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The URC
Organisation
For
administration
purposes the
URC is organised into 13 Synods, each with a Synod Moderator.
The whole church meets together in a General
Assembly every
two years and elects two Moderators to serve the intervening
years. One Moderator being and an ordainded Minister and the
other a
Lay person.
Moderators
for 2010/11
are :- Mrs Val Morrison and the Revd Dr Kirsty
Thorpe
History
Martin
Luther
John
Calvin
The United Reformed
Church
was born
on 5th October 1972, with the uniting of the Presbyterian and
Congregational churches of England, two of the main
strands
of reform reaching back to Luther and Calvin.
Both churches arose
out of
the Reform
started by Martin Luther, a monk and theology Don at
Wittenburg University, when he nailed his Theses (
List of
complaints) to the door of Wittenborg Cathedral.
Luther
was not concerned about altering the shape of the church as long as the
church didn't come between a man and God. Calvin however
believed
that
the church needed drastic restructuring ( re-forming). He believed that
worship should be plain and simple. Every believer should be
able
to
understand the Bible and base their lives on it, and that every one had
a calling from God to serve him in their every day life.
The Churches of
Christ
joined
the
Union in 1981, followed by the Congregational Church of
Scotland in April 2000.
The URC therefore stands in
the
Reformed tradition of Christian faith, and believes in one
God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The
United Reformed Church finds the
supreme authority for faith, and conducted by the guidanceof the Spirit
in the Word of God in the Bible.
The Church practices
either
infant or
believers baptism and celebrates the Lord's supper.
The URC
also recognises the ministry
of all Gods people:- All the
members serving in the world
and through the church, in particular ministers of Word and
Sacrement,
Elders, Lay Preachers,
Church Related Community Workers, and workers from
partner churches.
NB
The above text is not a
Quote from either of our two Moderators.
For
further reading
see the followig sources :-
The United Reformed Church
............................
Kenneth Slack
Under God's Good
Hand.....................................David Cornick
