The Revd Clare Downing, Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church, joins with leaders from the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Methodist Church in Great Britain in responding to the conclusion of the COP26 summit held in Glasgow.

Significant new statements have been made at the summit in Glasgow. Most government delegations accept that the sense of urgency is greater than it was six years ago at Paris. But ultimately, the summit has not delivered. All governments must agree on the necessary actions to avoid 1.5 degrees of warming. The failure of all parties at COP26 to unequivocally support this higher ambition with funding and emission reductions is an injustice towards those whose livelihoods have already been devastated by climate change.

A Lancashire-based group is slowly but surely working their way through the United Reformed Church (URC’s) discipleship development programme.

The group, led by the Revds Daleen ten Cate, Mission Discipleship Mentor for the URC North Western Synod, and John Gordon, Minister for the Lancashire North Missional Partnership, completed Faith-filled Life, the opening stream of Stepwise earlier this year.

Faith-filled life focuses on identity, place and purpose, and provided the group the opportunity to explore how faith shapes daily life, walking with God, and building confidence for facing life challenges to name a few.

In an increasingly diverse society, local churches are often approached by other faith communities seeking premises where they can hold worship or events.

Working with the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the United Reformed Church has produced a new resource for local churches entitled ‘The use of church buildings by people of other faith communities’. The booklet has been launched in time for Inter Faith Week.