As the URC embarks on the second phase of its Church Life Review, John Bradbury, the General Secretary recaps. Newcomers start here…

The story of the Church Life Review begins with our decision to accept, name and understand the hard reality that faces us, and find ways to respond. This takes a long time, in a Church whose life flows through many interconnecting councils.

The challenges when I first became General Secretary were pretty clear. There are fewer and fewer people to take on the responsibilities of local church life. There is frustration in churches that want to do things, but haven’t got the human resources. Elders and ministers are stretched thinly and a lot of their time is taken up with things that don’t feel like the reason we want to be church. The consequence is decline in many, but not all, congregations. Churches are closing at a rate of knots. In places where we’ve had a witness for hundreds of years, that witness isn’t there any more. It’s disheartening…

John Bradbury is General Secretary of the URC. He was talking to Stephen Tomkins urc.org.uk/clr

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