On 31st January 2026 I took part in a service which was long expected but still seemed to rush up in the final week. The closing service of the church in which I was member, Elder and Church Secretary – Trinity 51ÊÓÆ” in Lincoln.

In some ways it was not a sad event – we were able celebrate the years of the life and work of our church with 130 members, friends and family of the church; to reminisce, to catch up with people who had travelled to be with us. It was though, the end of a chapter. A chapter that left questions and “what ifs”. When I heard people talking about the thriving clubs there used to be, how important it had been to get to the Christmas Eve service early if you wanted a seat, how they used to come to junior church when they were young it led to the question of why had things changed? Each church that closes has its own story. For us, it was partly younger generations moving away and all the members living at a distance from a city centre church whose only close housing is a gated community. We remained a friendly, welcoming church and older people who came to us would stay and become members, but we recognised some time ago that we had the problem that in the commercial world is known as succession planning. A capable and engaged membership and eldership were growing older and weary, not able to give as much energy to the church, not able to pick up tasks that others had done before them, feeling guilty about it and longing to come to church simply for worship.

The Elders started carrying out risk assessments during Covid and included financial and age-related matters. Those were the areas that continued to stay in red on our assessment. We gave much prayerful consideration to our future, took matters to the Church Meeting which also considered our future prayerfully and had the help and guidance of our Synod Transitional Minister. We reluctantly came to the conclusion that an orderly closure now, while we still had the resources and capability of doing so was the best course.

A great fear that our members had was the loss of contact with each other. While a good many of us are joining the Local Ecumenical Partnership in Lincoln – St Columba’s – a United Reformed, Methodist and Anglican partnership who are well known to us, and good friends, others will worship in the churches in the villages where they live. We will no longer have the weekly, or more, time to catch up with each other and that connection cannot and should not be lost. We still feel a pastoral responsibility for each other no matter where we worship. Monthly meetings have been arranged, and people will be able to meet each other with fresh news of their new churches and of the new chapters in their worship journey. As Trinity has come to an end the seeds have been scattered around Lincoln, and Lincolnshire, and we will still have much to offer the in service of the Lord.

Catriona Wheeler

Catriona is the current 51ÊÓÆ” General Assembly Moderator (2025-2026). Read more on the General Assembly Moderator’s Blog.

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A difficult question – I had only recently purchased a new bible and had spent some time choosing a translation I liked in a format which I felt would be easiest for reading during services. The bible I chose then was a New International Version, which has the bonus of beautiful illustrations by Hannah Dunnett.

As part of the Stepwise course I had prepared an Excel sheet with various pages setting out my resources. One of the tabs listed quite a number of translations. Should I choose yet another so I could better compare texts, or should I request another commentary?

Bible journalling

I drifted round the internet looking for inspiration and discovered the world of bible journalling. I have heard of journalling before – for those who have not come across it, it is more than merely keeping a diary. Many of those who journal illustrate their notes, or create beautiful books in which to keep a record. Some will write or keep copies of poems or words of inspiration. I had not however come across bible journalling. I discovered that this is used as a way of studying and reflecting on bible passages or themes. Those who are artistic may add illustrations in the margins – they may be abstract, pictures or swirls expressing their emotions. Coloured highlighters and pens can be used for notes drawing on reflections on the passage, cross referencing to other passages. Each journaller will mark up their bible as best suits them.

I would admit that I am terrible at keeping a diary. As a teenager I probably had good intentions every January. By the time I reached my twenties I had long given up the thought of being so disciplined. My only real attempts at a diary in past years has been as part of the Stepwise Faith Filled Worship course. If I had not been told to keep a journal for that course I would have been unlikely to have done so. I did find it a useful way of reflecting on what I had learnt during the course and a time for directed spiritual thought.

Savour the year

The idea of a journalling bible appealed. When I became Moderator Elect, one message from a previous Moderator was to savour the year. I look forward to it as a way of meeting more people in the wider church, but I also look forward to it as a way of seeing God at work in the 51ÊÓÆ” and beyond. I decided that a journalling bible might be a way of focussing my reflections during the course of the year and requested one as the bible to be given me at General Assembly. It is designed for writing in – wide margins and a good quality paper. I have armed myself with a multitude of coloured fine nibbed pens, pastel highlighters and sticky tabs. I am definitely not of an artistic persuasion, so I do not expect my bible to become a thing of beauty with delicate illustrations and bold calligraphy highlighting my notes. What I have done so far is highlight the passages used in the services at the end of General Assembly, at my more recent commissioning service as a Synod Recognised Worship Leader and from a recent set of lectionary readings. I have made notes of what was said with cross references to the other passages and some of my own thoughts. I expect to use this as one of my tools when preparing for services during the course of this year. I hope to look back in a year’s time and see a bible thick with notes (which I trust will still make sense to me) that will become a resource for the future and a reminder of the year’s encounters.

I will be interested as I meet people from around the 51ÊÓÆ” to learn how many others do bible journalling and how they go about it.

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Gwen, a maths teacher, was the first woman to serve as Chairman of the Council of the CCEW and went on to serve as the first Chairman of the 51ÊÓƔ’s Church Life Committee. She later served on the 51ÊÓƔ’s Vocations Committee, Assessment Panel, Treasurership Committee, the 51ÊÓÆ” Trust, as a Governor of the Milton Mount Foundation and the on Congregational Memorial Hall Trust.

Gwen was married to Richard (aka Dick) who was Moderator of the 51ÊÓÆ” General Assembly from 1976-1977. Richard also served as a Moderator for 13 years, first in the London Province of CCEW and then in the Thames North Province of 51ÊÓÆ” (Provinces are now called Synods by the 51ÊÓÆ”). He died in 1990.

The Revd Dr John P Bradbury, General Secretary if the 51ÊÓÆ”, said: “Gwen Hall was a pioneering lay leader in the United Reformed Church (51ÊÓÆ”) and a passionate advocate for women’s equality in church life.

“Gwen played a central role in the formation of the 51ÊÓÆ” and was instrumental in naming the 51ÊÓÆ”. She was widely respected for her clarity, warmth, and ability to lead with grace and strength. She was committed to equality, challenging traditional roles for women in the church and championing educational and governance roles for laypeople.

“Her legacy is one of courageous leadership, inclusiveness, and deep service to church and community.”

The Revd Prof Stephen Orchard, former Principal at Westminster College Cambridge and Moderator of the 51ÊÓÆ” General Assembly, said: “I first knew Gwen when I was a student in Cambridge. She was relatively newly married to Dick Hall, minister at Emmanuel Church, who had been widowed with a young daughter, Sylvia.

“She was trained at Homerton, where Dick was a governor. Gwen was also a teacher. She was very hospitable to students and I remember the pleasure of having Sunday lunch with the Halls. They also entertained my parents when Linda and I were married in Cambridge by Dick, who was on the point of going to be Moderator of the London Province of the Congregational Church.

“The Congregational Church decided to elect a President for each year, rather than a Chairman, and to appoint a Chairman for a three-year term.

“The first holder was Sir Harold Banwell, a distinguished local government figure, so it was a pleasant surprise to we younger people when Gwen was appointed to succeed him. She had all the necessary firmness to chair meetings without being bossy.

“Her long life meant that when I was Moderator of the General Assembly, she was leading the procession of dignitaries, protesting that she was not intending to do it for ever!

“I recall travelling back from a meeting at Windermere and sitting in a foursome on the train with Gwen, Rosalind Goodfellow and Betty Onions. As the conversation went on I realised what a powerful trio they were in terms of their connections and their ambitions for the Church.

“They had a particular take on feminism, which meant embracing terms like ‘chairman’ for themselves, rather than looking for alternatives. Language, while important, was a secondary consideration to giving women the same organisational power as men.

“Giving an address at an event at Westminster, long before I became Principal, I recall making the point that the Church would not be the better for ordaining everything that moved, a pardonable exaggeration of the then agenda. Gwen made a point of agreeing with me afterwards. She was a lay woman who felt no need for further recognition in her service for the Church.

“I will remember Gwen as a woman with great clarity of mind. and drive combined with personal warmth.”

The Revd Michael Hodgson, Minister of St Andrew’s 51ÊÓÆ”, Walton, and Weybridge, said: “I met Gwen a few times, but she is also someone I know from her reputation.

“Gwen was Chair of the CCEW at the time of the union to form the 51ÊÓÆ” with the PCE. Perhaps one of the significant points is that she was a woman in a key role in a major denomination in the late 60’s/early 70’s.

“Gwen is another person in the story of the recognition of women as being able to do more than, in her words, arrange flowers and bake cakes for church teas!

“I was nearly 13 when the 51ÊÓÆ” came into being and although I remember some of the discussions, I was at public school with compulsory chapel at school every Sunday.

“There were heated debates in Congregational meetings about the union, with people like Elsie Chamberlain (the Congregational minister and radio broadcaster, 1910-1991), and Margaret Benn, Viscountess Stansgate, (mother of Labour politician Tony Benn), being robustly and vociferously against the union and subsequently being key forces in the establishment of the Congregational Federation.

“I suspect that Gwen, as Chairman had some extremely difficult discussions to chair if plans were to be kept on track. Those discussions were sometimes very heated and bitter.

“I know that people like Roger Tomes, Michael Hubbard, Charles Haigh and Stanley Russell always spoke well of Gwen and respected her contribution to the formation of the 51ÊÓÆ”.

“My congregation’s memories were of Gwen and her late husband Dick at Surrey Congregational Youth Council weekend conferences.”

In 2022, Gwen spoke to Steve Tomkins, Editor of Reform magazine, to mark the 51ÊÓƔ’s 50th anniversary.

My husband Richard was the Minister of Emmanuel Congregational Church, Cambridge, in 1969, and I’d been doing things with the women and students in the church. There had been pressure within Congregationalism to make women realise that they were equal members of the Church, that women’s meetings were responsible for more than making the tea and doing the flowers.

We set up some educational meetings that involved getting around a bit. Then when Mrs Rider Smith, the woman member of the union committee, retired, John Huxtable asked me if I would be willing to take her place. It was, of course, a great honour to be involved in that.

A lot of the work of the committee was about clarification. The Presbyterians didn’t understand church meetings and Congregationalists didn’t understand eldership. But a good deal of the hard work of ironing out misunderstandings had gone on before I joined.

One of the big things we did while I was on the committee was decide on the name for the new Church. That took a bit of time, but we chose it because of the close link with the Reformation and because of its being the first union between two British Churches since the Reformation. In 1972, parliament had to be involved. We arrived at 10 o’clock at night, in the gallery, with a whole host of people from local churches.

There was a feeling of excitement when we held the two annual assemblies on the same day in May to take the final decision, Presbyterian in Newcastle and Congregational in Westminster Chapel, where I was in the chair. (I believe I was the first and last female Chair of the Congregational Church.)

“The telephone message eventually came from Newcastle to say that Presbyterians were in favour”. As it was, we got our result first, so John Huxtable and I retreated to the hotel for a rest. The telephone message eventually came from Newcastle to say that Presbyterians were in favour, as we had been, so delegates were recalled. It was quite a moment of delight.

I remember the day of the union in October 1972 very, very vividly, but the details are a bit dim. Most of my colleagues are now no longer with us. But certainly Methodist Central Hall was packed to the roof with people for what I suppose was the first joint meeting. It was a real occasion. We had the service of thanksgiving in the afternoon at Westminster Abbey where they rang their bells, which was very nice.

Afterwards, I returned to my previous job of teaching mathematics. Two United Reformed Church provinces in the north of England asked me if I’d be willing to be nominated as the Moderator of General Assembly, but it was very hard to get back into the profession once you left at that time, so I went back to teaching. My husband became Moderator in 1976.

Now I’m, 95, which I never expected to be, and I’m sorry that I can’t get to church, but I do have many very happy memories.

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“I will, and all these things I profess and promise in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

With this induction affirmation, followed by promises by members of the General Assembly and prayers, Catriona Wheeler was inducted as the Moderator of the General Assembly 2025-2026, during an act of worship at the close of the 2025 General Assembly. The service was led by the new Moderator’s Chaplain, the Revd Jane Wade, Minister of Abington Avenue 51ÊÓÆ” and the Northampton Area Churches Partnership. Jane also serves as Deputy Moderator of the East Midlands Synod.

The Revd Geoffrey Clarke, Moderator of the East Midlands Synod, gave the charge during the Induction of Catriona.

Called beyond comfort

The sermon reminded the Assembly of its dissenting roots, the weight of empty nets and the grace that calls us beyond comfort.

The members of your East Midlands Synod family are delighted in your appointment and will seek to pray for you and encourage you in this important role, Geoffrey began. He used a trio of striking biblical images: a furnace, a fishing boat, and a charcoal fire.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, standing before the threat of death, chose the costly act of dissent. Their refusal to kneel evoked the DNA of a church born from dissent: ministers ejected in 1662, voices raised in assemblies, Synods and church meetings throughout history. God’s presence was not outside the furnace, but within it. “Even in the furnace,” Geoffrey said, “God is with us.”

To the Sea of Tiberias, where disciples returned from a night of fishing with nothing to show. Nets once full are now empty. Or congregations once bustling now flicker with fragility. Yet on that same shore, the call comes to cast the net anew. “We need to be humble enough to discern the voice of the One who urges us to throw our nets in another direction.” He invited a different courage.

At the charcoal fire, Peter meets the risen Christ. Here is the mercy that follows denial, the confidence that follows collapse.

A member’s words at a Church Meeting stood as a parable: “If we call this minister the church will change, and it will not be as I’d prefer it to be. That is precisely why I will be voting for the call.” Someone yielding to God’s disruptive call.

The charge concluded with what is reported to be Francis Drake’s invocation to be disturbed: “When our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little; disturb us, Lord.” It was an appeal not for reassurance but for disruption.

God is with us

To the Moderator, and to the whole Assembly, the message is simple and searching. God is with us, in defiant faith that refuses to bow. God is with us, when the nets are empty, calling us in new directions. God is with us, offering forgiveness and commissioning us anew.

The whole Church is invited to a faith that resists, reorients, and follows, even, and especially, when the way is unknown.

As part of the service, the Assembly read the Statement concerning the Nature, Faith and Order of the 51ÊÓÆ”.

Inducting Catriona, the outgoing Moderator, the Revd Tim Meadows, declared: “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and representing the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church I declare Catriona to be inducted as Moderator of General Assembly. May you continue to walk in the way of Christ, following in his footsteps.”

Catriona signed the Bible of the General Assembly and was welcomed by the Assembly with warm applause.

About Catriona

Catriona Wheeler was elected as Moderator at the 2023 meeting of the General Assembly and will chair its November 2025 and July 2026 meetings.

Catriona was educated at Teesdale School, Barnard Castle, and read law at Birmingham University. An Elder and Church Secretary of Trinity United Reformed Church, Lincoln, Catriona has been the Legal Advisor to the East Midlands Synod of the 51ÊÓÆ” since 1997, works as solicitor practising in the areas of commercial property, corporate law and charity law, and is a Notary Public.

Her late grandfather and late mother were both 51ÊÓÆ” Elders, as are both of her brothers.

Catriona conducts acts of worship and is authorised to preside at the Sacraments and is a Stepwise student. Catriona has held membership in churches across three synods, Northern, Yorkshire and East Midlands and serves as a director of East Midlands Synod Trust and Chair of the United Reformed Church Trust.

Her hobbies include gentle cycling, with the objective of seeing places, choral singing with the Lincoln Choral society; K-dramas (Korean dramas), BTS (a South Korean band), knitting and crochet.

In its nomination, East Midlands Synod said that it was delighted to make this nomination, “having benefitted from Catriona’s wisdom and clarity of thought in meetings and discussions on many occasions and in different situations. Her ability to crystalise the thinking of the room and her pastoral sensitivity to all aspects of an issue are among her great strengths.”

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The day after our arrival we popped over the wall for a daytrip to East Berlin. For those of you not as old as me, essentially this meant that we had arrived in East Germany just in time to catch the aftershocks caused by the massacre at Tiananmen Square.

This trip had a profound effect on me – it was a real culture shock. So many images, and feelings are indelibly etched on my psyche. So much so that as I’m talking to you about it today, 35 years later, I can still see it like a movie in my mind. Some things were odd. The plain brick walls, buildings with no adverts on them at all, making red brick feel grey. Some things were funny. The Lada cars so scarce that there was a running gag that, before you put your newborn’s name down to register them for school, you registered them for a car. It’d take that long for one to arrive for them. And some things were unsettling. At a time before camera phones and selfie sticks, there were the cameras on every roof, at every junction – we’ve let privacy go without much thought with the advent of mobiles – still, then, it felt like a particularly ominous intrusion.

But I’m getting carried away
this isn’t a reflection about that trip. There are many things I could talk about if that was the topic. But it isn’t. This is a reflection about space. Real and imagined, ancient and new, temporary tabernacles and permanent buildings. Safe space. Welcoming space. God’s space. Church.

I wonder what comes to your mind when you look at this image?

Given the reading from Amos, you may be thinking ‘tabernacle or booth of David’.

Or, given our context, this year’s theme of Resurrection for Tim’s tenure as Moderator, your mind may be drawn to ‘tent revival’.

Or you may, like me, have just glanced at this picture with nothing particular in your head and just thought – ‘circus’.

There are some key elements to be found in all of those possibilities. There are performances, and participants observe and play roles. Most importantly, all involve the creation of a clearly demarcated area, that exists in the material world and is designated by the physical boundaries of canvas and pole, but that is actually designed to enable those enclosed within its embrace to access something transcendent.

Having a discrete area where you can go to connect with God in some way is the origin of church. For the Israelites their skene was an earthly place for interacting with God. Highly portable, it consisted of a fenced off area that contained an altar for sacrifices and, of course, the Holy of Holies, the secluded area housing the Ark of the Covenant, separated from the general congregation by a veil, and only entered by the High Priest, once a year. From here we can trace a throughline from tabernacle to Temple to synagogue to church.

Like churches, theatres can also trace their origins back to tabernacles – both are connected to the Greek word for tent or tabernacle – skene.
This meeting of religion and performance is nothing new – they’ve walked through the ages, holding hands, like mardy siblings, coming together at key moments in history and then periodically squabbling over which one is the most useful, the prettiest, the most welcoming


As you will all know, theatre’s origin story in the UK derives directly from the Catholic church’s desire to communicate Biblical stories to congregations only able to access the Latin mass in church. Conversely, Shakespeare’s Richard III, one of our best theatrical villains, has his origins in portrayals of Herod in Medieval Mystery Cycles. And today? Well, like churches, many theatres are now under existential threat.

The booth of David is in ruins


As Rupert Shortt suggests in his recent book, The Eclipse of Christianity, in this country at least – we are living through a recession of a profoundly Christian nature.

Elsewhere, where Christians are being heard the loudest, they represent a very different form of the faith than our own. Substituting dogmatism for dogma, they present an image of Christianity armoured in certainty; its boundaries asserted loudly, angrily, intolerantly. The Christian of popular culture is viewed as, at best, irrelevant, and at worst, as an Evolution-denying, human rights oppressing bigot, whose hierarchical worldview remains grounded in Bronze Age fantasy stories. Like Paul and Barnabas in Iconium, truly it could be said that we live in unkind times, where short form video content and online echo chambers have led us to a place where our tolerance levels for uncertainty have never been lower.

And that leads us to tighten ourselves culturally and religiously. To become more dogmatic, more authoritarian, expressing views with unfounded confidence and certainty, loudly and quickly, before anyone spots the enormous, fearful elephant in the room


And so, it is this authoritarian cultural turn that leads me back to East Berlin. 5th June 1989, just a few short months before the Berlin Wall is pulled down. The East German state is in its death throes and its enforcers, the Stasi, are much more dangerous as a consequence.

And there, in the midst of all of this, is a space. It exists in the real world and in the imagined. Kirche. Church.

During our initial meeting with the church community in East Berlin, one of the ministers apologised because he had to leave us. He had to go to his church to speak to some people who were gathering there to protest against the events that had occurred in Tiananmen Square. The minister had to warn them that the police were intending to use water cannon on them, should they take to the streets. But, he told us, they would be safe in church.

Talking to the church’s youth group afterwards, they talked of church as a place where they could be themselves, where they could dissent and express themselves freely. Because of that, they had chosen church freely, refusing to sign up to the Communist Party as required, a decision they were told would be to their own detriment.

They were proud of their church as a space that could offer the consolation that came from the acknowledgement of the difficulties of their lives as they experienced it. They could trust the church because it was a place of safety. They felt it offered hope in spite of those difficulties – or maybe because of them. Church for them offered a space for reflection to everyone and anyone in that complicated, authoritarian, angry, scary world.

And what’s that got to do with circuses, I hear you cry?

Students of Greek will amongst you will know that the word that speaks to both theatre and church origins is skene – tent.

Reading Amos and Acts, I was reflecting on how we can go about creating a social sacred space, for today’s Iconium? What should our newly raised booth look like?

And this led me to the reflect on the idea of a Circus of Faith


Less a building, more a metaphor, I wonder if we should join the circus


A circus consists of a diverse company of performers – jugglers, trapeze artists, clowns, magicians, hoopers, trained animals. Each offering themselves, their ‘act’ as they are. Each act gets its own space and is celebrated for its difference.

The Circus Tent is a space that contains a multivocal, multitalented collection of people, in safety and enjoyment, seeking transcendence.

What could be more church-like than that?

Links to information about Kirchentag:

The with details of this year’s Kirchentag in Hannover

(don’t worry if you don’t speak German, you’ll be offered a translation into English as you access the site)

The

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The idea behind the game is that you get into twos, you propose an idea, it can be something simple: ‘Let’s ski down the Alps
’ and your partner yes ‘Yes and then we can
’ and then says the first thing that comes into their head. No planning, no filter. It can be anything as long as it is the first thing that has come into their head. Each time an action is described: ‘Let’s ski down the Alps’ the two partners also act out the action physically with full commitment. The longer you play the game, the weirder and more wonderfully outrageous the ideas become. If you do this with the group, the room gets loud and very busy very quickly.

When you run this exercise with a new group, what usually happens is they try to think their way through the exercise. To intellectualise themselves out of the problem to save face. They make every effort to come up with the cleverest idea. They plan in the minutest detail


If ever there was a sentence that signals the death knell of an improvisation in Drama it’s, “I know, you say [this] and I’ll say [that] – it’ll be great!” It’s never great. It’s stilted, usually a bit banal and ultimately the absolute antithesis of creativity and originality. Crucially it demonstrates that the participant hasn’t understood the point of the game.

The point of “Yes And
” isn’t to consciously create a brilliant idea. It’s not to be funny or clever. It’s not to be the coolest person in the room. It’s not to avoid embarrassment or humiliation. The point of “ Yes And
” is to learn how to accept the offer given to you and to use that offer to launch yourself into
 well
 the unknown
 To learn to trust that the idea will come, despite the interference of the intellect. And in doing so, to create a brilliant idea.

One of the most misunderstood elements of the creative process is its beginning. It’s assumed that artists sit around their studio – or walk, or pace moodily – planning and generating ideas, thinking their way through. And that there’s a trick to it that you can learn and improve so that, once you’ve been an artist for a long time, you can go in and CREATE. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Sure, if you want to paint an orange, well, have at it. The orange is there, away you go, but really that’s a technical exercise. Your orange may be wonderfully different from everyone else’s but still life isn’t a new idea. Nor is painting the still life of an orange. It’s a reinterpretation of an old one. No problem with that – it’s just not what I’m talking about here.

“Yes And
” for an actor, then, is the equivalent of a blank page for a writer. Terrifying! As soon as you introduce this exercise to a group not familiar with it, the levels of anxiety go through the roof. How will I know what to say? What will everyone think of me? What if my idea is rubbish? What if I die? For clarification, dying onstage is to do something embarrassingly badly – we don’t actually sacrifice them. It’s that tumbleweed moment that sees the performer left vulnerable and exposed in front of an audience. It’s the theatrical equivalent of the nightmare where you dream you’ve woken up on a platform, not knowing why you’re there, then realising you’re in charge of leading worship and you’ve forgotten your trousers
who says actors are dramatic!

So, how do you avoid this death by humiliation?

The solution is easy, actually. You commit to the physical action utterly and completely in the moment, trusting that the answer will come. And it does. Every time. Bigger, better, weirder, more original than it could ever have been if you’d planned it. It forces you to think outside your usual patterns. It forces you to come up with something completely new and never previously imagined. It forces you to create


Because that’s the thing often misunderstood about creativity. It’s finger-nail chewing, anxiety-inducing, scream at a noise in the dark in a haunted house at Halloween terrifying! So you do plan. But when you plan, you don’t plan for the inspiration, the artefact, the concept for the painting, the idea for the play script, the sculpture, rather you try to create the perfect environment then you open yourself up, and wait. And in doing so, you are trusting that something, as yet unknowable, will appear.

If it doesn’t
well, now you know why we’re all so darn temperamental!

So an experienced artist is not so much practised at consciously coming up with ideas. Instead they are well-practised at living with ambiguity, uncertainty, with not knowing. With experience, they learn to control their response to anxiety. They don’t lose the fear, but they learn to manage it so that it doesn’t interfere with their process. They learn to walk off the cliff trusting that something, anything, will catch them on the way down. And, if it doesn’t, then everything gets smashed and destroyed when it hits the ground. And they rise and start again. From scratch. From somewhere new.

So, my question for you to ponder this fine morning is: do you believe in resurrection? Do you trust the process?

I could talk about our scripture reading this morning in terms of this being Christ’s first miracle. We could debate whether we believe it happened as described here. I could talk about it as being the moment Jesus reveals himself to his disciples or it representing the fulfilment of the passage from Amos we heard on Monday


But I think it’s simpler than that. Mundane even. This story is about a son having a good time with his mates at a wedding until his Mum comes in and tells him its time for him to get to work. Jesus replies: “My hour has not yet come!” Jesus knows that taking this step – performing this miracle – will force him to step off the cliff, to begin a process he can’t come back from


You can almost picture Mary rolling her eyes as, ignoring him, she turns to the servants and instructs them to do what Jesus tells them to do. She knows Jesus is comfortable, enjoying the company of his friends, doing the busy-work, maybe, but not quite fully committing to the process. Yet. So she gives him a nudge.

And when God gives us a nudge, the “Yes and
” well that’s our job. Because, when we’re nudged, our task is to jump into the playing area with both feet, fully committed, with an open heart and a sense of joy, secure in the knowledge that we are loved and cared for, that God has a plan and that the time is right because he says it is.

Anything after “Yes and
” well that’s God’s bit and it’s bound to be better than anything we could come up with!

(image courtesy of )

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The next webinar, An Evening with Trey Hall, is at 7pm on Wednesday 7 May.

Trey is the Director of Evangelism and Growth at the Methodist Church and will be helping us to grapple with the question: Faith Talk and Church Growth: How does prayer make a difference? Come and join us for a relaxed conversation praying and talking about our faith with others.

Please email mission@urc.org.uk for the link.

Save the date for the next webinar, on Tuesday 23 September at 7pm.

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The letter is signed by 35 senior faith leaders from Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist traditions, including Revd Tim Meadows, Moderator of the 51ÊÓÆ” General Assembly, and Maya Withall, Youth Assembly Moderator. The letter was coordinated by the Joint Public Issues Team, in which the 51ÊÓÆ” is a partner.

Currently 4.3 million children – three in 10 children in the UK – are living in poverty, and without further action a further 400,000 are likely to be pulled into poverty by the end of the decade. The Prime Minister promised during the last election that his government would introduce an ambitious plan to lift ‘millions’ of children out of poverty.

The letter says: “We write to you as faith leaders from communities across the UK, to encourage you to be bold and ambitious in your upcoming Child Poverty Strategy.” It goes on, “While we come from different faith traditions, we share a belief that working to end poverty should be a hallmark of any decent, compassionate society. We also believe that transformational change is possible. We are hopeful that the Child Poverty Strategy could be a turning point for the communities we serve, and we are ready to work in partnership with people of goodwill across society to ensure that every child has the start in life they deserve.”

The letter highlights the findings from ‘’, a new report from Action for Children released this week, which sets out measures that could lift 1.2 million children out of poverty by 2030. These include action to reform and invest in a more effective social security system, and steps to boost social housing and improve opportunities for income from employment. The research found that the single most cost-effective step would be scrapping the two-child limit and benefit cap.

Revd Helen Cameron, President of the Methodist Conference, said: “The levels of child poverty we are seeing in communities across the UK cannot be acceptable. With communities trying to pick up the pieces and support families who are struggling, it’s time for the government to step up too. We know it is possible to significantly reduce child poverty, and a social security system that enables families to afford the essentials will be a central pillar. The government must demonstrate that tackling poverty is a priority and make ambitious choices. We pray that the government’s strategy will rise to the challenges we face.”

Louise, a 24-year-old from London, faced poverty in childhood before going into foster care from the age of 11. She continues to struggle financially as a care-leaver, particularly as a young, single mum to her four-year-old daughter, battling child care expenses and the high cost of living.

On the launch of Action for Children’s new research, she said: “The impact of growing up in poverty is huge. It affected me physically, mentally and emotionally. Not eating enough food as a child affects your health, weight and concentration. You feel angry and confused. A child can’t understand why they’re excluded from school trips with their friends, or why they don’t have new clothes. You feel different. I felt like I was being punished. I didn’t understand we just didn’t have the money.

“As a care leaver, breaking the cycle of poverty and finding financial independence can be overwhelming and feel impossible at times. There are often barriers you don’t know how to overcome on your own as a young adult without the family support and guidance that others may take for granted.

“As a mum, I want the best for my daughter and to give her opportunities I didn’t have. It is motivation, but it also brings its own pressures. Even though I worked as much as I could, before she went to school, I was in my overdraft every month and relying on Universal Credit just to pay for childcare so I could keep my job. That isn’t right.

“I think there is more support needed not just for young people leaving care, but also for families with young children on low incomes, to help people stay in work, care for their children and thrive.”

Action for Children is inviting people to add their support to an open letter and write to their MP about the

Read the letter and list of signatories in full on the

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This act of prayer and reflection begins with washing hands with soap and warm water.

Call to Remember

I will bless the LORD at all times; *
whose praise shall ever be in my mouth.
2 I will glory in the LORD; *
let the humble hear and rejoice.
3 Proclaim with me the greatness of the LORD; *
let us exalt the Name together.
4 I sought the LORD, who answered me *
and delivered me out of all my terror.
5 Look upon the Lord and be radiant, *
and let not your face be ashamed.
6 I called in my affliction and the LORD heard me *
and saved me from all my troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encompasses those who fear God, *
who will deliver them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; *
happy are they who trust in God!

An Inclusive Language Psalter

Hymn     There is a Balm in Gilead Hymnal 1982, The Episcopal Church #676

General Reflection

Five years ago the world was riveted by news of a strange virus originating in China. Little did anyone know how quickly Covid-19 would move across the planet. All living creatures were affected by Covid-19. Humans covered their faces, doing what social creatures find impossible to do. Not being able to gather with friends, families and community was a trauma compared to world war without human relating, we isolated and stayed in our homes. Nature began to recover, flora and fauna took a deep breath when we could not. Human activity was arrested for a while as the planetary eco systems were stunned by human absence.

Our wider humanity became acquainted with illness and death, often far too young to embrace finitude. The lack of gathering loved ones at the deathbed exacerbated grief and extended sorrow into a bleak emotional landscape. For generations who had never known a global crisis, this was a catastrophe. Covid-19 brought a golden age into existential pain and end. Whilst faith communities resorted to Zoom and YouTube to connect the faithful, others fell away longing for in-person gatherings.

If there was a brighter side, people were forced to slow down. Some days felt like a much needed sabbath rest. The introverted rejoiced in solitude! Our hectic, over thinking, rat race subsided and we were shown our lives do not need to be so full and hurried. Working from home and digital know-how grew at a greater pace. We knew this historical crisis would change us and the after effect would be enacted for years to come.

Praying

Healing Christ,
In marking this time we have not arrived in this present moment unscathed by
Covid-19. With each additional vaccination we know this virus is living and evolving. Yet, we are grateful for medical science and continued miracles of healing and well-being.
With each regret and wince recalling days of isolation we know in spirit we held each other. Yet, we are grateful for the gift of gathering and joining around tables of kinship and friendship.
With the encroachment of human activity upon nature and wildlife we must learn to live in harmony with all your creation. Yet, we have been reminded that we do not need to be greedy to be happy.
With each new viral infection we know this disease does not respect our human divisions of class, sex, age, race, gender, sexuality, faith or none. Yet, we are called to have respect, mercy and compassion for the whole global human family.
In our sorrow bring comfort, as we name before you those we miss and see no more


.
We entrust them, O Light of Life, into your mercy where there is no sighing, tears or remorse. May the light of your life, O Christ, encourage us as we continue our earthly sojourn. In your holy name we pray, Jesus the Christ, Amen.

Hymn     Healer of our Every Ill Marty Haugen

Prayer for Covid Anniversary

Has it really been 5 years Lord?
5 years since lockdown, fear, heroic NHS staff, and a daily death toll on the news?
5 years since panic, uncertainty, and incompetence
mixed with dedication, unity, and scientific ingenuity?
5 years since law breaking was contrasted so strongly with law keeping?

It feels so much further away than just 5 years.
We’ve seen several different prime ministers and a different monarch;
there again we’ve got the same US president back!
The homeless have been returned to the streets
– seems it was too expensive to keep on supporting them after all,
politicians are busy rewriting history,
seeking to influence which lessons are to be learnt,
…and we live with the trauma.

So, we remember before you, Lord, those who have died,
those whose lives are still wounded with grief and long Covid,
and those who gave their lives through caring.
We give thanks for doctors and scientists who found a vaccine so quickly,
for advisors and planners who got the vaccine delivered so well,
and for those who devised treatments to relieve suffering.

But, Lord, we’re left with the pandemic’s legacy –
unanswered questions, unresolved grief, and unaddressed anger
which sit alongside our gratitude and admiration.

We wonder, Lord, what we can learn from the pandemic,
whether we’re ready to hold to account
those who failed to plan,
those who could not lead with integrity,
those who profiteered from suffering, and
those who evaded justice.
We’re left wondering how to deal with both the trauma and the memories,
and, most of all, Lord we wonder if we’re any better prepared for the next one.

So give us your wisdom, Lord,
that we can navigate these times, and our memories,
with honesty, grace, and the ability to bring change, Amen.

——– Offered by a United Reformed Church member

Hold a silence

Closing Words     based on Psalm 103

May the Holy One who heals all your iniquity bless and keep you;
the face of the Lord who heals all our afflictions
shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the light of the countenance of the Christ who redeems your life
be lifted upon you and give you peace. Amen.

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Prior to the election, I was visiting my father in America. Like everyone else, I was perplexed why Trump and Harris were running neck and neck at the polls.

The cost of living crisis is hitting the US. People see the immense resources, and how grand America is, yet if you break away from the tourist areas, amusement parks and fancy neighbourhoods and ride public transportation you will see another American reality where there is much poverty. Illegal drugs and the opioid crisis have had a devastating effect.

I think it’s helpful to note the difference between talking about big overarching issues like abortion, the environment, human rights and immigration, which tend to take on an almost theoretical or even religious discourse, and the bread and butter issues like affordable housing, buying groceries and having a pension.

The tangibles of some semblance of the American dream matter. Whether one is a recent immigrant or well established, a good job, a house, a car, and two weeks’ vacation is a sign of reasonable success.

America is vast and cannot be summed up with a dualist view, even though political parties and some Christian groups are trying to convince us otherwise. A deepening divide between rural and urban states seems to be at play again.

This isn’t new to the American socio-political scene; this difference contributed to the American civil war in the 19th century. Slavery, individual and states’ rights, and racism were an issue; racism, personal and states’ rights, sexuality and gender are now. There is a red/blue political divide, but what about the vast majority of Americans we don’t hear from at the ballot box?

For a number of decades it’s been hard to decipher if the government has influence over huge health insurance, financial, tech, and pharmaceutical companies. I marched in Washington D.C. during the Bush presidency out of concern for the influence of multinationals over American life and policy.

As buoyant as many people were with the great hope of Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz, I know for many people it felt inconsequential. The prospect of Christian nationalism in America is frightening.

This idea has multiracial support from people who are worried about secularism and the decline of a common morality. On the other side, this brings fear, violence and further minoritisation to immigrants, refugees, non-heterosexual, transgender people and women.

Project 2025 is a manifesto that enshrines ‘biblically based’ definitions of family which establish Republican domestic policy. The crucial challenge is whether we are willing to talk about these tough issues in families and in our churches, or whether fear stifles conversation.

I wonder if some of the angst about ‘something wrong’ is about baby boomers looking back sentimentally. When there isn’t a future to look to, or the present seems too complex, we tend to be distracted by what was.

Privileged folks look back with nostalgia; those on the edge remember hard struggles. Only looking back is cynical, rather than imagining and envisioning hope and a future. I’m sure Lot’s wife has much to say about that in her salty tears!

A dear Irish friend who loves the USA says, ‘Never think tomorrow will be the same in America.’ That to me feels very hopeful.

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