1
The United Reformed Church Archive
1936-2010
Catalogued by Jennifer Delves, Archivist and Records Manager, 2010-2011
The United Reformed Church
Introduction / 2
Summary list / 7
Detailed list / 11
Appendix 1: General Assembly dates and locations / 355
Appendix 2: Uniting Assemblies / 356
Appendix 3: General Secretaries and Deputy General Secretaries / 356
Appendix 4: General Assembly Moderators / 357
The United Reformed Church (URC), 1936-2010
URC
Introduction
Introduction to the URC
The United Reformed Church was created in 1972 by the uniting of the Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church in England and Wales. The Reformed Association of Churches of Christ joined in 1981 and the Congregational Union of Scotland in 2000.
The URC is a Trinitarian church based in the United Kingdom. Its theological roots are Calvinist and its historical and organisational roots are in the Presbyterian, Congregational and Churches of Christ traditions. The Bible is taken to be its supreme authority together with certain historic statements of the United Reformed Church.
The United Reformed Church takes the name ‘Reformed’ in recognition of its roots in the Genevan Reformation of the 16th Century. It has a commitment to continual reformation in order to be a church for today as summed up in the traditional motto, "Reformans Semper Reformandans.” The URC is part of the worldwide family of reformed churches, "The World Communion of Reformed Churches," which has a membership of over 80 million.
The URC believes that all God’s people should be one and therefore seeks to work closely with Christians of all traditions and has united with a number of other churches.
In 2010 the United Reformed Church had approximately sixty-eight thousand members, nearly 700 ministers and 1500 congregations.
As with all organisations, the structure of the URC and the titles, functions, format, and even existence of its governing bodies, committees and sub-committees have changed over time and will continue to do so. This is reflected throughout the catalogue.
Key dates:
1972: United Reformed Church formed by a union of the Presbyterian Church of England and the majority of churches in the Congregational Church in England and Wales
1981: The Reformed Association of Churches of Christ unites with the URC
2000: The URC and the Congregational Union of Scotland unite
For further information see the URC’s website and the ‘related materials’ section below.
Description
This collection consists of the records of the national United Reformed Church from its foundation in 1972 (although it contains some records created prior to this date). Records of the URC’s regional administrative divisions e.g. synods and local churches including baptismal, confirmation and marriage records are found elsewhere (see ‘related materials’ below).
Acquisition details
The initial deposit of the URC archive was made to the Congregational Library in 2011 by the URC’s archivist and records manager, Jennifer Delves. All records over 15 years old shall be transferred to the Congregational Library at five year intervals unless they continue to be required for operational purposes by the URC. Where records continue to be held for work purposes by the URC researchers may notice gaps in the content of the archive. Please contact the URC’s records manager (contact details can be found on the URC website) about the possibility of accessing these records.
Arrangement
This collection has been arranged in such a way so as to best reflect the activities of the URC. The papers are arranged by function rather than organisational structure as function is the more stable of the two.
The collection has thus been divided into six sections as follows:
A. Governance
B. Ministers and Ministry
C. Activities
D. Union
E. Facilitative functions and resources
F. Publications
Abbreviations
The following is a list of abbreviations used in the catalogue and in the documents themselves. However, where possible the full term is used in the catalogue with the exception of the ‘United Reformed Church’ (‘URC’), ‘Fellowship of United Reformed Youth’ (‘FURY’) and ‘General Assembly of the URC’ (‘GA’ or ‘Assembly’).
Abbreviation / Full termACC / Asian Christian Church
ACTS / Action of Churches Together in Scotland
AGOGAL / Advisory Group on Grants and Loans
BCC / British Council of Churches
c.year / Within 5 years either side of this year
CCBI / Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland
CCOM / Churches' Commission on Mission
CCOS / Churches Commission on Overseas Students
CEC / Conference of European Churches
CETYCW / Council for Education and Training in Youth and Community Work
CIM / Churches Information for Mission
CMC / Churches Main Committee
CMC (CRCW) / Central Management Committee (CRCW)
CME / Continuing Ministerial Education Subcommittee
CRCW / Church Related Community Worker/ Work
CRE / Commission for Racial Equality
CTE / Churches Together in England
CWM / Council for World Mission
CWMC / Community of Women and Men in the Church
DES / Department of Education and Science
DfEE / Department For Education and Employment
DfES / Department for Education and Skills
DSW / Discipleship, Stewardship and Witness
DYS / District Youth Secretary/ Secretaries
EECCS / European Ecumenical Commission for Church and Society
EECOD / European Ecumenical Organisation for Development
EKP / Evangelical Kirche der Pfalz
EPURC / Employment practise in the URC
FoF / Friends of FURY
FURY / Fellowship of United Reformed Youth
GA/ Assembly / General Assembly of the URC
GEAR / Group for Evangelism and Renewal
IDWAL / Inter-diocesan West African Links
IESC / International Exchange subcommittee
GEAR / Group for Evangelism and Renewal
JPIC / Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation
LEAD / Love Equality And Dignity
LEP / Local Ecumenical Partnership
LMS / London Missionary Society
MES / Ministry in Ecumenical Situations
MEW / Mission and Ecumenical Work at Home
MOM / Maintenance of the Ministry
NCVYS / National Council for Voluntary Youth Services
n.d. / No date given
NFP / New FURY Project
NSBP / Not strangers but Pilgrims
NYCTO / National Youth and Children’s Training Officer
OESC / Overseas Exchange subcommittee
PCK / The Presbyterian Church of Korea
POM / Patterns of Ministry
PROK / The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea
PYS / Provincial Youth Secretary/ Secretaries
RPAG / Resource Planning Advisory Group
SCC / Scottish Congregational Church
SCIFU / Scottish Church Initiative for Union
SCWE / Scottish Churches World Exchange
SDRG / Sexuality Debate Response Group
SOAS / School of African and Oriental Studies
SPIN / Sharing People in Network
TLS / Training for Learning and Serving
URC / United Reformed Church
UWI / Union of Welsh Independents
URC / United Reformed Church
URCGSF / URC Guides and Scouts Fellowship
WARC / World Alliance of Reformed Churches
WCC / World Council of Churches
WCM / World Church & Mission
WDYT / What Do You Think
WISCC / Whitefield International Student Chaplaincy Centre
Y&CW / Youth and Children’s Work
YLTO / Youth Leadership Training Officers
Appraisal
Throughout this catalogue coherent files have been treated as such and original file titles have been indicated in single inverted commas. All other titles have been assigned by the archivist.
Access status
Certain restrictions apply and are noted at item level.
Access conditions
The majority of papers in this collection are available for study subject to the rules and conditions of the Congregational Library. Material under fifteen years old may remain closed until it reaches this age. Due to their potentially sensitive nature ministers’ files will remain closed for thirty years after the death of the minister and files relating to the discipline of ministers will remain closed for fifty years after the death of the relevant minister.
Reproduction conditions
Copies of records may be supplied to researchers without further reference to the URC for use in private study, subject to current copyright legislation and provided that the copying process will not damage the document.
Copyright
Copyright of most of the material in this collection is held by the United Reformed Church. The Library will, if appropriate, give consent on behalf of the URC for the publication of the whole or part of any copyright work among the records that is in the copyright of the URC. The Library will advise users that they may, to the extent permitted by copyright law, use or quote from any work among the records that is in copyright which is the property of a third party.
Language
English
Small amount of French, German and Italian
Related material
Other records of the URC
Records of the URC synods (regional bodies) are held by those bodies (contact details can be found on the URC website). Records of local churches including baptismal, confirmation and marriage records are held either by those churches or will have been deposited in the church’s local record office.
Other archive material
§ The archives of the Congregational Union of England and Wales (later the Congregational Church in England and Wales) are also held at Dr Williams’s Library.
§ The archive of the Presbyterian Church in England is held at Westminster College, Cambridge (Westminster College, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0AA).
§ The records of the Churches of Christ (also known as the Disciples of Christ) are also at Westminster College, Cambridge (address above).
§ The archive of the Council for World Mission (CWM), formerly the London Missionary Society is held by the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) as are the records of Presbyterian and Churches or Christ missionary activity (The Library, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG).
§ The archive of St Andrew’s Hall, Selly Oak College is held by Birmingham University (Special Collections, Cadbury Research Library, Muirhead Tower, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT)
Further information
The United Reformed Church History Society (Westminster College, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0AA) can advise on published sources of information about the history of the URC.
Extent
2030 files
Box numbers
URC 1-261
URC A-Q
Cataloguing details
Catalogued by Jennifer Delves, Archivist and Records Manager, 2010-2011.
Summary list
The arrangement by section is as follows:
PageA. Governance / 11
A/a URC Trust / 12
A/b Governing bodies/ committees / 12
A/b/1 Executive Committee / 13
A/b/2 General Assembly / 13
A/b/2/1 Audio and visual recordings / 13
A/b/2/2 Working papers and correspondence / 16
A/b/2/3 Resources and publications / 17
A/b/3 Mission Council / 18
A/b/4 Committees involved in key decision making about the governance, organisation and structure of the URC / 19
A/c Personnel / 25
A/c/1 General Secretary / 25
A/c/2 Deputy General Secretary / 25
A/c/3 Assembly Moderators / 25
A/c/4 Synod Moderators / 26
A/d Legal / 26
A/d/1 Documents / 27
A/d/2 Advice / 27
B. Ministers and Ministry / 28
B/a Assembly Committees / 28
B/b Roll of Ministers / 45
B/c Special Category Ministries / 46
B/d CRCW / 50
B/d/1 Working papers, publications, correspondence / 51
B/d/2 CRCW projects / 53
B/e Education / 57
B/e/ 1 Relationship with training colleges / 58
B/e/2 Students / 61
B/e/3 Training courses, training development and review / 64
B/e/4 Other / 65
B/f Ministerial welfare and discipline / 66
B/g Multi-cultural ministries / 66
B/g/1 Chinese Ministry / 66
B/g/2 Nigerian Ministry / 69
B/g/3 Ghanaian Ministry – Ghanaian Chaplaincy and Ghanaian Union / 69
B/g/3/1 Ghanaian Chaplaincy minutes and agendas / 70
B/g/3/2 Ghanaian Chaplaincy reports / 71
B/g/3/3 Ghanaian Chaplaincy correspondence and papers / 71
B/g/3/4 Ghanaian Union / 81
B/h Publications and resources / 83
B/i Miscellaneous / 87
C. Activities / 89
C/a Assembly Committees (excluding young people committees) / 89
C/b Young People / 97
C/b/1 Committees / 98
C/b/2 Children, youth & Pilots joint activities / 107
C/b/2/1 Resources/ publications / 107
C/b/2/2 Activities / 108
C/b/2/3 Other / 108
C/b/3 Youth/ FURY / 109
C/b/3/1 Publications and resources / 110
C/b/3/2 Activities / 113
C/b/3/3 FURY Assembly / 116
C/b/3/4 Other / 117
C/b/4 Pilots post-1972 / 120
C/b/4/1 Resources and publications / 120
C/b/4/2 Activities / 126
C/b/4/3 Companies / 127
C/b/4/4 Other / 129
C/b/5 Pilots pre-1972 / 130
C/b/6 Child Protection / 134
C/b/7 Grants and funding / 135
C/b/7/1 Department of Education and Science (DES) funding / 135
C/b/7/2 Grants for National Voluntary Youth Organisations 1999-2002 / 136
C/b/7/3 Grants for National Voluntary Youth Organisations 2002-2005 / 139
C/b/8 Personnel / 141
C/b/9 Uniformed Organisations / 144
C/b/10 Ginger Group / 144
C/b/11 Children / 145
C/b/11/1 Publications and resources / 145
C/b/11/2 Other / 146
C/c Projects and Campaigns / 148
C/c/1 Patterns of Ministry (POM) / 148
C/c/2 Future Patterns of Ministry / 158
C/c/3 Catch the Vision / 160
C/c/4 Human Sexuality / 166
C/c/4/1 1991 report on sexuality / 167
C/c/4/2 1999 Report on Human Sexuality / 168
C/c/5 Women in the URC (including SPIN) / 186
C/c/7 Employment Practice in the United Reformed Church (EPURC) / 189
C/c/8 "A Study of Organisational Growth and Development of the Congregational, Presbyterian and United Reformed Churches" / 190
C/d Ecumenical relations (UK) / 191
C/d/1 Discussions with other UK churches / 191
C/d/2 Involvement with ecumenical bodies and other churches including General Secretary's correspondence with these bodies and churches / 198
C/d/3 General Activities / 201
C/e Community & Society / 204
C/e/1 URC Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Group (JPIC) / 204
C/e/2 Urban, rural and industrial work / 206
C/e/3 Committee for Health and Healing / 208
C/e/4 Housing / 211
C/e/5 Environment / 211
C/e/6 Economics / 212
C/e/7 Education / 213
C/e/8 Peace / 213
C/e/9 Other activities / 213
C/e/10 Employment / 217
C/e/11 Aging / 217
C/d/12 Assisted dying / 218
C/f Multi-cultural/ multi-faith / 218
C/f/1 Consultations, dialogues and discussions with and on other faiths / 218
C/f/2 Racial justice / 221
C/f/3 General / 221
C/g Theology & worship / 222
C/h International / 226
C/h/1 Involvement with international churches including General Secretary’s correspondence with these churches / 226
C/h/2 Involvement with international ecumenical bodies including General Secretary’s correspondence with these bodies and URC’s involvement with Europe / 239
C/h/3 Commitment for Life / 243
C/h/4 General international activities / 246
C/i Other Activities / 248
C/i/1 Holiday Forum / 248
C/i/2 The Millennium / 249
C/i/3 Colloque Franco-Britanique / 249
C/i/4 URC Waldensian Fellowship / 251
D. Union / 258
D/a 1972: The Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church in England and Wales / 258
D/b 1981: Churches of Christ / 280
D/c 2000: Congregational Union of Scotland / 283
D/d 1978-1982: Churches Council for Covenanting / 288
D/e Admission/ secession of individual churches / 294
E. Facilitative functions and resources / 299
E/a Finance and pensions / 299
E/a/1 Committees / 299
E/a/2 Papers and correspondence / 307
E/b Property / 307
E/b/1 URC Housing Association Ltd / 308
E/b/2 Windermere Centre / 309
E/b/3 Yardley Hastings (National Youth Resource Centre) / 310
E/b/4 Church House / 312
E/b/5 Other / 313
E/c Archive and history / 313
E/d Human resources / 314
E/e Communications and public relations / 314
F. Publications / 315
F/a Reform magazine / 315
F/a/1 Reform working papers and correspondence / 315
F/a/2 Reform photographs / 316
F/b Other / 348
F/c URC Manual / 348
F/c/1 Working papers and correspondence / 349
F/d Reformed Quarterly / 349
F/e URC Hymnbook / 349
F/e/1 Working papers and correspondence / 350
F/e/2 Committee minutes and papers / 350
F/f URC Prayer handbook / 351
F/h URC leaflets and booklets / 351
Detailed list