Mission
Mission across the synod happens through a number of initiatives and in a variety of ways.
If we asked each church in the synod what mission was, and what they do, we would get over a hundred different answers.
Here are just some of the things mission can be:
Mission can be…
Latest Mission News
Faith in Action
Faith In Action is a committee of the synod, but also refers to the wider idea of putting our faith into practice. This covers, but isn’t limited to:
- Poverty & Food Banks
- Disability Issues
- Racial Justice
- Inter faith
- Immigration and Sanctuary
- Rural Affairs
- Commitment for Life
- Homelessness
- Responding to alcohol, drugs and addiction
- Chaplaincy to the workplace, to sport and to general clubs
- Domestic violence
- Mental Health and Well-being
- Green issues
- Global Concerns
We have regular events around these themes, have a look at our calendar for more information!
You can find out a bit more about the Faith In Action Committee, and how to contact them, here.
Discipleship
To be a missional synod we need to be nurturing faith across all age ranges, and all areas of our lives.
Whole life discipleship is where we journey together deepening our understanding of God, working together for God’s community, and doing our best to be Jesus for our communities and the people we meet. The more we look like Jesus, the more we make the same kind of live affirming differences to peoples lives that Jesus made, the more we walk the walk as well as talk the talk – then discipleship becomes missional and transformational.
Whole life discipleship means we are disciples at work, in the gym, in the pub. We are disciples in our own lives, in our own times and exactly where we are.
We make a wholehearted, whole life commitment to follow Christ, just as the earliest disciples left their homes and careers to follow Jesus. It’s scary but it will be worth it. We are a community of disciples together, and we will guide, and nurture and care for each other on the way! Disciples are always learning. One way of deepening your discipleship is to join a Stepwise group.
Talking about our faith
Mission can be talking confidently about our faith, sometimes called Evangelism.
One way to increase your confidence is to join a stepwise group. The first Stepwise course is Faith-filled Life This friendly group-based course, on Zoom or in person, can help you explore your discipleship, readying you to talk to others.
- Who am I? Exploring identity and faith
- Where do I fit? How faith shapes our daily life
- Where do I fit in my community? Thinking more about God’s mission in the world and how you are part of it.
- My walk with God – what journey am I on?
- Dealing with challenges? Building confidence and resilience for facing life’s challenges
Once you have completed Faith-Filled life you might choose to working on Faith-filled Confidence. This course is more specifically geared to helping you talk to others about your faith.
- To develop confidence in your own faith within today’s culture
- To have encounters with people from other Christian traditions and world faiths as well as with those of ‘no religion’
- To use these encounters to build friendships across faiths and to better understand your faith in relation to others.
- To become better equipped to share your faith story with others.
- To develop ideas of how you can adopt what you have learned into your daily discipleship.
Faith-filled Confidence is for anyone who would like to gain confidence in their faith whilst at the same time learning more about some other world faiths. The stream offers the opportunity to engage with those of other faiths and with those who profess no faith at all.
Eco Church
We are proud to be a Bronze Eco Synod. Our office has its very own Silver award, too! As a synod it is the cornerstone of our intent, as a body of people committed to caring for God’s creation, seeking God’s justice and to live lightly upon the Earth in all of our operations. You can see our Environmental policy here.
Are you ready to be an Eco Church?
Are you interested in your church becoming more environmentally friendly? Try the Eco-church scheme run by A Rocha which guides churches in England and Wales towards expressing care for creation in five areas:
- Worship and teaching
- Management of church buildings
- Management of church land
- Community and global engagement
- Lifestyle
Once churches are registered they can apply for Eco Church Awards at the levels of Bronze, Silver and Gold by collecting points having gone ‘green’ in various ways of church life. For example, by switching to a green energy company or using fair-trade for your tea and coffee supplies. It would be great to have more eco-churches within the Eastern Synod and we really hope your church will take part in this exciting, which will challenge and equip you to care for God’s world in all areas of your life together. If you want to find out more information visit the eco-church website.
If you would like some help working through the process please get in touch.
Fresh Expressions
A fresh expression is a form of church for our changing culture, established primarily for the benefit of people who are not yet members of any church.
It will come into being through principles of listening, service, incarnational mission and making disciples; It will have the potential to become a mature expression of church shaped by the gospel and the enduring marks of the church and for its cultural context.
Sometimes a fresh expression looks like a Messy Church, or an Open Table Community – sometimes a Fresh expression looks nothing like church! You can find out more here.
If you have an idea, even if it’s not fully formed, or if you are interested in starting a Fresh Expression of church then get in touch with our Mission and Training Officer here.
Global Partnerships
Working in partnership with Christian Aid, Commitment for Life is the URC’s global justice programme. Our goal is to enable you, the local congregation, to make global justice a core foundation of your mission. We offer resources to facilitate prayer, advocacy, and effective action for the most vulnerable people in the world.
Commitment for Life – United Reformed Church
Each URC Synod has a particular global partnership, and ours is with the Zimbabwe Presbytery of UPCSA: Home – Uniting Presbyterian Church In Southern Africa
Although our Partnership is not about charitable giving, there are times when we must recognise the imbalance in our financial resources, and we feel called to respond as we would to members of family in need.
Useful links:
The URC’s Global and Intercultural Ministry
Partnership leaflet (an overview of Partnerships):
Partnership document (a more detailed paper about Partnerships)
Get in touch if this is something you’d like to explore!
Mission/Vision Days
Sometimes the way forward is clear – but sometimes we need a little help to focus on what the Spirit is saying to our church now. Mission and Vision days can help you work together with a cross section of your congregation, maybe including some building users, or even the community – to work out where next, what next and how!?
We can lead worship with a chat afterwards, or plan a full day of creative and challenging activities, appreciative inquiry or quiet prayer. The day will be tailored to you, and most importantly we will not just leave you to it at the end but come back, keep in touch, signpost to resources, help find funding, and celebrate with you every step of the way.
Get in touch if this is something you’d like to explore!