Letter from our Minister
Dear Friends,
From time to time over the last few years I have taken the opportunity to reflect on the Statement Concerning the Nature, Faith & Order of the United Reformed Church which we are required to read at all ordinations and inductions. This month I want to reflect on the final section:
We affirm our intention to go on praying and working, with all our fellow Christians for the visible unity of the Church in the way that Christ chooses, so that people and nations may be led to love and serve God and praise him more and more for ever.
The United Reformed Church owes its origins to the ecumenical movement - it was born out of the belief that God wants the church to be one. This is unity - not uniformity. When the URC came into being congregationalists and presbyterians joined together and, although they had a lot in common, there were also a lot of differences, not least in the way that they ordered their worship. To this day if I am visiting another United Reformed Church I can usually tell whether that congregation was previously congregational or presbyterian.
The URC is committed to unity - a mutual respect and willingness to learn from one another and to share in the things over which we agree. It does not necessarily mean a uniformity of style, wording and practice. The church is the body of Christ here on earth, as such it is of God; unfortunately - or maybe fortunately for us - it is also human for it is filled with human beings. As such it is both God inspired and fallible.
I know that the URC has much to commend it but I am not so blind or stupid as to think it is perfect. The other side of that coin is that I know that other churches are not perfect but I am also not so blind or stupid to think that they have nothing to commend them. When I was younger I would have found it difficult to find
things to commend in some churches, now that I can see good in other traditions I am not sure whether it is due to the developing of wisdom or the mellowing of age.
That said there is much we can learn from our brothers and sisters in other denominations, as well as being challenged by them over the workings and beliefs of our own denomination. It is a poor church that will not meet with others for fear of being criticised and being unable to respond.
Not only was the URC born out of the ecumenical movement but it, and its members, have played an enormous part in that movement for over 50 years. The part that has been played has been enormously out of proportion to its size as one of the smaller denominations in our country.
My home is within the United Reformed Church for many reasons, some of which I've tried to explain as I've explored this statement, but one of the main reasons I am where I am is the URC's commitment to the universal church of God. The visible unity of the church is still something I hope to see in my lifetime. It will not be easy for there will be many upsets and heartaches in the years ahead, just as there have been in the past.
And the aim of this commitment to unity?
It is for the same reason that we read the Bible;
it is for the same reason that we share in worship and the
sacraments;
it is for the same reason that we find it necessary to declare our
faith and allow individuals to express their convictions;
and it is the same reason that we find it necessary to declare our
allegiance to God above and beyond all secular forms of government.
It is so that people and nations may be led to love and serve
God and praise Him more and more for ever.
What other reason can there be?
Rev Craig Bowman
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