Churches Together Upton

"I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

John 17:20–23 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

On the night before the cross, on the edge of suffering, with betrayal already moving in the dark, Jesus does not pray for protection, power, or even perseverance. He prays for unity. Not a polite unity. Not a tidy organisational unity. Not unity enforced by agreement or sameness. But unity that mirrors the very life of God:

"That they may be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you."

Jesus places the Church inside the love that flows within the Trinity —
a unity born not from uniformity but from relationship.

And that matters deeply for us here in Upton upon Severn because Upton itself is a meeting place. This town sits where paths cross and waters gather. The River Severn, has shaped this place for centuries - sometimes gently blessing it, sometimes testing it with floods that leave marks on stone and memory. Upton knows what it means to live at the meeting point of forces larger than itself.

And perhaps that is why it is fitting that Christians here also gather from different streams.

Baptist. Anglican. Catholic.
Different histories.
Different rhythms.
Different ways of praying, preaching, singing and serving.
Yet all drawn by the same river of grace.

Unity as Gift

Jesus' prayer reminds us that unity is first God's idea, not ours. Before any church was built here, before parish lines were drawn, before traditions took root, Christ had already prayed for his people to be one. Unity is not something we manufacture; it is something we receive.

Like this town itself.

Long before any of us walked these streets, God was already at work here - in little chapels and medieval parish life, in generations who worshipped through plague and war, in reformers and revivalists and faithful ordinary saints whose names are known only to God. Just as the Severn gathers many small tributaries into one river, so Christ gathers many lives into one body.

Unity is grace before it is effort.

Unity as Calling

But Jesus does not pray this prayer as a distant hope. He places responsibility into our hands. Unity is not passive, it is lived…and that is where the prayer becomes costly, because unity asks us to move beyond comfort.

It asks churches with long roots to honour newer expressions.
It asks us to listen to ancient liturgy.
It asks structured traditions to recognise Spirit-led spontaneity.
It asks all of us to choose humility over preference.

Unity is not achieved when we erase differences, but when we hold them in love.

Like this town again…..Upton has been shaped by layers of history —
Georgian buildings beside medieval foundations, modern life woven into old streets, festival crowds filling a place once known for quiet riverside trade.

Different eras coexisting….Different stories sharing the same ground.

And we too are called to inhabit the same spiritual landscape — not as rivals occupying territory, but as pilgrims sharing the road. Jesus' unity is not institutional first; it is relational, and so to "be one" means to pray for one another before we speak about one another. To bless before we critique. To serve side by side even when we worship differently.

Unity grows wherever love chooses generosity.

Unity as Witness

Jesus then gives a startling reason for this prayer:

"So that the world may believe that you have sent me."

The credibility of the Gospel is tied to the visible love of the Church.

Not our buildings.
Not our numbers.
Not our traditions.
But our reconciled relationships.

In a fractured world, our unity becomes proclamation, and here in Upton, people notice. They notice when churches stand together on Remembrance Sunday, when we walk the same streets in prayer, when our support carries no denominational labels and when hospitality crosses church doors.

Every shared act says quietly but powerfully: Christ is not divided.

The river that flows through this town does not ask where the water began. It simply carries life wherever it goes, and when the Church flows in the same way — across boundaries, across traditions — the town sees something of God's kingdom made visible.

Living Inside the Prayer

Jesus' prayer in John 17 is unfinished. We are still living inside it.
Not yet fully one.
Still learning.
Still healing.
Still listening.

But held — always held — in the longing of Christ.

Here in this riverside town, where history runs deep and community runs close, we are given a holy opportunity:

To show that unity is possible without uniformity
To show that diversity can reflect God's beauty
To show that love is stronger than difference
And perhaps one day, when others tell the story of the Church in Upton upon Severn, they will not first remember our denominational names, but instead, our shared faithfulness and that we answered Christ's prayer in our generation in this place.

Pray with us

Would you join in praying for unity among the churches of Upton upon Severn, that we may live more deeply into Christ's prayer for his people. As pilgrims sharing the same road, we are invited to walk the journey together — discovering opportunities to pray, serve, and witness side by side across our churches.