Mangrove entanglements: Reformed deposits and decolonial options

Protestant Nonconformity in the twentieth century. Edited by Alan P. F. Sell and Anthony R. Cross. Pp. x+398 incl. 14 ills and 6 tables. Carlisle: Paternoster, 2003. £24.99 (paper). 1 84227 221 7 Reformed ministry. Traditions of ministry and ordination in the United Reformed Church. By Tony Tucker. Pp. viii+206. London: United Reformed Church, 2003. £12.99 (paper). 0 85346 217 8 - Volume 56 Issue 2

Women in the United Reformed Church (URC) have long participated in behind-the-scenes activities and are increasingly taking on leadership roles. For Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) women, however, while they are increasingly involved in local congregations, the picture is different in the wider Church at a national level. This qualitative study is based on a group of BME women (Cascades of Grace) formed to empower BME women in the URC. Two questionnaires were issued from which findings and analysis are drawn. In this work I engage voices from different theological perspectives on the story of the Syrophoenician/Canaanite woman that is found in Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:25-30 (see Appendix 1). Womanist theology is the primary theological perspective used in this study. I reflect on a story from the Bible because in different, but significant ways, the URC is rooted in the Bible. BME women, too, rely on the Bible, often to counteract negative stereotyping, which at times has been used to justify their marginalization.

Theological education for ordained ministry in the URC reflects its non-conformist roots evolving from dissenting academies to today’s Resource Centres for Learning. It combines Durham University’s Common Awards with spiritual formation, worship, and placements. Most candidates are second-career mature students. In Scotland, training aligns with university divinity faculties. Post-ordination support and ecumenical, reflective practice are key to the URC’s communal approach.

Recent reforms to English and Scots marriage law faced the United Reformed Church (URC) with two challenges. Its hybrid structure of church government, entwining Congregational and Presbyterian strands, complicated application of the statutory criterion ‘persons recognised by [the membership] as competent for the purpose of giving consent’. Precedent from earlier decisions on human sexuality explains the ultimate identification of the local church meeting as the competent council of the URC in England, and why the ‘enabling resolution’ passed regarding civil partnership formation was not repeated. The very different focus of Scots marriage law posed different questions, less focused on buildings or the churches using them and allowing willing celebrants to be nominated by the synod, as for opposite-sex marriage.Advisers differed on whether the denomination possessed any binding doctrine of marriage which would obstruct implementation of the amended law. The General Assembly decision on polity and how it was reached suggest an implicit ruling in the negative. This article defends that outcome, considering the doctrinal foundation of the URC in the light of concessions made at the formative union. Marriage appears as a topic on which no denominational doctrine exists, letting all councils reach theological conclusions necessary to practical decisions within their remit.

This article arises from a critical examination of the way the human sexuality debate developed at national level within the United Reformed Church (URC) between 1997 and 2000. Documents that reflected the thinking of members of the Church were carefully examined in order to identify the issues that members of the URC considered fundamental to the debate. From this analysis three closely linked themes, which, it will be argued here form a circular argument, are reflected on theologically: homophobia, sexuality and changing traditional interpretations of the Bible. There can only be an end to the debate when the URC and other Churches are able to escape this circular argument. Taking the experience of South Africa after the apartheid years as a guide, the discussion concludes by exploring ways by which the Church might end the debate and move forward.

Taking into review the newly published series of substantial multi-authored volumes on ecumenical theological education internationally, this article identifies, from the author’s own experience in ecumenical theological education and from his publications in this field, the central issue of specificity, locality and context in theological education. This takes place within two broadly developing new and relevant trends: post-secularism and inclusive liberalism, briefly described and then related to theological education. In the light of these trends, some questions are asked on theological education, and a plea for greater interdisciplinarity is made. The article thus contains a considerable part of self-reflective material, based on substantial professional experience in theological education, which enables engagement with the new publications and newly developing international contextual features that will shape theological education for the foreseeable future.

International Review of MissionVolume 89, Issue 352 p. 70-75 THE CHALLENGES OF THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST George Sabra, George Sabra A Lebanese Protestant (Reformed) and a member of the National Evangelical Church of Beirut, George Sabra is currently Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and the Academic Dean at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut.Search for more papers by this author George Sabra, George Sabra A Lebanese Protestant (Reformed) and a member of the National Evangelical Church of Beirut, George Sabra is currently Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and the Academic Dean at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut.Search for more papers by this author First published: 25 March 2009 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6631.2000.tb00180.x AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume89, Issue352January 2000Pages 70-75 RelatedInformation

Reflecting on our experience as educators in a semester long “Disability and Christian Ministry” mini-course with ministerial students from Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS) and Career and Community Studies (CCS) students with I/DD from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in Spring 2020, we illuminate the critical role the Spirit and togetherness play in confronting covert ableism in the classroom, disrupting conventional values and power dynamics, and cultivating a new ethos for mutual ministry and leadership. We argue that the dynamic, experiential, and collaborative learning process in the mini- course encouraged students to take greater shared responsibility for their learning in the classroom, equipping them for ministerial leadership by allowing them to experience mutual leadership with one another. The leadership of the Spirit, through the spontaneous distribution of gifts, reconstituted the body, helping PTS and CCS students see themselves as full partners in ministry. However, this article also puts our course in conversation with the broader literature on disability and theological education, emphasizing the need for theological educators to embrace inclusive, experiential theological education as a site for justice and transformation. We make the argument that theological educators, seminaries, and divinity schools must not be satisfied with social programming, community living, or fellowship opportunities with persons with disabilities, but must receive the ministry of people with disabilities in the classroom in order that theological education may be rid of its ableist biases and transformed from the inside out. By withholding classroom space from students with disabilities, theological institutions restrict the dynamic work of the Spirit from the practice of education, hampering the heart of theological education.

This study draws on qualitative questionnaire data provided by 22 women ministers of word and sacrament serving within the United Reformed Church in England to provide a health check across the four conceptually distinct areas of physical health, psychological health, religious health, and spiritual health. Here spiritual health is defined in terms of Fisher's notion of good relationships within the personal, communal, environmental and transcendental domains. The data reveal relatively poor levels of physical, psychological, religious and spiritual health. Many of the symptoms described and many of the issues raised are consistent with a picture of the clergy being an occupational group under considerable work‐related pressure and without adequate support mechanisms to help prevent such work‐related pressure leading to significant personal damage.

"Rominger, Rev. Roberta Carol Sears, (born 30 Aug. 1955), Pastor, Mercer Island United Church of Christ, Washington, USA, since 2015; General Secretary, United Reformed Church, 2008–14" published on by Oxford University Press.

The experience of women being admitted to full ministry has a much longer history within the Free Churches than in the Anglican Church, although from the way in which the Church of England debate on women priests and bishops has been reported this is often not acknowledged. The United Reformed Church (URC) has given equal access for men and women to ministry from the date of the union in 1972 between the Congregational Church and the Presbyterian Church. Both denominations have a long history of women in ministry. This paper examines the experience of 50 URC clergywomen who combine marriage, children and ministry to explore their experience of ministry, marriage and motherhood. The findings demonstrate that, overall, the women’s experience is mixed, although the general expectation among congregations and moderators is that women are the primary care‐givers within the family. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Drawing on the classic model of balanced affect proposed by Bradburn (The structure of psychological well-being, Aldine, Chicago, IL, 1969), this study conceptualised poor work-related psychological health in terms of high levels of negative affect in the absence of acceptable levels of positive affect. In order to illuminate self-perceptions of work-related psychological health among a well-defined group of clergy, a random sample of 58 ministers of word and sacrament serving within the west midlands synod of the United Reformed Church in England completed an open-ended questionnaire concerned with the following six guiding questions. Do you enjoy your work? How would you define stress? How would you define burnout? What stresses are there in your ministry? What do you do to keep healthy? What can the church do to enhance the work-related psychological health of ministers? Content analysis highlighted the main themes recurring through these open-ended responses. The conclusion is drawn that ministers of word and sacrament within the United Reformed Church in England are exposed to a number of recurrent recognisable sources of stress. Suggestions are advanced regarding the need for future more detailed research and for the development of more effective pastoral strategies.

"Short, Rev. Frank, (6 July 1895–15 June 1975), Minister, United Reformed Church (formerly Congregational Church), Sherborne, Dorset; General Secretary (1957–August 1965), Asia Secretary (1953–August 1965) Conference of Missionary Societies in Great Britain and Ireland" published on by Oxford University Press.

At the ‘Embodied Ministry: Gender, Sexuality and Formation’ conference at which the articles in this special issue were delivered, three people in active ministry in different denominations — United Reformed Church, Metropolitan Community Church and Roman Catholic — were invited to take part in a panel discussion on gender and sexuality in the pastoral encounter. Their remarks were originally delivered in this conversational context. Martin Pendergast chaired this panel discussion.

Cascades of Grace was formed within the United Reformed Church (URC) through Global and Intercultural Ministries to network and empower Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women in the churches. In the article, two of the founding members describe the formation of the group, and their own experiences in URC and other churches, and in candidating for ministry.