United Reformed Church Totally Explained

Everything about Presbyterian Church In England totally explained

ť An unrelated American church of similar name is the United Reformed Churches in North America.

The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Christian denomination (church) in Great Britain. The URC is the result of a union between the Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church in England and Wales in 1972 and subsequent unions with the Re-formed Association of Churches of Christ in 1981 and the Congregational Union of Scotland in 2000. The United Reformed Church comprises about 150,000 adults and 100,000 children in about 1,900 congregations.

Belief

The URC is a trinitarian church whose theological roots are Calvinist, and whose historical and organisational roots are in the Presbyterian (Reformed), Congregational, and Churches of Christ traditions. In its Basis of Union, there's a short document ‘A statement concerning the nature, faith and order of the United Reformed Church’, which succinctly puts forward the church's belief:
Polity The URC is governed by a combined form of presbyterian polity and congregationalist polity.

Congregation

Each congregation (local church) within the URC is governed by a Church Meeting consisting of all the members, and also an elected council — the (elected) Elders' Meeting (similar to the presbyterian Kirk Session in the Church of Scotland.)

Synod

At a regional level, representatives of the congregations assemble in a synod. There are 11 English synods, one for a "province" of England roughly the size of a region of England; and one each for Nations of Scotland and Wales. These 13 synods are served by a moderator and often a training officer and other staff. The synod and its committees offer oversight (the etymological sense of 'episcopate' or 'supervision') to the churches, giving pastoral care and making important decisions about where ministers serve and how churches share ministry. Through the synod, the URC relates to other regional denominational structures (Anglican diocese and Methodist districts, for example). Synods now usually hold the property in trust and many key financial decisions are made here. Synods also have committee structure and employ staff to encourage and serve local churches. (Before the reforms in 2007, several congregations organized at roughly the county level to form a district, each with a district council; or area council in Scotland. Since 2007, the functions of the district has been transferred to the synod.) The synods are these, with their numeric code; and in the case of English synods, with the approximate corresponding region in brackets:

Northern Synod (the region of North East England)
North Western Synod (the region of North West England except Merseyside)
Mersey Synod (the Merseyside part of the region of North West England, plus the Isle of Man)
Yorkshire Synod (the region of Yorkshire and the Humber)
East Midlands Synod (the region of East Midlands)
West Midlands Synod (the region of West Midlands)
Eastern Synod (the region of East of England)
South Western Synod (the region of South West England omitting Dorset)
Wessex Synod (South East England central; similar to the South Central NHS Strategic Health Authority; also includes Dorset, Surrey, and the Channel Islands)
Thames North Synod (northern Greater London, Buckinghamshire, and Hertfordshire)
Southern Synod (southern Greater London and eastern coastal South East England; similar to the South East Coast NHS Strategic Health Authority, omitting Surrey)
National Synod of Wales
National Synod of Scotland

General Assembly

The URC has a General Assembly (with its Moderator) which gathers representatives of the whole of the URC to meet annually; advised by the Mission Council, it plans the activity of the URC across Great Britain. It makes key policy decisions about the direction of the life of the denomination. It also appoints central (that is, Britain-wide) staff, receives reports from national committees, and deals with large reports and initiatives such as the recent Catch the Vision exercise (External Link

). Districts and synods are represented, along with national committee convenors.

Reforms and revitalization

The United Reformed Church has embarked on a major programme of change and revitalization, known as Catch the Vision. Part of this involves some changes to the structure and governance of the church. In July 2007, the district councils were dissolved and their work carried out by the synods, working in a new way. From 2008, the General Assembly will only meet in every other year. In addition the central work of the Assembly is being reconfigured, and the Mission Council was to become the Assembly Council (although this latter idea appears to be have been forgtten). In 2007, a second phase of revitalization, "Vision4Life" was launched, focussing on Bible study, prayer, and evangelism.

Ecumenism

The URC is a member of the many ecumenical organizations, a fact which reflects the church's strong commitment to Christian unity. There are different ecumenical bodies in the component parts of the Britain. In the England, these include Churches Together in England, amongst others. In Wales, the URC is a member of Cytûn (Churches Together in Wales) and the Enfys covenant. In Scotland, the URC participates in Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS). Some work covering all the Isles is co-ordinated by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
A former Moderator of the URC General Assembly, the Reverend Dr Philip Morgan, himself a former General Secretary of the Association of Churches of Christ, was the last General Secretary of the British Council of Churches. During his ten year term of office at the BCC, he oversaw the Council's transformation into Churches Together in Britain and Ireland in 1990.
The URC is also a member of many international ecumenical organisations, including the World Council of Churches, the Conference of European Churches, the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Council for World Mission. It has a partnership with Christian Aid and the World Development Movement, called Commitment for Life.

FURY: Fellowship of United Reformed Youth

FURY, standing for the Fellowship of United Reformed Youth, is an umbrella organisation of which all young people in the URC between the ages of 11 and 25 are automatically members. This includes young people who attend a United Reformed Church or are part of a group or organisation using United Reformed Church premises. Examples of such groups are Pilots, Scouts and Guides, Boys and Girls Brigade
The organisation's mission statement is as follows: "Our mission is to discover God, to help each other grow in the Christian faith and, through our lives, reflect God's love to all."

FURY's functions

Whilst the main focus of URC youth work is at the local Church, FURY performs a number of functions at the National level. FURY Advisory Board organises FURY Assembly and the FURY Forum. Assembly is an annual event at which FURY members meet and discuss issues that are important to them, with some issues going forward as motions which may even be taken to the URC General Assembly. The FURY Forum is a faith based event which is more spiritual that Assembly which is to be held every year, the first one was a great success and the second one will be held in late 2008.

FURY Advisory Board

FURY Advisory Board is a body elected by FURY Assembly. It is made up of the FURY Executive and FURY Task Group. The current 2008 FURY Moderator is James Wickens and the 2009 Moderator will be Josh Thomas.
   The Executive is responsible for all the work of FURY and its officers are directly elected by FURY Assembly or appointed by a nominations committee. The posts on the body are as follows: Moderator, Moderator Elect, Treasurer, Secretary, National Synod Representative, Pilots Representative, Mission Council Representative, and British Youth Council Delegation Leader. FURY Executive devolves some of its functions to the other part of the Advisory Board and can, from time to time as it deems may be necessary create other working groups to perform specific functions.
   There is one permanent Task Group, the Publications and Communications Task Group, and other temporary Task Groups. The Publications & Communications Task Group is responsible for the website and the quarterly magazine 'f2' which is an insert in the URC national journal 'Reform'. F2 is currently edited by Matt Stone. In addition the Communications Group will often handle publicity for FURY events and the creation of materials requested by the Executive. The temporary groups are responsible for ensuring that the work mandated by passed motions at FURY Assembly is carried out. The people on this body are those who brought the motion(s) to Assembly in the first place, or are taking the place of such people.
   Until January 2007 the structures of FURY and its purpose were different, restructuring over a few years culminated in FURY Advisory Board replacing FURY Council at Assembly in 2007. FURY Advisory Board hopes to be able to make FURY more relevant and responsive to the young people of the URC.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Presbyterian Church In England'.

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