Welcome
WELCOME BY THE MODERATOR OF
THE WEST MIDLANDS SYNOD
Welcome to the West Midlands!
Our Synod is delighted to host General Assembly this year at the
University of Warwick.
This Synod has particular connections with the University of Warwick, in
two ways. Firstly, we give financial support to Free Church chaplaincy
shared between Coventry and Warwick Universities. Secondly, the Assembly and
Synod medical adviser, as well as being a local GP, is a United Reformed
Church non-stipendiary minister who teaches part-time at the University.
Our commitment to working in the area of higher education continues with
the support of chaplains at Aston, Keele, Birmingham and Wolverhampton
Universities.
The West Midlands Synod encompasses the rural heartlands of Shropshire
and Herefordshire, the attractive tourist destination of the Cotswolds in
Gloucestershire, the highly urban conurbations of Wolverhampton and
Birmingham, where the re-developed Bull-ring has transformed the city
centre, Staffordshire, known in the north for its potteries, Coventry in
which the Cathedral continues to remind us of the significant work of
reconciliation, Warwickshire with its historic Shakespeare sites in and
around Stratford and Worcester, whose splendid medieval Cathedral hosted the
Synod Millennium service.
There are 143 United Reformed Churches, of which 38 are shared in Local
Ecumenical partnerships, and two Mission Projects, one in the remote
Staffordshire countryside (Tomkin) and the other in the inner city of
Birmingham (Bloomsbury). Our engagement with wider issues continues through
special category ministries in North Staffordshire (community projects), the
Black Country (urban regeneration) and Coventry (Mission in the World of
Work).
The United Reformed Church shares in nine county ecumenical bodies across
the West Midlands. The region is at the forefront of the development of
theological training proposals arising out of the Church of England's
training review, shared with the Methodist Church and ourselves. The Queens
Foundation in Birmingham provides an ecumenical centre for residential and
non-residential training for ministry for full and part-time students, as
well as a range of lay education programmes. A growing part of its work
involves the Research Centre.
The Synod is currently on its second phase of developing the Synod vision
with the theme 'Treasure in clay pots' reminding us of our human
vulnerability and of the power of the Gospel.
We're looking forward to catching the Assembly vision and pray that the
Holy Spirit may enlighten, inspire and guide us in our time together.
Elizabeth Welch
Moderator, West Midlands Synod
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