2020 has been a strange year, full of news and activities we would never have expected. Looking back, the JPIT team have gathered their favourite books, podcasts, hobbies and more, which got them through this year.
The post JPIT’s Review of 2020 appeared first on Joint Public Issues Team.
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The United Reformed Church has expressed its sadness at the passing of HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who died on April 9 aged 99. A constant support to Her Majesty the Queen since their marriage in 1947, the Prince was one of the nation’s best-loved and controversial royal figures. Read More … …
To combat the lockdown blues, members of Chappel United Reformed Church (URC) in Colchester, spent a weekend bringing Easter joy to their community. The group delivered Easter cards and Palm crosses to 350 households in the villages surrounding the church on 27 March. Read More … …
Hannah Brown, Campaigns and Church Engagement Officer, for the Joint Public Issues Team introduces Climate Sunday. 2021 is an important year for climate action. The UK is hosting the United Nations climate change summit – COP26 – in November. We’re in the early years of a crucial decade for reducing global carbon emissions. Communities around the globe are continuing to bear the full force of climate change now, with loss and damage beyond repair felt by millions. Read More … …
Churches and charities have joined together to urge the UK government to act decisively and urgently in tackling the harm caused by gambling. They issued the following statement ahead of the deadline for submissions to a review of the Gambling Act: Our Churches and charities, which will all be making submissions to the UK government’s review of the 2005 Gambling Act, have united to call on the government to treat gambling as a public health issue. Gambling related harms affect families, communities, colleagues and friends as well as individuals, and can cause mental and physical ill health, indebtedness, family breakdown and most tragically may even result in suicide. These harms simply cannot be tackled by focusing on individuals’ gambling habits or relying on individual organisations to provide solutions. Instead the devolved and UK governments must adopt a public health approach to prevent harm and address population level risks. One area where this is urgently needed is remote gambling. The extent of internet gambling or advertising was barely imagined when the 2005 Act was passed. It is a more complex environment with people able to gamble almost anywhere and at anytime. government needs to use this opportunity to require the gambling industry to implement measures, such as caps on expenditure or losses with the aim of reducing risks of gambling-related harm. As Churches and charities, we have all expressed a particular concern for children, teenagers and young adults, who are especially vulnerable to the harms caused by gambling. We are calling for gambling advertising to be dramatically reduced or banned altogether, and for unethical marketing practices to be identified and prevented. We have all welcomed plans to increase the age limit on the National Lottery, called for this to be extended across all lottery products, and for an end to the anomaly that children are still allowed to gamble on Category D gaming machines. Gambling is an adult activity, and a regulated industry must not be allowed to entice or market to children, or to provide any gambling products for them. We have also re-iterated calls for the UK government to use the powers given in the 2005 Act to introduce a compulsory levy on the industry to pay for the treatment of gambling related harm, independent research and preventative measures, including education and public awareness campaigns. It is not acceptable that so many charities and organisations providing help and support still have to rely on gambling industry donations. As Churches and charities, we urge government to act immediately to prevent further gambling related harm. The UK government is only seeking evidence at this stage, and action on any of these issues may be left for many months even years. In the meantime, more children, young adults, families and others will suffer harm and damage. Our society cannot afford to delay.” The signatories to the statement are: The Baptist Union of Great Britain The Church of England The Church of Scotland, The Methodist Church The United Reformed Church The Evangelical Alliance Quaker Action on Alcohol and Drugs CARE Image: Jan Vašek from PixabayPublished: 25 March 2021
Given today’s political climate in the UK and around the world, the Revd Dr John Bradbury, General Secretary of the United Reformed Church, reflects on how Palm Sunday is a poignant time for us to ask: “What type of world do we want to live in?” Do we want to be led by the sweeping force of populist nationalism when history and the Bible has already warned us what the outcome will be or do we want to work towards what God in Christ would have us overcome?: “Hosanna!”, they cried. A whipped-up crowd can be an exciting and intoxicating…
Church leaders across seven denominations, including the Revd Clare Downing, Moderator of the United Reformed Church General Assembly, have made the following statement following the publication of the government’s integrated review of foreign and defence policies: “The government’s decision in the integrated review of defence, security and foreign policy to increase the number of Trident nuclear warheads the UK can stockpile by more than 40 percent is a retrograde step that will not make any of us safer. Read More … …
Day two of the spring meeting of Mission Council was held digitally on 16 March. Opening prayer and Bible study The Revd Helen Everard, chaplain to the Moderators of General Assembly, led worship on the second morning of Mission Council. Rosie Martin, a member of the URC Equalities Committee, read from the story of the woman at the well in John chapter 4, and the Revd Samantha Sheehan, a special category minister working as a university chaplain in the Yorkshire Synod, offered a reflection on the passage. Read More … …
The spring meeting of Mission Council, the executive body of United Reformed Church (URC) General Assembly, opened on 15 March. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the meeting was held digitally. Opening worshipAfter a welcome from Peter Pay, one of the Moderators of the URC General Assembly, Mission Council began with worship. Read More …
The spring meeting of the United Reformed Church (URC) Mission Council is taking place digitally from today (Monday) until Wednesday. Mission Council is the executive body of the General Assembly and meets twice a year to reflect on and make decisions about the day-to-day life of the Church. Topics on the agenda include new ways to access funding for lay discipleship development, new pathways for people to prepare to become worship leaders and accredited lay preachers, and the pension fund deficit. The news pages, Facebook page and Twitter account will include updates on the main decisions made throughout the meeting with a daily report being…
Congratulations to the United Reformed Church West Midlands Synod which has become the first across the denomination to achieve an A Rocha UK Bronze Eco Synod award. In its award application, the Synod evidenced a long-term commitment to reducing its environmental impact by rewriting their eco-policy which was approved last October, and agreeing clear mission pledges to reduce their carbon footprint and reporting annually on progress. Read More … …
