Soul stories: Jacob Bali

06/09/2024 | Reform

Jacob Bali moves from the Household Cavalry to ministry

The year was 2014, mid-February. It was a typical working day, going through my morning routine in the stables of Hyde Park Barracks as a soldier in the Household Cavalry Mounted … Read More

On the pilgrim way: ‘I seemed to be the keeper of the family memory’

06/09/2024 | Reform

This summer I have been on rather a special journey down memory lane – all the more special because it was shared. I visited my 89-year-old cousin in Germany. He remembered our first ‘adult’ meeting – I was 17 and … Read More

Do stay for tea and coffee: ‘I’d forgotten that there on my bookshelf are countless words of inspiration’

06/09/2024 | Reform

Lately I’ve spent more money on hospital car parks than I’d like. Yes, we’re in one of those seasons. First came my own kidney issues, then came an ailing parent – entirely unrelated, but such is life. On some days … Read More

Here & now: Zeerak Shahbaz

03/07/2024 | Reform

My call was nurtured in the URC, says Zeerak Shahbaz

Moving to England from Pakistan in 2006, at the age of three, I continued my faith journey in a United Reformed Church in east London. I recall attending events with … Read More

Songs of faith: Isaac Watts

03/07/2024 | Reform

In a new column on hymn writers, Ana Gobledale reveals Isaac Watts’ inspiration

When young Isaac Watts was scolded for speaking in rhyme, he smartly replied,‘Oh, Father, do some pity take,and I will no more verses make.’

Watts was a … Read More

Chapter & verse: Mark 6:39

03/07/2024 | Reform

Lance Stone walks in green pastures

It is a notable feature of the story of the feeding of the 5,000 that, apart from the resurrection, it is the only miracle that features in all four Gospels. As is usual in … Read More