TG2308 : Princes Street URC
taken 8 years ago, near to Norwich, Norfolk, England
The United Reformed Church has about 1500 churches and 46,000 members in Great Britain. They began when the English Presbyterian Church merged with the Congregational Churches of England and Wales in 1972. The Church of Christ joined in 1981 and the Scottish Congregationalists in 1982. Their own web site states that they “delight in the Bible, do not fear change and take everyone's insight and contribution seriously”.
Congregationalism is a Protestant movement within the Calvinist tradition. It occupies a theological position between Presbyterianism at one end and the Society of Friends at the other. Each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs. Some sources identify the English Separatist Robert Browne (1550–1633) as its founder. It spread to Holland and North America. Cromwell’s New Model Army was dominated by Congregationalists which meant that it was subjugated after the restoration. The Congregational Union of England and Wales was established in 1831 It had no authority over the affiliated churches, but instead aimed to advise and support them. In 1972, about three-quarters of English Congregational churches merged with the Presbyterian Church of England to form the United Reformed Church (URC). However, about 600 Congregational churches have continued in their historic independent tradition.