United Reformed Church

The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers.

The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theological roots are distinctly Reformed and whose historical and organisational roots are in the Presbyterian traditions and Congregational traditions. Its Basis of Union contains a statement concerning the nature, faith and order of the United Reformed Church which sets out its beliefs in a condensed form.

The United Reformed Church resulted from the 1972 union of the Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church in England and Wales. In introducing the United Reformed Church Bill in the House of Commons on 21 June 1972, Alexander Lyon called it "one of the most historic measures in the history of the Christian churches in this country". About a quarter of English Congregational churches chose not to join the new denomination; in England, there are three main groups of continuing Congregationalists: the Congregational Federation, the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches and the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches.

The URC subsequently united with the Re-formed Association of Churches of Christ in 1981 and the Congregational Union of Scotland in 2000.

In 2007, a detailed report was submitted to the General Assembly exploring the church's position on same-sex relationships. In 2011, the URC allowed the blessing of same-sex unions. On 9 July 2016 the church formally voted by 240 votes to 21 in favour of allowing any local church to offer same-sex marriages, if it chooses to obtain a licence. In 2012, the URC voted to allow the blessing of same-sex civil partnerships.

Formed in an act of ecumenical union, the URC is committed to ecumenism. The denomination is a member of many ecumenical organisations, including Churches Together in England, Cytûn (Churches Together in Wales), the Enfys covenant, Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, the World Council of Churches, the Conference of European Churches, the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe, the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Council for World Mission.

In 1982, the URC voted in favour of a covenant with the Church of England, the Methodist Church and the Moravian Church, which would have meant remodelling its moderators as bishops and incorporating its ministry into the apostolic succession. However, the Church of England rejected the covenant.

The denominational archives of the United Reformed Church are held in the Congregational Library, housed at the Dr Williams's Library, in London, as are the archives of the Congregational Union of England and Wales. The papers of the Presbyterian Church of England are held at Westminster College, Cambridge. The papers of associated missionary societies (London Missionary Society, the Council for World Mission (Congregational), and the Foreign Missions Committee (Presbyterian)) are held by the Archives of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London.