News

Church Life Review group drafts finance restructuring proposals

A proposal for a major new financial resourcesharing mechanism in the United Reformed Church was trailed in an update from the Church Life Review in November. Other developments include trials for a local church helpline and for charity accounting software, and the establishment of a resource-sharing hub.

The Church Life Review is a collaborative reflection on the structure and operation of the URC with the intention to ease the burden on local churches and allow greater focus on the Church’s essential mission.

The November update announced that the review’s finance group had drafted a ‘high-level proposal’, which would be circulated around the regional synods. A consultation on the proposal with synod treasurers and trust company convenors is planned for April or May 2025. The proposal includes a vision for the kind of services that could be funded by the money it releases.

As well as the financial resource sharing, the review’s Steering Group is setting up two ‘living labs’, or trials of new ways of working: a local church helpline in North Western Synod, and charity accounting software with South Western Synod. The intention is to measure their impact on the lives of local churches, and explore the infrastructure needed to support them.

Another project underway in this stage of the review is the development of a resources portal. A questionnaire has gone out to synods and local churches, seeking to understand what local churches are struggling with most, what resources currently exist within the synods, and where the gaps are. The findings are to be presented at a consultation at Kents Hill Park in Milton Keynes in November 2024, exploring an operating model for the resources portal, and options for new ways of providing shared services beyond the resources portal.

The Steering Group has approved a plan for case studies looking at lay church workers, to help them understand the best models and infrastructure needed to support them. This includes ‘cases where the synod is employer on behalf of the local church(es), cases where the local church is the direct employer, places where a need for a lay worker has been identified but not realised, and places where models were trialled but failed due to a lack of infrastructure’. Myles Dunnett, Programme Manager, Church Life Review group (pictured) asks: ‘If you know of an academic researcher or research organisation who might be interested in this, please do let me know.’

A consultation on creating new churches, ‘Conversations at the Crossroads’, is planned for January 2025. Proposals on all these areas of the Church Life Review are to be brought to an extraordinary General Assembly in November 2025. Mr Dunnett invites anyone who has questions to get in touch on churchlifereview@urc.org.uk

Andrews

: ©Chris

Photograph

Faith groups divest for COP29 Operation Noah reports that 27 faith institutions announced their divestment from fossil fuel companies on 12 November as the COP29 climate talks began in Azerbaijan. They include the first Catholic dioceses in France to divest. In total, 570 faith institutions around the globe have made a commitment to end fossil fuel investments over ten years.

The United Reformed Church voted to divest from fossil fuels in its central funds at its Mission Council in May 2019, and all URC synods had divested by July 2022.

December 2024 / January 2025 / Reform / 5

News in Brief URC Prayer Handbook: 2026 submissions open The editors of the 2026 United Reformed Church Prayer Handbook are seeking contributions under the theme ‘Touching God’. The Revd Dr Susan Durber and the Revd Jonnie Hill have invited prayers which express gratitude for, or a yearning to experience, the touch of God in our lives – ‘moments when the sacred mystery of God breaks into the everyday, filling it with awe and wonder’. Prayers that celebrate the sacramental nature of all life, affirming the presence of the divine throughout the world we share.

The deadline for submissions is 21 February 2025. More details on the URC website, see bit.ly/ URCPHB2026. The 2025 Prayer Handbook is available from urcbookshop.co.uk CofE-Methodist agreement marks 21 years Leaders of the Church of England and Methodist Churches gathered on 4 November to reaffirm their commitment to the AnglicanMethodist Covenant, signed on 1 November 2003. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Justin Welby and Stephen Cottrell, said: ‘Our differences, in the great scheme of things, are minor’ and they welcomed the challenge to work further towards ‘unity in love and fellowship’. The celebration took place at Methodist Central Hall Westminster.

Retired housing posts The URC seeks applications for the roles in the Retired Ministers Housing Society Board. See page 44 for more information.