Laura Everard urges a rethink on collective prayer

Over the last year I have been a part of the United Reformed Church Youth Executive. We have been thinking about how we incorporate faith into our gatherings, and more specifically into our decision making.

As a part of this investigation, the question of why and how we use prayer in our decision making at Youth Assembly was central. This, however, prompted me to ask the same questions of General Assembly, synod meeting, and all other such meetings where we assemble to make decisions about the life of the Church.

Firstly however, rather than asking how we incorporate faith into our decision making, I asked, ‘In response to our faith, how do we make decisions as a Church?’ The answer I came up with was that we believe we can better discern the will of the Spirit collectively rather than individually, and therefore we gather together as a group to make decisions as a Church. But to what extent do our meetings reflect this, and how often are we actually encouraged to actively listen to what the Spirit is trying to say to each one of us?..

Laura Everard represents URC Youth at the United Reformed Church Assembly Executive and General Assembly

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This is an extract from an article published in the May 2023 edition of Reform

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