Packed Norwich church hears URC leader

 

Roberta, in her introduction, remarked that, having come up to Norwich by train, she was aware how far we are from London, and of the great differences in living and working in the capital, compared with the more rural environment in East Anglia.

But, she stressed that the URC in any place is a part of the whole and has a role to play.

 

In her sermon, Roberta spoke about a comedienne on the radio, who compared the church with a well-known supermarket, which even has a tower outside. The supermarket is always open, whereas the church is more often than not closed, the supermarket is bright and welcoming, the church is often in need of repair and decoration, and the shoppers coming out of the supermarket look young and happy, whereas people perceive us as being old and miserable. Roberta asked “Why do we accept this image?” “Why do we allow the URC to be a well-kept secret?"

 

We heard in the gospel reading from Luke “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people.” 

 

Unless we truly believe this and ensure that all we do, both as churches, and individually, is in response to these words, we are seen as “re-arranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic”.

 

The church is still relevant but we need to let people know that we are here, not just so that they can worship with us, but also so that we can be alongside them in their daily lives.

 

After worship and refreshments, there was a chance to talk more informally with Roberta. She wanted to know about our problems and joys, as she said that Tavistock House can be an isolated place to be, removed from the day-to-day activities going on in the churches.

 

The conversation covered various topics, mostly led by by questions from the congregation, which Roberta answered very frankly.

 

Roberta assured us the URC is committed to not using any more resources centrally than is absolutely necessary, so that more resource can be put into local churches.

 

Ecumenically, there are conversations at national level with both the Methodists, Anglicans and the Congregational Federation, but Roberta stressed that the way forward often begins with local churches working more closely together.

 

One third of URC churches have signed up for Vision4Life, which is the greatest take-up of any URC programme. Roberta encouraged us to continue to get involved in the project.

 

Many ministers miss contact with colleagues previously experienced at Assembly, Synods and District meetings. URC nationally is aware of this, and recognises that although e-mails and newsletters are necessary they are no substitute for face-to-face contact.

 

We came away from the day feeling that we are a part of the URC, despite sometimes feeling far away, and that is up to all of us to play our part to ensure that the URC moves forward to do God’s work.