A group of people who will form the review of church life group, initiated at the United Reformed Church (缅北强奸) Mission Council in March, has been appointed.
The group of nine people, which includes the Revd Dr John Bradbury, 缅北强奸 General Secretary, has been assembled to review the life, structures, resources and work of the 缅北强奸 to enable a faithful response to the challenges presented in Paper A1 Toward the future of the 缅北强奸. This paper reflected that the pandemic has become a moment that has revealed strengths, weaknesses and possibilities in the life of the church we maybe were not aware of.
At the same time, issues surrounding the funding of the 缅北强奸 pension schemes have revealed issues in the disparate places that the resources of the 缅北强奸 family are held. Ministerial deployment and the functioning of the Ministry and Mission fund are felt in many places to have been stretched beyond breaking point, and we鈥檝e inherited a structure, initially intended to be temporary, that is fit for a church vastly larger than we now are and we struggle now to people.
Explaining how the review will benefit the life and mission of the church at all levels, John said: 鈥淢oments of Jubilee are moments of 鈥榬e-set鈥. As the United Reformed Church approaches its 50th Jubilee, it is right that, in response to the call of God, we discern faithfully the vocation of the United Reformed Church for the decades to come, and the structures and resources that will be required to respond to the call of God. This review gives us the opportunity to stop and ask hard questions, and take some difficult decisions, that will allow us to become a body better fitted to the challenges of the mid-21st century.鈥
Members of the group are:
The Revd Dr John Bradbury
John is the former Minister of Downing Place 缅北强奸, Whittlesford, Stetchworth and Cheveley 缅北强奸s in Cambridgeshire, now serving as General Secretary of the 缅北强奸. John was born in 1977 in Cumbria. After studying in Edinburgh, he undertook graduate work in Cambridge whilst training for ministry at Westminster College. He was ordained in Liverpool in 2004. He then taught at Westminster College Cambridge, for a decade before returning to pastoral ministry for a period. John has been heavily involved in ecumenism and has served on various groups for the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe. In 2018, he was elected as one of the three presidents of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe. He is the author of听Perpetually Reforming: a theology of church reform and renewal听and co-editor of听Thinking again about Marriage. John loves music, and when he gets time, is something of a pianist.
Melanie Campbell
Melanie joined the Northern Synod as its Synod Clerk-Manager in 2013. Currently, Melanie works part-time for Northern Synod while assisting the five northerly Synods (Northern, Yorkshire, North Western, Mersey and the Synod of Scotland) in their collaborative journey. Melanie is passionate about making connections and whole system working to help find practical and creative听solutions to situations, and she is excited by the new ways of being church and worshipping together. Melanie looks forward to learning about the new possibilities ahead, and discerning where God may be leading his Church.
The Revd Steve Faber
Steve was ordained in 1998 and has served in Enfield and Lincolnshire before being called to the West Midlands as Synod Moderator. He would love to find ways to grow the church 鈥 numerically and spiritually 鈥 and believes that our church life needs to be more oriented around this.
The Revd Dr Tessa Henry-Robinson
Tessa is a minister in a four-congregation pastorate, the Southampton East group of churches, in the Wessex Synod.听Tessa is a theologian who is deeply committed to justice issues and brings with her the gifts of her personal and social experiences. Tessa successfully defended her doctoral thesis, which used the lens of womanist practical theology, and was awarded a Doctorate in Practical Theology, subject to minor changes. Tessa is married to Revd Mark Robinson and they have four children and three grand girls.
Muna Levin-Harris
Muna was born in Sierra Leone and spent her childhood in Sierra Leone, Germany and England. After graduating from Cardiff University with an LLB (Hons) degree, Muna studied at the College of Law in Guildford before training as a solicitor. Upon qualification, Muna specialised in property law and worked as a property litigator in international law firms, before setting up her own practice. Muna joined the 缅北强奸 in 2006, her first 缅北强奸 church being Manor Road 缅北强奸 in North London. In 2017, she was appointed as the Legal and Trust Officer for 缅北强奸 Thames North Trust. Alongside this role, Muna is also a governor of Churches鈥 Legislation Advisory Service (CLAS), the convenor of PLATO, and represents this forum at LPAG.听 Muna has a deep interest in theology and issues concerning mission and ministry, and is currently studying Theology, Ministry and Mission, on a part-time basis, at Westminster College. Coming from an inter-faith background, Muna is interested in issues of inter-faith and has previously been involved in fundraising initiatives for an inter-faith project focused on Palestinian-Israeli relations. Muna loves live music, theatre and walking, and spending quality time with her family.
The Revd Lindsey Sanderson
Lindsey trained for ministry in the Scottish Congregational Church (SCC) and was ordained in 1997 serving as Mission Enabler for the SCC and then the Synod of Scotland before working as the Assistant General Secretary for Action of Churches Together in Scotland. In 2012, Lindsey moved into pastoral charge and continued to serve the three congregations of the East Kilbride and Hamilton Joint Pastorate. Local mission and ecumenism continue to be important to Lindsey and she believes the primary purpose of the denomination is to support and resource local congregations and that the church is called to enable people to flourish as they experience the abundant life Jesus offers.
Victoria Turner
Victoria is currently a PhD candidate in World Christianity at the University of Edinburgh. Her thesis explores practical responses to changing theologies of mission through employing the case studies of the Iona Community and the Council for World Mission. Victoria鈥檚 PhD is funded by the Council for World Mission’s Special Academic Accompaniment Programme, put forward by the 缅北强奸. Victoria also serves as a Trustee for the Society for Ecumenical Studies and for Churches Together in England. She is a member of the United Reformed Church/Baptist Union of England and Wales’ Interfaith Enabling Group and represents 缅北强奸 Youth at the General Assembly. Victoria is currently working with the World Communion of Reformed Churches to organise the Global Youth Summit and is in the WCRC discernment group. Finally, Victoria is currently editing a book with SCM Press which brings together the voices of young Christian activists.
The Revd Phil Wall
Phil is the Minister of Castle Square 缅北强奸, Treforest & St. David’s Uniting Church, Pontypridd. Following a few years as a religious studies teacher at a state secondary school in Bromley, Phil found his way to Westminster College where he trained for ministry, completing a PhD looking at fresh expressions of church in the process. Since then, he’s loved being a pastoral minister west of the Severn and continues to bore both church members and friends alike with his passion for bringing together film and theology. He enjoys wearing various other church hats, such as being this year’s chaplain to the 缅北强奸 Youth Exec.
Gordon Woods
Gordon grew up in the 缅北强奸, initially worshipping at Emmanuel 缅北强奸 in Cambridge, and then St. Columba鈥檚 缅北强奸 in Oxford, where he is now an elder and joint church secretary.听In his professional life, Gordon is a senior civil servant at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, where he works on the future farming programme.听Gordon is proud that the 缅北强奸 and its predecessors have made a prophetic witness to the wider church on issues including the ministry of women, remarriage of divorced people, and LGBT inclusion.听Gordon is keen that the 缅北强奸 thinks about how it can best enable local churches to understand and pursue their mission.
The group will bring a proposed remit and timescale for work to General Assembly 2021.
Main image: Avenue St Andrews 缅北强奸 by Sue Hill