Assembly opens with a call to pilgrimage

The Revd John Marsh, inducted as Moderator, called members to pilgrimage. He identified three pilgrimage aims: to be catholic, orthodox and reformed. The Church
'needed to be future-focussed as well as historically rooted, he said.

New general secretary urges Church to stand tall
General Secretary, the Revd Roberta Rominger, said we should face the future with confidence. 'While I share the commitment to walk in unity with other churches, I believe God still has a purpose for the United Reformed Church" she said. 'We have the flexibility, the openness, the experience of reformation, to respond to the challenges of a new day."

The Methodist and United Reformed Churches have together voiced their concern about increasing levels of violence and political intimidation, linked to the delay in announcing the result of Zimbabwe 's presidential election.
Commenting on the precarious situation, the Revd Dr Stephen Orchard, Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church, said: ‘The Zimbabwe Election Commission owes it to the long-suffering people of Zimbabwe to announce the presidential result without further delay, to enable people to begin the urgent task of rebuilding their shattered lives and economy. We condemn the campaign of violence and intimidation that has been embarked upon by members of the ruling party, following the announcement of the parliamentary election results. We also believe that people who hold power in any country have a first duty to care for the poor and vulnerable rather than for themselves'.

1 May 2008 - Election Day
Local council elections will take place on Thursday 1 May throughout Wales and in some parts of England. There will also be elections in London for the Greater London Assembly and Mayor.
Are you planning to vote? The Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church have all said that they strongly encourage church members to vote. Voting enables Christians to have a role in saying what sort of policies and principles are emphasised in public life. For Christians, carefully considering the political options and voting prayerfully is one way of showing care and concern for society.
Christians will not always agree with each other about how to approach political issues - and they will certainly not all vote for the same political party - but we can agree that working for a better society is part of Christian discipleship.

Events in recent days heighten concern regarding the situation in Israel/Palestine. A report from Christian Aid and a consortium of agencies*, published on Thursday March 6th, said: "the situation for 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is worse now than it has ever been, since the start of the Israeli Occupation in 1967". Since Thursday, the attack on a religious school in Jerusalem increases the likelihood of spiralling retaliatory violence.

Reflecting on the deepening humanitarian crisis, Mission Council:

Reflecting on the forthcoming 5th anniversary of the Iraq war on 19th March 2008, Mission Council of the United Reformed Church:
1. Expresses deep sorrow and regret at the devastating consequences of this war and occupation - for the people of Iraq and the families of the coalition forces, reflected in these tragic statistics:
• An estimated 1.2 million Iraqis have been killed directly and indirectly. As a result of the destruction of infrastructure, tens of thousands experience on-going malnutrition and disease.
• Since 2003 there has been a mass exodus of people fleeing from the on-going violence and occupation. More than 4.4 million Iraqis have been uprooted from their homes. Some 2.2 million are displaced internally and more than 2 million have fled to neighbouring countries - Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.