Hotline
Welcome to the 2007 edition of
Assembly Hotline. Below you will find a record of the main events,
the decisions and
some of the background to the meeting of the General Assembly at the University
of Manchester, taking place on July 7th - 10th, 2007.
Every year a 2-sided A4 print version of Hotline is sent to local
churches. That will be available to download from this website in a few
days’ time.
A summary of business from the
Saturday of Assembly appears below.
For a summary of Sunday's
business, please click here.
For Monday's summary, please click
here.
For Tuesday's business, please
click here.
Saturday, July 8th
The 2007 General
Assembly of the United Reformed Church was convened
at 3.30pm with worship.
Moderator’s address
For a summary of the address by the
Revd Professor Stephen Orchard,
click here
Welcome of ecumenical, other
faith and international guests
Several guests from UK and
international churches, as well as guests from other faiths, were presented
to the Moderator and welcomed by Assembly.
The Revd Sheilagh Kesting, Moderator
of the Church of Scotland, spoke to Assembly on behalf of all ecumenical
delegates. She brought prayers for those who had been affected by the recent
flooding, and spoke of her admiration of the URC for its courage in being
unafraid of change.
To commemorate the 50th
anniversary of the relationship between with the URC (the Congregational
Church pre-1972) and the Protestant Church of the Palatinate (EKP), the Revd
Martin Henninger, from the EKP, (who also served for a time as a minister in
the United
Reformed Church and on its National Youth Committee) was
presented with a book ‘Together met, together bound’ a re-telling of the
relationship between the United Reformed Church and the
Palatinate Church’ by its author John Reardon. The book is available now
from the
URC Bookshop.
The Revd Jan-Gerd Heetderks from the
Community of Protestant Churches in Europe responded on behalf of the
international guests.
“The invitation to Assembly was more
than a kind gesture. We are a church in the worldwide communion of churches.
We all face similar questions and problems, and similar challenges, we can
learn from each other, in our different situations and contexts.”
The Moderator introduced Councillor
Afzal Khan, a former Lord Mayor of Manchester and representative of the
Muslim faith, and invited him to address the Assembly. Cllr Khan began with
a traditional Islamic greeting, ‘May God’s peace be on you all’.
He said that extreme elements in all
communities wished to focus on what were the differences between people.
‘Whereas’, he said, ‘we are inter-dependent on one another,’ a poignant
message in the light of this being the 2nd anniversary of the
bombings in London.
The teaching of Islamic faith says
that whenever and wherever humans come together for the sake of God, God
praises them in the Heaven in the company of Angels, and grants his mercy.
He wished the Assembly ‘a blessed meeting’ and was thanked with warm
applause.
The Revd Stephen Orchard invited
Assembly to respect all opinions, a view endorsed by FURY’s pre-Assembly
event, ‘What Do You Think?’
Nominations Committee
The report was introduced by the
Convener, the Revd Malcolm Hanson.
The Revd Kevin Watson was appointed
as Moderator of the Yorkshire Synod from March 2008, succeeding the Revd Arnold
Harrison who is retiring.
The Revd Richard Church was
appointed as Moderator of the North Western Synod from September 2007. The
Revd Peter
Brain retires this summer.
Both were welcomed by the Moderator
of Assembly.
The Revd Martin
Hazell was welcomed as Director of Communications for the URC.
The Revd Dr Susan Durber was
welcomed as the new Principal of Westminster College,
Cambridge. She succeeds the Revd Prof Stephen Orchard who is retiring.
Resolution 53 - The Nivison Chair
The Revd Dr David Thompson moved a
resolution to appoint the Revd Dr John Bradbury to the Nivison Chair of
Church History at Westminster College. After a
brief account of John’s achievements, the motion was passed and he was
welcomed by the Moderator.
Finance Report
The Trustee’s Report and annual
accounts for the year ending 31 December 2006 were adopted by Assembly.
Appointment of Auditors
Melanie Frew, West Midlands Synod,
asked whether the business practices of the auditors,
PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP, had been reviewed and whether the ethical nature of its business
interests had been considered.
Eric Chilton, Hon Treasurer, said
that auditors do not always agree with the actions of the companies they
audit. He said it would be difficult to change so soon after their initial
appointment in 2006. He observed it would be difficult to find a company
that everyone would be happy with.
The resolution was carried and
PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP were appointed as auditors.
Resolution 31 –
General Assembly gratefully acknowledges the giving of the churches in 2006 to the Ministry
and
Mission
Fund and the work of the local church, district and synod treasurers.
Giving to the fund rose by over a
quarter of a million pounds in the last year. Treasurers who were attending
Assembly were asked to stand and were warmly thanked.
The resolution was carried.
Resolution 22 –
Pension
Fund
Revised arrangements for nominating
directors of the URC Church Ministers’ Pension
Fund were agreed. Members of the fund are now able to elect Trustees. The
resolution was carried.
Resolution 32 – Remit of Finance Committee
The remit of the Finance
Committee
was altered to reflect the work now undertaken by it following the
introduction of the revised governance arrangements and the appointment of
the new Trustee body.
The resolution was carried.
Resolution 23 - Governing Document
It is a requirement of the Charity
Commissioners
for charities to have a ‘governing document’ if they wished to be
registered. The document was produced after a great deal of work and it was
adopted.
Resolution 54 – Commitment to Pension
To reassure The
Pensions Regulator, a government body, that the whole
United Reformed
Church is committed to financial support of the Ministers’ Pension Fund,
General Assembly passed Resolution 54. Honorary Treasurer Mr Eric
Chilton told Assembly that The Pensions Regulator wished to know that the
Church stood behind the fund, and would meet any future deficits that might
arise from time to time.
Peter Pay, Wessex Synod Clerk,
wanted assurance about where funds to meet any deficit would come from, and
how often such help might be needed. Alan Wharton, Medway District,
reminded Assembly about the Basis of Union and the separation between Church
and State.
Mr Chilton responded that charitable
funds within the Church cannot be moved unless all the bodies involved agree
to this. A local church, a Synod and the central church are not bound
together legally unless they choose to be. Passing the resolution would
reassure the regulator of our moral commitment to one another.
He added that the United Reformed
Church must meet its pension fund
obligations by law, and satisfy any deficit within a reasonable time,
currently 10 years. Legal protection for the pension fund may cause us some
problems in terms of our obligations to the Kingdom of God but we follow the
law because we are citizens of this country. The resolution was carried.
The Moderator thanked Mr Chilton as
he ended his five years of service and Assembly sent thanks to the Chair of
Trustees, the Revd John Waller.
Closure of Churches
General Secretary the Revd Dr David Cornick moved the resolution that
noted the closure of local churches and gave thanks to God for their
worship, witness and service throughout their history. The churches were
Hodge Lea United Church (Wolverton), Dalry (Edinburgh), Haughley (Stowmarket),
Dartmouth Road (Paignton), Ventnor (Isle of Wight), Dodington (Whitchurch,
Shropshire), East Sheen (London), The Rock Church Centre (Liverpool) and
Baguley (Cheshire).
Assembly was reminded about the
histories of each church contained with the Book of Reports.
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