United Reformed Church

The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Christian denomination (church) in the United Kingdom.

Table of contents 1 History 2 Belief 3 Polity 4 Ecumenism 5 External links

History

The URC is a result of the merger between the Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church in England in 1972 and subsequent mergers with the Re-formed Churches of Christ in 1981 and the Congregational Union of Scotland in 2000.

Belief

The URC has strong historical roots in the Presbyterian (Reformed and Calvinist) and Congregational traditions.

Polity

Each congregations within the URC is run by a church meeting consisting of all the members, with the assistance of the elder's meeting (similar to the Scottish Kirk's session). Several congregations organize at roughly the county level to form districts, which in turn groups into provincial synods in England (national synods in Scotland and Wales). A General Assembly gathers the whole of URC to meet annually; advised by the Mission Council, they plan the activity of the URC across the United Kingdom.

Ecumenism

It is a member of the many ecumenical organizations, including the World Council of Churches, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (http://www.warc.ch/), and the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (http://www.ctbi.org.uk/). It has a partnership with Christian Aid (http://www.christian-aid.org.uk/), a charity organization, called Commitment for Life (http://www.cforl.org/).

External links

• Official home page (http://www.urc.org.uk/)
• The Basis of Union (http://www.urc.org.uk/manual/basis_of_union.htm) A statement concerning the nature, faith and order of the United Reformed Church