The United Reformed Church (URC) was formed in 1972 by the union of two major non-conformist Protestant denominations: the Congregational Church in England and Wales and the Presbyterian Church of England. The URC subsequently united with the Churches of Christ in 1981 and the Congregational Union of Scotland in 2000. The URC is in frequent dialogue on unity with other traditions and has more than 400 local churches that are united with other denominations.
Along with other Reformed churches the URC holds to the Trinitarian faith expressed in the historic Christian creeds and finds its supreme authority for faith and conduct in the Word of God in the Bible, discerned under guidance of the Holy Spirit. The URC’s structure also expresses its faith in the ministry of all God’s people through the structure of Councils by which the Church is governed.
Each congregation (local church) is governed by a Church Meeting made up of all its members. There is also an Elders Meeting which advises the Church Meeting and shares with the Minister the spiritual and pastoral care of the church.
At a regional level representatives of the congregation meet in a synod. There are 11 synods in England. St Andrew’s is a member of the Thames North Synod.
Recently the synod has organised the churches into Local Area Groups. The group to which St Andrew’s belongs contains four other churches: St Paul’s Bayswater, Trinity Camden Town, Kensington URC and Regent Square URC.
To find out more about the URC or to access the many resources it has on offer, you can go to its website by clicking on the following link: URC website