About The United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church (URC) is a very young church, formed in 1972, when the Congregational Church in England and Wales and the Presbyterian Church in England were united. In 1981, many congregations of the Churches of Christ joined with us, and in 2000 the Congregational Church of Scotland also became part of the URC.
The Reformed Tradition
The Reformed tradition has its origins in the 16th century religious and political upheavals in Europe. In opposition to certain practices in Roman Catholicism, such as the sale of indulgences, the monk Martin Luther published his Ninety-Five Theses and gave birth to a wave of theological reformation that resulted in the creation of the Protestant churches.
Other notable Reformers include John Calvin, John Knox and Huldrych Zwingli.
The Reformation also brought in major innovations, like Bibles translated from Latin or Greek into the languages people speak, and congregational hymn singing.
The Key Pillars
The key pillars to the Reformed tradition are:
The Reformed Tradition
The Reformed tradition has its origins in the 16th century religious and political upheavals in Europe. In opposition to certain practices in Roman Catholicism, such as the sale of indulgences, the monk Martin Luther published his Ninety-Five Theses and gave birth to a wave of theological reformation that resulted in the creation of the Protestant churches.
Other notable Reformers include John Calvin, John Knox and Huldrych Zwingli.
The Reformation also brought in major innovations, like Bibles translated from Latin or Greek into the languages people speak, and congregational hymn singing.
The Key Pillars
The key pillars to the Reformed tradition are:
- The Bible: the primacy of scripture interpreted with the aid of the Holy Spirit
- The Priesthood of all believers: a person can approach God directly without needing a Priest as mediator. Whoever is baptised is as close to God as it gets and a minister (=”servant”), serving God and the people. Therefore, ordained priests are not “holier” than others. Their task is a particular ministry; this is why they are called “Ministers of Word and Sacrament”.
- The Church: “ecclesia reformata semper reformanda” – the church is a reformed institution and always is in further need to be reformed.
- The Structure: Where in Roman Catholic tradition the pope is the head of church, followed by cardinals, then bishops, then priests and then the people of the congregations at the bottom of the ‘pyramid’, it is the other way round in the URC. The main decision-making body is the church meeting of all members, then come the Elders as church executive with ministers of word and sacrament; and all make greater decisions together at the area Synod and the national General Assembly.
