United Reformed Church
United and uniting churches · 1972 · Great Britain
England and Wales's 1972 Reformed union, later gathering the UK Churches of Christ (1981) and Scottish Congregationalists (2000); its own 2022 General Assembly reported about one-fifth of its formation membership remaining — stated on the node without editorializing.
United Reformed Church was formed in 1972. United Reformed Church continues today. United Reformed Church's institutional line runs back through Congregationalists, Church of England, Roman Catholicism to the post-apostolic church. No body on this tree is the assembly of Acts 2; where a body claims that, the claim appears in the claimed-lineage layer.
Between the post-apostolic church and United Reformed Church stand 3 divisions along the institutional line, counting separations and disputed forks, not mergers, renewals or national organizations.
At a glance
- Formed
- In 1972
- Region
- Great Britain
- Also known as
- URC
What it was organized out of
- Formed by union with Congregationalists, one of several constituents.
- Formed by union with Church of Scotland, one of several constituents.
- Formed by union with The Disciples (Campbell movement), one of several constituents. The UK Churches of Christ majority, 1981 — restorationist cross-link.
On the tree
Solid lines are separations and unions; dashed lines are renewals that began inside a body; dotted gray lines are national organizations of one communion; a diamond marks a fork event where neither side is drawn as the one that left. Every line runs back to the post-apostolic church; no body descends from the assembly of Acts 2. Dashed gray boxes mark the institutional line after the apostles, shown as departure; no line of descent is drawn from Pentecost. A verdict appears on a box once its section is published.
Adherents
About 44,000 adherents (official census, as of 2024).
Source: URC Year Book via Wikipedia (2024; ~1,250 congregations)
Sources
Research compiled July 2026. Page data built 2026-10-31.