17th INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP GATHERING 2023 – Purley, 30 July to 6 August 2023

  17th INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP GATHERING 2023  Purley, 30 July – 6 August 2023  Background paper for partner churches  Introduction  In 2016 our 5 churches signed a Declaration, setting out what the Partnership is for, and including a number of commitments. The statement on purpose and the commitments are both given at the end of this […]

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International Youth Week – ‘Peace in a Shoe Box’

‘Peace in a Shoebox’ – extract from the morning service to open our International Youth Week which runs from 21 to 29 July 2018 – service led by the Revd. Russell Furley-Smith and Revd. Nicola Furley Smith, Moderator of the Southern Provence of the URC Bible Reading – James 2 v.14-18 What good is it, […]

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Our International Partnership of Churches

[raw] [tab_1] Purley United Reformed Church is a member of a unique five-way international partnership of churches. The other member congregations are: Petrusgemeinde Dessau, Germany  Immanuel Congregational Church, Hartford, Connecticut, USA Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren, Ostrava, Czech Republic Gedächtniskirchengemeinde, Speyer, Germany We also maintain an informal link with: Woodvale Presbyterian Church, Belfast, Northern […]

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Declaration of an International Church Partnership – 2016

[slider id=”declaration-of-an-international-church-partnership-2016″] Declaration of an International Church Partnership between Petrusgemeinde, Dessau (Evangelische Landeskirche Anhalts) Immanuel Congregational Church, Hartford, Connecticut (United Church of Christ) Českobratrská církev evangelická, Ostrava Purley United Reformed Church Gedächtniskirchengemeinde, Speyer (Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz) “May they all be one…” – John 17 v.21 The Story of our Partnership Our Partnership has its […]

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Partnership Peace Prayer

Partnership Peace Prayer – September 2016   The following prayer was used in the services in all the Partnership churches on our Partnership Sunday, Sunday 4th September 2016. It was written this year by the Revd. Kari Nicewander, the minister at Immanuel Congregational Church, in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.   ‘God of vibrant purple sunsets, sparkling […]

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Partnership Peace Prayer 2015

International Partnership Peace Prayer 2015 Used in the Partnership churches on Partnership Sunday, 6th September 2015. This common prayer for peace recalls the outbreak of the Second World War 0n 1 September 1939 and unites us with our partner congregations in Hartford, Purley, Ostrava and Dessau. (1) ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ says Jesus Christ. Gracious […]

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Participating Churches

Our International Church Partnership Our International Church Partnership is a group of local churches of the reformed tradition who are linked through bonds of faith and friendship. Currently five churches are involved; Czech Republic – Českobratrské církve evangelické, Ostrava – (Church of the Czech Brethren) Germany – Petruskirche, Dessau (Evangelische Landeskirche Anhalts) Germany – Gedächtniskirche, […]

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Our Partnership – ‘What is it?’

What is the Partnership? Since the mid-1960s, the Partnership has had a special significance in Purley URC, because it provides opportunities for members and friends of the congregation to learn at first-hand about the lives of fellow-Christians in other countries and to understand more about the challenges that they face in their local situations – […]

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Maintaining our Partnership links

How is the Partnership maintained? The format was developed at quite an early stage and has remained fairly constant for about 20 years. Every year, two Sundays are set aside in the calendars of all the congregations to mark the Partnership in a special way during our regular services, with each congregation taking it in […]

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