More than 40 young people from across the United Reformed Church (URC) gathered for a weekend of worship, camping and fun at Crossfire Camp in Leicestershire.

The Christian youth camp is organised by the Group for Evangelism and Renewal (GEAR) and the URC and is where young people aged 12+ explore faith through small groups, teaching, worship and a range of fun activities.

This year’s camp explored the theme ‘lost and found’ and the group studied the account of Jesus healing the bleeding woman and the parables of the lost coin, the lost sheep and the prodigal son.

Members of the Presbyterian Church in Ghana (PCG) recently met with senior URC staff at Church House as part of their mission to learn from partner churches, grow their denomination and create a sense of 'home' for Ghanaians living in the UK.

The Revd Prof Joseph Obiri Yeboah Monte, Moderator of the PCG, said the partnership between the URC and the PCG was important so that Ghanaians living the UK could access a ‘home from home church’.

He said: ‘The PCG’s theme for 2018-19 is “go and make disciples of all nations” and this makes us take discipleship seriously and we want to see how best we can work with our traditional partners and seek their advice.’

The Revd John Proctor, General Secretary of the URC, added: 'The URC has a strong and long-standing friendship with the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. So, when the Moderator and Clerk of their General Assembly came to visit Ghanaian congregations in the UK, it was a pleasure to welcome them to URC Church House, along with some of their UK-based ministers, whom we know well.

‘Our two churches have insight and experience to share. We can encourage one another and learn from one another. We value our friendship highly and were glad of this opportunity to refresh and strengthen it.'

A new, colourful, eight-page leaflet for those considering membership in the United Reformed Church (URC) is now available to churches for free.

‘Join the family: Membership in the United Reformed Church’ has been written by the URC's Faith and Order committee and the Communications Team.

The leaflet includes answers to: what it means to be a member of the URC, who can become a member, the origins of the URC and its aims and goals, how the URC is run and what the responsibilities of a church member are.