” Lianne said. “And then, just like that, everything changed.”

The accident left her with limited movement down the left-hand side of her body and unable to use her left hand while being left-hand dominant. The musician was also left with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and post‑traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), forcing her to retire on health grounds.

Music, once central to her life, was suddenly no longer possible.

“It all went downhill pretty fast,” she reflected. “Music was my life and I found it very hard to consider that it was no longer there.”

Despite feeling lost, Liane remained connected to her church. Over time, she was encouraged to undertake positive activities by her mother. Liane’s occupational therapist also asked her if she would consider trying a one-handed clarinet, but the accident still felt too raw at that time.

After a conversation with the Revd Dave Herbert, the then moderator of Northern Synod, she was encouraged to explore taking part in Stepwise. What began as a search for direction became something unexpected.

“The course began with Faith-filled Life and then I progressed onto Faith-filled worship and that,” says Liane, with a broad smile spreading across her face, “was a revelation.

“I wanted to deepen my faith and understand where God was calling me,” she said. “However when I started, my lifelong interest in creative writing came to mind and I felt I felt drawn to include poetry as part of the course work.”

Week by week, Liane began writing poems inspired by scripture, faith, and reflection. What started as a small contribution quickly became an integral part of her experience.

“I asked if I could read one of the poems as a prayer at the end of a session, and fellow course members were really surprised and encouraged me to carry on.”

She has since gone on to write regularly, even publishing a poetry collection about her beloved Northumberland, Echoes of Time, and continues to explore creative ways to express faith.

Liane has also begun leading worship, something she never imagined she would do.

“I honestly never thought I would lead a service,” she said. “But now I’ve taken full services, using what I’ve learned and building on it.”

For Liane, Stepwise has not just been about learning, but transformation.

“It’s not just about gaining knowledge,” she said. “It encourages reflection, discussion, and asking where God is at work in us and in the church.”

The journey following the accident has not been without its struggles. She describes periods of deep anger, asking “why me?” and “give me a break”.

Over time, however, her faith has shifted from frustration to acceptance and new purpose.

“I thought God wanted me to be the musician, the organist, the choir leader,” she said. “But now I wonder if this — writing, leading worship, taking time — is where God was calling me all along.”

That change has brought with it a renewed sense of direction.

“I can give more of myself now,” she said. “I’m not rushing in and out of church. I’m taking time to know God, and to understand where I’m going.”

Liane is clear that Stepwise requires commitment, but believes the rewards are worth it.

“If you’re prepared to do the work, you will get out of it what you’re meant to,” she said.

Today, while challenges remain, she says there is more “colour” back in her life; a powerful contrast to the “solid black” she once described in the aftermath of her accident.

“Things could have been much worse,” she says simply. “I’m very lucky to be here.”

Stepwise is for everyone: all ages, shapes and sizes — including you! To get started or learn more, see��the dedicated Stepwise webpage��or contact your local Synod Stepwise Contact (details can be found on the Stepwise page under ‘Let us know you are interested).

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