URConnected

What is Citizens UK, and why are we members?

Friends, welcome to this episode of You Are Connected, in which Sophie Morby, Senior Organiser for Greater Manchester Citizens, explains how community organising builds relational power to win concrete change across the region. The North Western Synod of the URC - and by extension, every local church within the Synod - is a paid up member.

She shares examples from transport safety to a new mental health pathway, describes the 10 November accountability assembly and local actions, and invites churches and individuals to train, join, and be in the room to make change happen.

Why this matters

As churches, we're great at diagnosis and protest - we know what's wrong and we know what Gospel-shaped changes we wish to see in our society.  We're also good at expressing that protest and hope in our preaching and our praying.  What we're not used to doing is actually effecting those changes - engaging with the power-holders and securing genuine change on the ground.

We're also committed to forming relationships with other groups and individuals within our local communities; again, we don't necessarily have the mechanisms that make this easy to do.  

The Greater Manchester Chapter of Citizens UK allows us to both of these!  You're already a member - come to the Accountability Assembly on Tuesday 10 November, 5-7.45 pm, at The Monastery, Gorton Lane, Manchester, M12 5WF GB.  Be part of a community-wide gathering of 500 people, winning a transformation for the lives of 18-year olds who need mental health support ... it's one aspect of being church with people on the margins!

Register here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/greater-manchester-citizens-accountability-assembly/

This episode celebrates Leo Roberts' 30 years as Children and Youth Development Officer in the Northwestern Synod of the United Reformed Church. Leo shares his journey into youth work, the challenges he faced, and key achievements such as gathered youth groups and national resources used worldwide.

The conversation highlights his influence on generations of young people, collaborative ecumenical efforts, plans for retirement including songwriting and family time, and closes with prayers, gratitude, and a light-hearted Jaffa Cake tradition. It's followed by a musical tribute to Leo: Bruce Springsteen sings The House of a Thousand Guitars, from his appropriately-titled album, Letter to You.

Friends, welcome to this edition of UR Connected, featuring Maggie McDonald — singer, vocal coach and church musician. Maggie shares her journey from the Royal Northern College of Music and Glyndebourne to teaching and coaching with major choirs, singing for royal audiences, and leading worship. She explains how the voice is a living instrument, how teaching singing involves body, breath and hearing, and how her synaesthesia lets her see music in colour. Maggie also reflects on the spiritual power of congregational singing and a memorable moment of being ‘bathed in golden light’ while performing.

Listen to Maggie here.

Friends, meet Reverend Mike Thomason, the newly appointed moderator of the Northwestern Synod. In this episode Mike recounts his journey from Salford and army chaplaincy to local church leadership, sharing stories from Iraq, Afghanistan, and community ministry.

He outlines his pastoral, presence-centred approach to leadership, the synod’s challenges and plans for review, and a call to shift from maintenance to mission—urging churches to engage their local communities and pray for his ministry.

Friends, welcome to another edition of UR Connected, where Reverend David Ireland reflects on a remarkable life of ministry, architecture, and leadership in children’s palliative care. From designing Francis House to establishing international pain clinics and pioneering care for teenagers and young adults, this episode explores how faith, innovation, and community transformed the hospice movement.

David shares personal stories — including the tragedy that called him to ministry, the growth of Francis House, global projects in Chernobyl, Sarajevo, and Japan, and the heartwarming Easter Chick campaign. Tune in for insights on compassionate leadership, interdisciplinary collaboration, and a lifetime dedicated to serving families in crisis.

This episode introduces a new partnership between the Northwestern Synod and Place for Hope offering free mediation, facilitated conversations, and one-to-one conflict coaching to help churches handle disputes, long-standing hotspots, and difficult conversations constructively.

Listeners learn how the service works, how to refer a case (contact the Synod clerk Claire MacIntyre or Programme Lead Martha Hunt), the confidential process, and the benefits of early intervention to restore relationships and strengthen church communities.

This episode brings together Palestinian human rights lawyer Sahar Francis, Reverend Ashraf Tanuz and Reverend Dr Graham Adams to examine the situation in Gaza and the West Bank through the lens of the Kairos document from South Africa in 1985.

They discuss parallels between state theology and the Zionist project, the buy-in to the Israeli narrative and failure of some Western churches to speak for justice, the use of religion to legitimize violence, collective punishment, and the urgent call for a justice-based path to peace that is the only real chance of reconciliation and flourishing for all the peoples n the region.

Welcome to our podcast. Today we bring together Sahar Francis, a Palestinian human-rights lawyer; Reverend Ashraf Tanuz, pastor of the Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem; and Rev Dr Graham Adams, lecturer at Luther King House in Manchester, to discuss the situation in Gaza, Palestine and the West Bank.

We explore parallels with South Africa’s 1985 Kairos moment in the church's struggle against Apartheid, examine state theology, church theology and a Kairos theology of justice, and confront questions of collective punishment, settler-colonialism, and the difference between anti‑Semitism and criticism of the Zionist project. This episode seeks truth, solidarity, and a call for justice and human dignity.

Two Palestinian community leaders—human-rights lawyer Sahar Francis and Reverend Ashraf Tannous —share firsthand testimony about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank, the treatment of prisoners, and life for Palestinian Christians and citizens under occupation.

They discuss the limits of the present ceasefire, the need for accountability, the role of faith and resilience in sustaining communities, and concrete actions churches and citizens in the UK can take to support justice and human rights.

Friends, welcome to this edition of the Northwest Synod podcast. Today Lawrence speaks with Michael Harvey about cultivating a culture of invitation in Synod churches and the surprising power of asking, "How are you?".

They explore how a genuine question can unlock personal stories of pain and hope, modelled by Jesus, and how simple practices—like a short daily prayer and following up "How are you?" with "How are you really?"—equip people to listen compassionately.

The episode highlights two free "superpowers"—listening and silence—and suggests that authentic conversation can lead to healing, new perspective, and unexpected grace.