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EspañolUNITED REFORMED CHURCH
:''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 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.
The URC is governed by a combined form of Presbyterian polity and Congregationalist polity.
Each congregation (local church) within the URC is governed by a Church Meeting consisting of all the members, and also a council of the (elected) Elders' Meeting (similar to the presbyterian Kirk Session in the Church of Scotland.)
Several congregations organize at roughly the county level to form a district, each with a District Council (or Area Council in Scotland). Districts vary in size between 5 to 45 churches. The District Council 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. They normally meet 4 or 5 times a year and do much of their work through committees, like district pastoral committee and the district finance and property committee. The District Council has a president. Since 2007, these functions have been transferred to the Synod.
Several districts are grouped at regional level into a Synod, there being 11 of these for different Provinces of England; and one each for Nations of Scotland and Wales. The 13 Synods are served by a Moderator and often a training officer and other staff. 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.
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 [1]. Districts and synods are represented, along with national committee convenors.
The United Reformed Church has embarked on a major programme of change and revitalisation, known as Catch the Vision. Part of this involves some changes to the Structure and governance of the church. From July 2007 District Councils will be 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 revitalisation, "Vision4Life" was launched, focussing on Bible study, prayer, and evangelism.
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.
[1]
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, 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."
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 will be held later in 2007.
FURY Advisory Board is a body elected by FURY Assembly. It is made up of the FURY Executive, FURY Task Group and FURY Communications Group.
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, Past Moderator, Treasurer, Secretary, National Synod Representative, Pilots Representative, Mission Council Representative, Communications Representative and British Youth Council Delegation Leader. FURY Executive devolves some of its functions to the other two parts of the Advisory Board and can, from time to time as it deems may be necessary create other working groups to perform specific functions.
The Task Group is 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.
The Communications Group is responsible for the website (http://fury.org.uk) and the quarterly magazine 'f2' which is an insert in the URC national journal 'Reform'. In addition the Communications Group will often handle publicity for FURY events and the creation of materials requested by the Executive.
Until January 2007 the structures of FURY and its purpose was 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.
★ Religion in the United Kingdom
★ English Presbyterian Mission
★ United Reformed Church official website
★ The Basis of Union ''A statement concerning the nature, faith and order of the United Reformed Church''
★ The Structure of the United Reformed Church
★ United Reformed Church Act 2000 ''The 1972 and 1981 Acts are not available at Her Majesty's Stationery Office website''
★ Fellowship of United Reformed Youth (FURY) official website
★ Pilots (children's organisation)
★ Group for Evangelism and Renewal within the URC (GEAR)
★ Free to Believe: an informal network of liberally minded members of the United Reformed Church
★ Congregational Federation
★ Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches
★ Fellowship of Churches of Christ
1. The Independent, 2005. Oct 21, 2005 ''"OBITUARY: THE REV PHILIP MORGAN"'' by Noel A. Davies. Retrieved from FindArticles on August 25, 2006.
Logo of The United Reformed Church
The 'United Reformed Church' ('URC') is a Christian denomination (church) in Great Britain.
History
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.
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.
Polity
The URC is governed by a combined form of Presbyterian polity and Congregationalist polity.
Each congregation (local church) within the URC is governed by a Church Meeting consisting of all the members, and also a council of the (elected) Elders' Meeting (similar to the presbyterian Kirk Session in the Church of Scotland.)
Several congregations organize at roughly the county level to form a district, each with a District Council (or Area Council in Scotland). Districts vary in size between 5 to 45 churches. The District Council 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. They normally meet 4 or 5 times a year and do much of their work through committees, like district pastoral committee and the district finance and property committee. The District Council has a president. Since 2007, these functions have been transferred to the Synod.
Several districts are grouped at regional level into a Synod, there being 11 of these for different Provinces of England; and one each for Nations of Scotland and Wales. The 13 Synods are served by a Moderator and often a training officer and other staff. 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.
The General Assembly of the United Reformed Church meeting in Manchester, July 2007.
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 [1]. Districts and synods are represented, along with national committee convenors.
The United Reformed Church has embarked on a major programme of change and revitalisation, known as Catch the Vision. Part of this involves some changes to the Structure and governance of the church. From July 2007 District Councils will be 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 revitalisation, "Vision4Life" was launched, focussing on Bible study, prayer, and evangelism.
Ecumenism
Make Poverty History banner in front of St Columba's URC, Oxford.
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.
[1]
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 will be held later in 2007.
FURY Advisory Board
FURY Advisory Board is a body elected by FURY Assembly. It is made up of the FURY Executive, FURY Task Group and FURY Communications Group.
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, Past Moderator, Treasurer, Secretary, National Synod Representative, Pilots Representative, Mission Council Representative, Communications Representative and British Youth Council Delegation Leader. FURY Executive devolves some of its functions to the other two parts of the Advisory Board and can, from time to time as it deems may be necessary create other working groups to perform specific functions.
The Task Group is 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.
The Communications Group is responsible for the website (http://fury.org.uk) and the quarterly magazine 'f2' which is an insert in the URC national journal 'Reform'. In addition the Communications Group will often handle publicity for FURY events and the creation of materials requested by the Executive.
Until January 2007 the structures of FURY and its purpose was 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.
See also
★ Religion in the United Kingdom
★ English Presbyterian Mission
External links
★ United Reformed Church official website
Polity information
★ The Basis of Union ''A statement concerning the nature, faith and order of the United Reformed Church''
★ The Structure of the United Reformed Church
★ United Reformed Church Act 2000 ''The 1972 and 1981 Acts are not available at Her Majesty's Stationery Office website''
Organizations for young people
★ Fellowship of United Reformed Youth (FURY) official website
★ Pilots (children's organisation)
Internal groupings
★ Group for Evangelism and Renewal within the URC (GEAR)
★ Free to Believe: an informal network of liberally minded members of the United Reformed Church
Continuing churches that did not unite organically with the URC
★ Congregational Federation
★ Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches
★ Fellowship of Churches of Christ
References
1. The Independent, 2005. Oct 21, 2005 ''"OBITUARY: THE REV PHILIP MORGAN"'' by Noel A. Davies. Retrieved from FindArticles on August 25, 2006.
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