An investigation into the phenomena and practices of spiritual ...

We acknowledge the gifts and answer the call giving thanks for the means of grace. Thehighest authority for what we believe and do is God‘s word in the Bible alive for thepeople today through the help of the spirit. We respond to this Word, whose servants weare with God‘s people through the years. We accept with thanksgiving to god the witnessto the Catholic faith in the Apostles‘ and the Nicene creeds. We acknowledge thedeclarations made in our own traditions by Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Churchof Christ in which they stated the faith and sought to make its implications clear. Faithalive and active, gift of an eternal source, renewed for every generation. We conduct ourlife according to the basis of union in which we give expression of our faith in forms whichwe believe contains the essential elements of the Christ‘s life both catholic and reformed.‘(Jones 2002)The URC stand, in historic Reformed traditions, is one of the largest strands ofProtestantism with more than 7 million members worldwide. The church congregationswere attended by around 150,000 adults, 100,000 children and young adults in 1750congregations in England, Scotland and Wales. In 1972 the formal membership was192,000 and in 1985 it was 82,000. In 2007 the national membership was 73,503 in 1,619churches (URC Yearbook 2008). The numbers continue to fall and many churches have amembership with an average age of about 60 years. The number of ministers has alsoreduced considerably and one minister with responsibility for one church is becomingmore of an exception than the rule. The details of membership and ministers are notavailable in a similar written form for COGIC.127