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Unity Negotiations With The Scottish Congregational Church
The text of a presentation to the URC's Mission Council on current discussions for a union with the Congregational Union of Scotland, by the Revd Stephen Orchard.
The Revd Stephen Orchard (above), leader of the URC's negotiating team.
When the new round of conversations between the URC and Scottish Congregationalists began in 1996 I found myself the sole URC survivor from those of a decade earlier. It was good to renew friendship with many of those with whom those earlier negotiations had taken place. Although we began by using the abortive 1988 scheme as a basis we soon realized that the world had moved on and that what we needed in 1998 would have to reflect different priorities.
After the failure of the earlier scheme Scottish Congregationalism had been through a profound change. It had recognized that, like the former Congregational Union of England and Wales, it was a coalition of those who were basically Independent or Separatist in their ecclesiology and those who had a conciliar view of the church, with various shades of opinion between the two extremes. The Congregational Union of Scotland had voted to form, with the Scottish Congregational College and the Women's Union, a new Scottish Congregational Church, embodying ideas of common action and mutual accountability. Some congregations had felt this to be a step too far and had resigned their membership, mostly to affiliate to the Congregational Federation. Although it is the congregations committed to the idea of a Scottish Congregational Church with whom the negotiations have been carried forward the actual union proposed will be between the URC and the Congregational Union of Scotland (CUS).
If all the present congregations of the CUS vote to join the new church then, together with the existing URC congregations in Scotland, there will be some 65 local churches, mostly in the central belt of Scotland, but also scattered through the Borders, the West and the North. In this respect it will constitute a small component within the total membership of the new Church. However, drawing on our existing experience in Wales, it is proposed that the local churches in Scotland constitute a National Synod. The existing URC will lose its tag ‘in the United Kingdom’ and will be composed of the regional synods in England and the national synods of Scotland and Wales, all components of the new United Reformed Church. The creation of national synods reflects the changing political situation as well as the traditional cultural identities. It will also assist any future church unions on national lines in either England, Scotland or Wales. In arriving at these proposals the negotiating group found no fundamental differences over doctrine or ecclesiology. We were aware of the existence of kindred local churches in all three countries who are looking for conciliar support and the opportunity to play their part within a larger whole representing the catholicity of the Church. Given these understanding the negotiators have asked the united church to make some allowance for terminology. The office of elder is unchanged from the existing URC understanding but local churches in Scotland will have the option to retain their existing titles for office holders who fulfil that function. Many Scottish Congregational churches already have officers called elders, who will assume the office as understood in the URC. Elsewhere the office will be filled but we are asked to allow for local sensitivity until we can fill the word ‘elder’ with new meaning. In Scotland we will also have ‘area’ rather than ‘district’ councils, although the functions will be universally those of present District Councils in the URC. This is to allow for a recent change from districts to areas in the Scottish Congregational Church.
There are no legal or financial problems in the way of union which cannot be overcome. The major expense will be in promoting a private parliamentary bill to secure the legality of the continuing trusts. There are also exceptional capital expenses in closing the gap between the existing Churches' provision for retired ministers' housing. The normal revenue in Scotland is expected to sustain the life of the Synod and make an adequate contribution to central funds.
In summary, the proposal is to unite the Congregational Union of Scotland and the United Reformed Church in the United Kingdom in a single body to be known as the United Reformed Church. The new URC will adopt a Basis of Union which is in all essentials the same as the present one. The conditions of service for ministers in both denominations will be protected and possibly improved. If approval is given at the Assemblies of both denominations in 1998 then confirmation in 1999 would be followed by a Uniting Assembly in Scotland.
Copyright © 1998, United Reformed Church
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