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United Reformed Church Northern Synod

St Cuthbert's comes to Heaton Road

The Newcastle road with the record number of churches woke up to one fewer - but for those who were most involved this was only an occasion for rejoicing.

Two of the five Heaton churches who earlier in the year covenanted to work more closely together took another step forward, and with a third congregation united to form one joint Methodist / United Reformed Church congregation. From Bainbridge and Shieldfield Methodist churches and Heaton URC emerged St Cuthbert's - and on October 1st 2006 the new church was up and running on the former URC site.

Before the service of celebration began, the legal and constitutional niceties were properly observed. The two ministers, Marian Dixon and David Walton, who had worked hard with their congregations to prepare for this union, signed the new church constitution together with representatives of the three churches. Others signed the Sharing Agreement which gives full rights for both denominations within the shared building. And three candles which previously burned in three separate places were brought to the front of the church, to symbolise the coming together that was now to be celebrated.

The two ministers were joined by Methodist Chair Leo Osborn and our Synod Moderator Peter Poulter in a service of worship which looked ahead rather than back, and which involved everyone in the congregation, not only in hymn singing and responsive prayer, but also in symbolic action that included the sharing of bread and the sign of baptism.

In place of a sermon, Leo and Peter had been invited to share their reflections on the scripture chosen for the day - the account of the feeding of the five thousand from John's gospel. Between them they brought new thoughts for the new congregation to reflect on:

• Only John introduces the small boy - the one who dares to share. "You bring more with you than you realise as Christ works miracles."
• The bread is blessed. "We don't ask God to bless what we are doing. We ask him to help us do what he is blessing."
• The bread is broken. "Let us ask to be broken from our own way - or our own three separate ways - of doing things."
• Twelve basketsful are collected up. "We came as three churches, we go away as one. And yet we go away as more than we were when we began."

Hotfoot from the start of the Great North Run, the Mayor was able to join the congregation before the end of the service, bringing with her a candle that spoke of the wider community, and no doubt also spoke of the new church's intention to look outwards into that community.

As the congregation sang before the blessing and dismissal,

All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.

 

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