Home
News and Features
Events
Church Resources
About URC Scotland
• Synod
• Committees
• Area Councils
Local churches
• North Scotland
• South Scotland
• East Scotland
• West Scotland
Ministers and pastors
Women's Union
Youth: FURY
Scottish College
Sannox Christian Centre
Links
Synod of Scotland
United Reformed Church
340 Cathedral Street
Glasgow G1 2BX
tel: 0141 332 7667
fax: 0141 332 8463
email:
URC Press Release Regarding Iraq War: Monday 10 March 2008
United Reformed Church seeks new vigour in ending Iraq occupation
Posted on Mar 17, 2008
The United Reformed Church has called for renewed urgency and vigour to be brought to ending the occupation of Iraq by British and American forces, as the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War approaches. The Church says the consequences of the military action have been devastating for the people of Iraq, and for families with members serving in the coalition forces.
The Church has consistently voiced its opposition to Britain and America entering Iraq (on 19 March 2003), without the proper backing of the United Nations. It now describes that decision as “ill-conceived”.
Simon Loveitt, Convenor of the Church and Society committee said “We opposed it then. We oppose it now. It was a foolhardy and immoral incursion which did not have our backing. Nor did it have the backing of millions of people of this country, who still carry a sense of outrage about it”.
A statement approved by the Church’s Mission Council, meeting on 9 March, drew attention to the fact that more than a million Iraqis have been killed, more than four million have been uprooted from their homes and more than three thousand British and American troops have been killed. Concern was expressed that some returning British servicewomen and men have been vilified, simply for doing their duty.
The statement calls for an understanding that “where conflict and tension abound, lasting peace and stability are more likely to emanate from a dismantling of structures that perpetrate injustice or division, than from violence or aggression”. It says the ending of the occupation needs to be based on the development of sustainable security for the people of the region.
The United Reformed Church
Through a series of unions over the past 35 years, the United Reformed Church has brought together English Presbyterians, English, Welsh and Scottish Congregationalists and members of the Churches of Christ. One hundred thousand people make up 1600 congregations, with more than 700 ministers, paid and unpaid.
Although one of the smaller mainstream denominations in Britain, the United Reformed Church plays a dynamic and challenging part in the country’s Christian life. It seeks to work with Christians of all traditions, believing that all God’s people should be one. It is committed to theological and cultural diversity.
Worldwide, more than 70 million Christians are members of the Reformed family of churches, the largest Protestant tradition. We call ourselves Reformed because our churches began to emerge with reform movements in the sixteenth century.
United Reformed Church press office:
tel. 020 7916 2020. mobile: 07976 753950. email: stuart.dew@urc.org.uk
More information about the life and work of the United Reformed Church is available at www.urc.org.uk
