One question, four answers

Clare Davison
‘I pray we will be churches who invite others to join us’

I think about this question, as a local church minister who has had two of my four churches close within a year. I worry and pray earnestly for the other smaller church in my pastorate to keep alive and active, working with the elders to turn things around. Even for the larger church, which is strong at the moment, there is still that nagging thought of what the future might hold. So we, too, pray and work together for our church to flourish….

Clare Davison is a URC minister in Cambridgeshire and Prayer Secretary for GEAR

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Gilbert Esambe
‘It is time to explore the different ways to serve God’

The just-ended United Reformed Church 2024 General Assembly gives us an opportunity to rethink and reflect on the real purpose and mission of the Church, bearing in mind the challenges we face in the 21st century. The outcome of this gathering reminds us that it is the right time to accept the challenges we face as a Church and to act. From the resolutions adopted during the General Assembly, there is undoubted evidence that, besides the challenges, the URC has been doing God’s mission in a right way and there is hope for the future…

Gilbert Esambe is a minister in Lancashire East Missional Partnership

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Chrissie Chevasutt
‘Our hearts must be broken, for the needs of this generation’

One word describes the life of a disciple: change. Jesus calls us to follow him, and in that calling is the implicit command to pick up our cross. The transformation that Christ offers through the cross – not by works, or religious endeavours, but by the work of grace, which inspires, enables, and empowers us to be transformed – is that we become less marked by the tyranny of ego, self upon the throne, ‘What I want, what I need, what I am going to do!’…

Chrissie Chevasutt is Outreach and Development Worker with the Transgender, Intersex and Non-Binary Community at St Columba’s URC, Oxford

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Daniel Raddings
‘Balance practicality and theology’

When considering the future of the Church, it is essential to reflect on the foundational principles of God and the message that we are called to uphold. The Bible serves as a valuable resource in this regard, containing numerous references to God’s foundations: ‘No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ’; ‘Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.’ These passages emphasise the significance of God’s foundtions and underscore the importance of praying for these foundations as Christians. Therefore, it is crucial for the Church to prioritise God’s will in its endeavours…

Daniel Raddings is a member of the URC Yorkshire Synod

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This is an extract from an article published in the September 2024 edition of Reform