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B > The structure of the URC
1.(1) Members of the United Reformed Church associated in a locality for worship witness and service shall together comprise a local church. Since the proper functioning of the local church is so fundamental to the life of the United Reformed Church, where there is a number of small congregations in proximity to one another unable separately to provide leadership and resources for the work of the church, such congregations shall consult with the district council to formulate an acceptable scheme for joining together with a single membership, a common church meeting and elders' meeting, representative of all the constituent congregations, and a shared ministry.
1.(2)(a) The United Reformed Church in England shall be divided into provinces, each having a synod. In Wales and in Scotland, in recognition of the different status of these nations there shall in each case be a single synod to be known as a national synod. The expression "Provincial Synod" when used in the United Reformed Church Acts of 1972 and 1981 shall in relation to property in Wales be read as referring to the national Synod of Wales. In England and Wales each synod shall be divided into districts or areas of ecumenical co-operation; in Scotland the synod shall be divided into areas or areas of ecumenical co-operation. Each such division shall comprise the geographical area from time to time assigned to it by the General Assembly or by a synod under Synod Function (ii).
1.(2)(b) Throughout this statement of the Structure of the United Reformed Church references to district councils shall be understood to include area councils in Scotland, such area councils being in every respect identical with district councils and wherever the words 'district council' or 'district' appear they shall be read as meaning 'area council' or 'area' in respect of Scotland. References to 'Provincial Moderators' shall be read as meaning 'Moderators of Synods' in respect of Scotland and Wales.
1.(3) The oversight of the United Reformed Church shall be the concern both of the local church and wider representative councils. The councils of the United Reformed Church shall be: (a) the church meeting and the elders' meeting of each local church;
(b) the council of each district to be known as a district council and of each area of ecumenical cooperation to be known as an area meeting;
(c) the synod of province or nation to be known as a provincial or national synod; and
(d) the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church.
These four parts of the structure of the United Reformed Church shall have such consultative, legislative and executive functions as are hereinafter respectively assigned to each of them and each shall be recognised by members of the United Reformed Church as possessing such authority, under the Word of God and the promised guidance of the Holy Spirit, as shall enable it to exercise its functions and thereby to minister in that sphere of the life of the United Reformed Church with which it is concerned.
The Composition and Functions of the Councils of the United Reformed Church
2.(1) The Church Meeting of the local church shall consist of those persons who have been admitted to the full privileges and responsibilities of membership of the United Reformed Church and whose names are included on the membership roll of such local church. The church meeting may invite other persons who regularly worship with the local church but whose names are not on the membership roll to attend and speak at its meetings on particular occasions but no such person shall have the right to vote. In the church meeting which shall meet at least once a quarter and at which the minister or one of the ministers shall normally preside, the members have opportunity through discussion, responsible decision and care for one another, to strengthen each other's faith and to foster the life, work and mission of the Church.
Functions:
Concerning the outgoing of the Church: (i) to further the Church's mission in the locality;
(ii) to develop local ecumenical relationships;
(iii) to further the Church's compassionate ministry in the locality and throughout the world;
(iv) to consider and support the wider work of the Church at home and abroad;
(v) to consider public questions in relation to the Christian faith;
(vi) to bring concerns for consideration by the elders' meeting and wider councils of the church.
Concerning the nurture of the fellowship: (vii) to call a minister with the concurrence of the district council(s) concerned (see paragraph 2 (3) (ii));
(viii) to elect elders and officers, determining their number and period of service, and representatives to wider councils;
(ix) to admit and transfer members, to maintain standards of membership, and to suspend or remove names from the membership roll, always on advice from the elders' meeting;
(x) to consider, always on advice from the elders' meeting, any application for recognition as a candidate for the ministry and to transmit it, if approved, to the district council;
(xi) to adopt financial reports;
(xii) to receive reports and proposals from the elders' meeting, district council, synod and General Assembly and to authorise appropriate action;
(xiii) on the recommendation of the elders' meeting to make or provide for the making of arrangements for the proper maintenance of buildings and the general oversight of all the financial responsibilities of the local church.
And generally:
(xiv) to do such other things as may be necessary in pursuance of its responsibility for the common life of the Church.
2.(2) The Elders' Meeting of the local church shall consist of the minister(s) and the elders elected by the church meeting of such local church and shall exercise oversight of the spiritual life of the local church. The elders' meeting shall serve the local church and by its relation to the wider councils of the United Reformed Church represent the whole Church to the local church. The minister, or one of the ministers, or during a pastoral vacancy the interim moderator appointed as hereinafter provided, shall normally preside over the elders' meeting.
Functions:
(i) to foster in the congregation concern for witness and service to the community, evangelism at home and abroad, Christian education, ecumenical action, local inter-church relations and the wider responsibilities of the whole Church;
(ii) to see that public worship is regularly offered and the sacraments are duly administered, and generally to promote the welfare of the congregation;
(iii) to ensure pastoral care of the congregation, in which the minister is joined by elders having particular responsibility for groups of members;
(iv) to nominate from among its members a church secretary (or secretaries), to be elected by the church meeting, to serve both the church meeting and the elders' meeting;
(v) to arrange for pulpit supply in a vacancy;
(vi) to keep the roll of members (see paragraph 2 (1)) and (as an aid to the discharge of the congregation's pastoral and evangelistic responsibility) lists of names of adherents and children attached to the congregation, and in consultation with the church meeting to maintain standards of membership and to advise on the admission of members on profession of faith and by transfer, on the suspension of members, and on the removal of names from the roll;
(vii) to be responsible for the institution and oversight of work among children and young people and of all organisations within the congregation;
(viii) to call for the election of elders and advise on the number required;
(ix) to consider the suitability of any applicant for recognition as a candidate for the ministry and to advise the church meeting about its recommendation to the district council;
(x) to recommend to the church meeting arrangements for the proper maintenance of buildings and the general oversight of all the financial responsibilities of the local church;
(xi) to act on behalf of the church meeting and bring concerns to the wider councils of the United Reformed Church;
(xii) to do such other things as may be necessary in pursuance of its responsibility for the common life of the Church.
2.(3) The district council of each district being representative of the local churches in that district grouped together for the purpose of fellowship, support, intimate mutual oversight and united action shall consist of:
(a) All ministers, registered pastors (in Scotland) and church-related community workers engaged directly in the service of the United Reformed Church within that district, and Assembly appointed ministers who are members of a local church in that district;
(b) Such other ministers, registered pastors (in Scotland) and church related community workers as shall from time to time be appointed by the synod as hereinafter provided;
(c) Representatives of local churches within the district who shall normally be members of the elders' meeting of a local church and who shall be appointed by the church meeting of such local church, the number of such representatives to be decided by the synod, according to the needs of each district and in consultation with the district councils, provided that the range for each church shall be from one to three;
(where a local church, whether a local ecumenical partnership or a local church organised according to the second sentence of para 1(1) comprises two or more congregations worshipping in separate locations, the synod may, on the advice of the district council, authorise that local church to appoint representatives to the district council from each constituent congregation to such numbers as would be permitted by the above rule if each congregation were a separate local church.) (d) The moderator of the synod for the time being;
(e) Such members of local churches, normally elders, not exceeding twelve (or such other number as the General Assembly may from time to time determine) as may be co-opted by the district council;
(f) A retired minister, who has been appointed by the district council as an officer of the council, or as an interim moderator, for the period of the appointment shall be a full member of the district council;
(g) All other ministers who do not fall into any of the categories (a), (b) and (f) above in that or any other district but who are resident in the district who shall be associate members of the council having the right to speak but not to vote at meetings of the council, except moderators of synods, who are members of each district council in the province or nation served by that synod and responsible to the General Assembly;
(h) Two young people, being members of the United Reformed Church, nominated by the district youth forum, committee or equivalent;
(i) Representatives, not exceeding the number approved by the General Assembly, of other denominations in the district as the council may from time to time determine;
(j) An elder appointed by the district council as an interim moderator who shall be a full member of the district council for the period of the appointment.
The district council shall elect from among its members a president, (who shall perform the functions defined as applicable to the chairman in the United Reformed Church Acts 1972, 1981 and 2000) secretary and treasurer and such other officers as the council shall from time to time think desirable and shall determine their periods of service. It may also appoint such committees and for such purposes as it from time to time may think desirable and may appoint to any such committee any members of the United Reformed Church notwithstanding that they are not members of the council.
The United Reformed Church membership of the area meeting in each area of ecumenical co-operation (hereinafter referred to as the United Reformed Church Committee) shall consist of the moderator of synod, all ministers, deaconesses and registered pastors (in Scotland) engaged directly in the service of the United Reformed Church within the area, representatives of local churches within the area, and such other persons as determined by the constitution of each area meeting as approved by resolution of the synod.
Functions:
(A) The district council is responsible for exercising the following Functions (subject to the restriction referred to in Paragraph (B) below):
(i) to exercise oversight of all ministers falling within any of the categories 2(3)(a), (b), (f) and (g) except moderators of synods who are members of each district council in the province or nation and are responsible to the General Assembly;
(ii) to give (or, where deep pastoral concern for the church requires it, to withhold) concurrence in calls to ministers and, with the moderator of the synod or the moderator's deputy presiding, to conduct, in fellowship with the local church, any ordinations and/or inductions of ministers within the district;
(iii) to appoint, or to concur in the appointment of, non-stipendiary ministers and church-related community workers to their particular service and to review this service at stated intervals;
(iv) to appoint, in consultation with the local church and the moderator of the synod, an interim moderator during a pastoral vacancy, such interim moderator normally being a serving minister or a retired minister. In exceptional circumstances an elder may be appointed;
(v) to care for all the churches of the district council, and to visit them by deputies at regular intervals for consultation concerning their life and work;
(vi) to consider on the recommendation of local churches applications for recognition as candidates for the ministry and to transmit them, if approved, to the synod for decision; (vii) to accredit lay preachers and, in consultation with the local churches concerned and the moderator of the synod, to give authority for appropriate lay persons to preside at the sacraments;
(viii) to consider resignations of ministers not currently subject to any case within the Section O Process for Ministerial Discipline referred to in Function (xviii) below and, in consultation with the moderator of the synod, to decide upon appropriate action (see also paragraphs 2.4.viii and 2.5.xviii);
(ix) to appoint from time to time such number of representatives to the General Assembly (ministerial and lay in equal numbers) as the General Assembly shall determine. This shall include, when possible, a representative under the age of 26. As far as possible all appointments shall be made in rotation from local churches within its district;
(x) to engage in study concerning the Church's mission in the region and to encourage in the local churches concern for youth work and social service and a sense of responsibility for the wider work of the Church at home and abroad;
(xi) to promote church extension within the area and to submit proposals to the synod for the establishing of new causes and the recognition of mission projects;
(xii) to make recommendations to the synod in consultation with the churches concerned and to act on behalf of the synod in consultation with the moderator on all matters regarding the grouping, amalgamation or dissolution of local churches;
(xiii) to make recommendations to the synod in consultation with the churches concerned and to act on behalf of the synod on all matters regarding erection, major reconstruction or disposal of buildings;
(xiv) to provide a forum for concerns brought forward by local churches and to advise thereon;
(xv) to hear and make decisions upon appeals brought forward by local churches and church members;
(xvi) to take appropriate action on matters referred to the council by the synod or General Assembly, and to initiate or transmit proposals for consideration by those bodies;
(xvii) to maintain contact with ecumenical and missionary work in the area;
(xviii) where the District Council, acting through its Mandated Group as defined in the Disciplinary Process referred to below, considers that a Minister is or may not be exercising his/her Ministry in accordance with Paragraph 2 of Schedule E to the Basis of Union, to refer the case of that Minister to the Commission Stage of the Disciplinary Process contained in Section O of the Manual of the United Reformed Church and in every such case to suspend the Minister concerned pending the resolution of the matter under that Process (for the avoidance of doubt the calling in of the Mandated Group under that Process in order to fulfil its responsibilities marking the commencement of the Disciplinary Process);
(xix) to make recommendations to the synod for appointment to service on district council of:
(I) United Reformed Church ministers/lay people serving as (a) full-time chaplains to universities, colleges, hospitals, factories, where their work is seen to be an extension of the ministry of the district concerned, (b) secretaries and other full-time officials of ecumenical bodies with which the United Reformed Church is in relationship; (II) United Reformed Church ministers giving significant oversight to local churches, under the general direction of the council concerned; (III) Ministers of other churches appointed to serve on behalf of the United Reformed Church in charge of a United Reformed Church or in an ecumenical group including United Reformed Church interests; (IV) Ministers not in pastoral charge who perform duties within the district in respect of which the council has some direct responsibility; (xx) to do such others things as may be necessary in pursuance of its responsibility for the common life of the church.
(B) Once the Disciplinary Process has commenced in the case of any Minister, whether by the District Council or by one of the other Councils of the Church, the District Council shall not exercise its functions in respect of that Minister (save only in the provision of such pastoral care as may be appropriate) until the Process has been duly concluded.
(C) No appeal shall lie against the decision by a District Council to initiate the Disciplinary Process in respect of any Minister under Function (xviii) above.
(D) All the Functions set out in Paragraph (A) above describe also the functions of area meetings, always understanding that such functions as relate solely to the work of the United Reformed Church may be discharged by the United Reformed Church Committee of each area meeting. In this statement of the Structure of the United Reformed Church wherever the words 'district council' occur they shall be read as meaning 'area meeting’ in respect of those places where an area meeting has been duly established.
2.(4) The Synod being representative of the local churches and district councils in that province or nation united for the purpose of dealing with matters of wider concern shall consist of:
(a) All ministers, registered pastors (in Scotland) and church related community workers who are for the time being members of district councils within the province or nation;
(b) All missionaries of the United Reformed Church for the time being on furlough and for the time being resident within the province or nation;
(c) Representatives of local churches within the province or nation who shall normally be members of the elders' meeting of a local church and who shall be appointed by the church meeting of such local church, the number of such representatives to be: 1-200 members, one representative; over 200 members, 2 representatives;
(where a local church, whether a local ecumenical partnership or a local church organised according to the second sentence of paragraph 1.(1), comprises two or more congregations worshipping in separate locations, the synod may, on the advice of the district council, authorise that local church to appoint representatives to the synod from each constituent congregation to such numbers as would be permitted by the above rule if each congregation were a separate local church);
(d) The president, secretary and treasurer, for the time being, of each district council within the province or nation;
(e) Such members of local churches, normally elders, not exceeding twelve (or such other number as the General Assembly may from time to time determine) as may be co-opted by the synod;
(f) Such members as shall from time to time be appointed by the General Assembly;
(g) Such retired ministers who have been appointed by the synod as officers of the synod, for the period of their appointment;
(h) All retired ministers not covered by clause 2.4a or 2.4g residing within the province or nation served by the synod, who shall be associate members of the synod having the right to speak but not to vote at meetings of the synod;
(i) Two young people, being members of the United Reformed Church, nominated by the synods youth forum, committee or equivalent;
(j) Representatives, not exceeding the number approved by the General Assembly, of other denominations as the synod may from time to time determine;
(k) An elder appointed by the district council as an interim moderator who shall be a full member of the synod for the period of the appointment.
The synod shall elect from among its members a clerk, a treasurer and such other officers as it shall from time to time think desirable and shall determine their periods of service. It may also appoint such committees and for such purposes as it from time to time may think desirable and may appoint to any such committee any members of the United Reformed Church notwithstanding that they are not members of the synod. Moderators of synods There shall be a moderator for each synod being a minister appointed from time to time by the General Assembly according to its rules of procedure and responsible to the General Assembly.
The moderator shall:
- be separated from any local pastoral charge,
- stimulate and encourage the work of the United Reformed Church within the province or nation,
- preside over the meetings of the synod and exercise a pastoral office towards the ministers and churches within the province or nation,
- suggest names of ministers to vacant pastorates, in consultation with interim moderators of local churches,
- preside, or appoint a deputy to preside, at all ordinations and/or inductions of ministers within the province or nation,
- participate with each district council in the province or nation, being a member of each such council, in the discharge of its responsibilities and in particular in the oversight of local churches and ministers.
The moderators of the synods shall meet together at regular intervals for the better discharge of their duties.
Functions of synod:
A. The Synod is responsible for exercising the following Functions (subject to the restriction referred to in Paragraph (B) below):
(i) to take such action as it deems conducive to the propagation of the Gospel at home and abroad, the welfare of the United Reformed Church, the interests of the Church of Christ as a whole, and the well-being of the community in which the Church is placed;
(ii) to have oversight of the district councils and in consultation with the district councils and local churches concerned to determine the boundaries and number of district councils within the province or nation. All such changes shall be reported to the General Assembly;
(iii) to promote church extension within the province or nation and decide upon proposals submitted by district councils for the establishment of new causes and the recognition of mission projects;
(iv) to receive and decide upon recommendations from the district councils on all matters regarding the grouping, amalgamation or dissolution of local churches and the erection, major reconstruction or disposal of buildings;
(v) to receive and decide upon applications for recognition as candidates for the ministry, which have been previously considered and transmitted by district councils;
(vi) to give oversight to candidates for the ministry and to candidates for any form of full-time service in the Church at home and abroad, and, in the case of candidates for the ministry, determine their eligibility for a call;
(vii) to receive and forward with a recommendation through the moderator of the synod to the General Assembly applications for admission into the United Reformed Church from ministers, probationers or congregations;
(viii) to consider questions regarding inclusion on the Roll of Ministers of the United Reformed Church and make recommendations thereon to the General Assembly (but excluding consideration of any matter which is being dealt with in accordance with the Disciplinary Process referred to in Function (xv) below);
(ix) to deal with reports of committees of the General Assembly;
(x) to examine matters sent to it from district councils or the General Assembly;
(xi) to make proposals to and raise concerns for consideration by the General Assembly;
(xii) to foster ecumenical relations and action, and in Scotland and Wales to undertake responsibility for national ecumenical relationships on behalf of the whole United Reformed Church, subject to the final authority of the General Assembly;
(xiii) to receive and decide upon references and appeals duly submitted;
(xiv) in the absence of any reference into the Disciplinary Process by the appropriate District Council and where the Synod, acting through its Mandated Group as defined in the Disciplinary Process referred to below, considers that a Minster is or may not be exercising his/her ministry in accordance with Paragraph 2 of Schedule E to the Basis of Union, to refer the case of that Minister to the Commission Stage of the Disciplinary Process contained in Section O of the Manual of the United Reformed Church and in every such case to suspend the Minister concerned pending the resolution of the matter under that Process (for the avoidance of doubt the calling in of the Mandated Group under that Process in order to fulfil its responsibilities marking the commencement of the Disciplinary Process);
(xv) to appoint at its discretion additional members to serve on district councils in accordance with recommendations made by such councils under the provisions of paragraph 2.3.xix above;
(xvi) to do such other things as may be necessary in pursuance of its responsibility for the common life of the church.
(B) Once the Disciplinary Process has commenced in the case of any Minister with the calling in of the Mandated Group under that Process, whether by the Synod or by one of the other Councils of the Church, the Synod shall not exercise its functions in respect of that Minister (save only in the provision of such pastoral care as may be appropriate) until the Process has been duly concluded.
(C) No appeal shall lie against the decision by a Synod to initiate the Disciplinary Process in respect of any Minister under Function (xiv) above.
2.(5) The General Assembly which shall embody the unity of the United Reformed Church and act as the central organ of its life and the final authority, under the Word of God and the promised guidance of the Holy Spirit, in all matters of doctrine and order and in all other concerns of its common life shall consist of:
(a) Such number of representatives of district councils (ministerial and lay in equal numbers) as the General Assembly shall from time to time determine (at present one representative per eight churches or part thereof plus one per 800 church members or part thereof, with an adjustment to add one in the case of each district if necessary to secure an even number of representatives);
(b) The moderators of the General Assembly and of the synods and such other officers of the General Assembly and of the synods as the General Assembly shall from time to time determine (The Assembly has determined that Clerks of Synods, Treasurers of Synods, the Clerk of Assembly, the General Secretary and the Deputy General Secretary shall be members of Assembly);
(c) The convener of each of the standing committees of the General Assembly;
(d) A staff representative and a student representative, being members of the United Reformed Church, from each of such recognised theological colleges as the General Assembly shall from time to time determine;
(e) Up to twelve representatives from the partner churches of the United Reformed Church outside of Britain and Ireland or such other number as the Assembly shall from time to time determine;
(f) Such other ministers and elders of the United Reformed Church as the General Assembly shall from time to time determine (the Assembly has added to its membership one serving United Reformed Church chaplain to the forces, nominated each year by the Organising Secretary of the United Board, in consultation with the three Principal Chaplains, nine representatives of the Synod of Scotland and three representatives from each other synod);
(g) All former moderators of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church and all past chairmen of the Congregational Union of England and Wales, all past presidents of the Congregational Church in England and Wales, all former moderators of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, all former chairmen and presidents of the Annual Conference of the Association of Churches of Christ in Great Britain and Ireland, and all former presidents of the Annual Conference of the Re-formed Association of Churches of Christ in Great Britain and Ireland, provided that such former officers are members of the United Reformed Church; (h) Such number of representatives of the Fellowship of United Reformed Youth, being members of the United Reformed Church, as the Assembly shall from time to time determine (at present two);
(i) Representatives, not exceeding the number approved by the General Assembly, of other denominations in the United Kingdom as the Assembly on the advice of the Mission Council may from time to time determine;
(j) A representative of the Council for World Mission.
In making its determination from time to time as to the number of members to be comprised in each of the categories (a) to (f) above, the General Assembly shall ensure that:
(i) the total number of members to be drawn from all these categories shall not exceed 750, and
(ii) the number of those in categories (b) to (f) shall not in total exceed one half of those in category (a).
The General Assembly shall elect a moderator and such other officers as it shall from time to time think desirable. (The Assembly has appointed the following to serve as officers with the moderator: the General Secretary, the Deputy General Secretary, the Clerk of Assembly, The Treasurer and the Convener of the Assembly Arrangements Committee.) It shall also appoint a Mission Council with power to act in its name in matters of urgency between meetings of the General Assembly and to discharge such other functions as the General Assembly may from time to time direct. The General Assembly shall appoint standing committees which subject to the General Assembly shall have charge of the continuing interests of the church. It may also appoint special committees which subject to the General Assembly shall have charge of such matters as the General Assembly may assign to them from time to time. The General Assembly may appoint to any such committee members of the United Reformed Church who are not members of the General Assembly.
Functions:
(A) General Assembly is responsible for exercising the following Functions (subject to the restriction referred to in Paragraph (B) below):
(i) to oversee the total work of the church;
(ii) to make decisions on reports and recommendations from its own committees, issue such directions and take such actions as it deems conducive to the propagation of the gospel, the welfare of the United Reformed Church, the interests of the Church of Christ as a whole and the well-being of the community in which the Church is placed;
(iii) to conduct and foster the ecumenical relationships of the United Reformed Church;
(iv) to support and share in the missionary work of the Church at home and abroad;
(v) to determine the standards and scope of an adequate ministerial education and training;
(vi) to make regulations respecting theological colleges belonging to the United Reformed Church, to appoint the principal, professors and other members of the teaching staff, Board of Studies, and bursar, and to superintend their work;
(vii) to recognise theological colleges previously recognised by the Congregational Church in England and Wales or the Congregational Union of Scotland and such other colleges in such manner and for such purposes as the General Assembly may determine;
(viii) to appoint moderators of synods;
(ix) to remit questions concerning the witness and judgement of the church for general discussion in church meetings, elders’ meetings, district councils and synods, and to call for reports from these councils;
(x) to interpret all forms and expressions of the polity practice and doctrinal formulations of the United Reformed Church including the Basis and the Structure and to determine when rights of personal conviction are asserted to the injury of the unity and peace of the United Reformed Church;
(xi) to alter, add to, modify or supersede the Basis, Structure and any other form or expression of the polity and doctrinal formulations of the United Reformed Church and Part 1 of the Statement of the Ministerial Disciplinary Process referred to in Function (xxiii) below;
(xii) to make, alter or rescind rules for the conduct of its own proceedings and of those of other councils and commissions of the United Reformed Church and such other rules, bye-laws and standing orders as the General Assembly may from time to time think desirable for the performance of its functions and the carrying into effect of any of the provisions contained in the Basis and the Structure and for the conduct of the business and affairs of the General Assembly and of the other councils and commissions of the United Reformed Church;
(xiii) to appoint at its discretion additional members to serve on synods;
(xiv) to make such alterations in the boundaries and groupings of districts and synods and to establish such new districts and synods as the General Assembly may from time to time think desirable;
(xv) to consider and decide upon references and appeals duly submitted;
(xvi) to make, alter or rescind rules of procedure for the submission and conduct of references and appeals to and by the councils of the United Reformed Church;
(xvii) to receive and decide upon applications for admission into the United Reformed Church from ministers, probationers and congregations, transmitted by synods through their moderators;
(xviii) to decide upon questions regarding the inclusion on the Roll of ministers of the United Reformed Church which have been previously considered and transmitted with recommendations by synods (but excluding any matter which is being dealt with in accordance with the Disciplinary Process referred to in Function (xxiii) below);
(xix) to provide for the raising of funds for the work of the United Reformed Church and to determine arrangements for payment of stipends and expenses to ministers and officers of the United Reformed Church and for such other financial matters as the General Assembly may from time to time think desirable;
(xx) to consider and decide upon issues and representations duly transmitted by other councils of the United Reformed Church;
(xxi) to make and (if necessary) to terminate all appointments to the Commission Panel and to any administrative office under the Process for Ministerial Discipline contained in Section O of the Manual of the United Reformed Church and to exercise general oversight and supervision of the operation of that Process (save only that decisions in individual cases taken in accordance with that Process are made in the name of the General Assembly and are final and binding);
(xxii) to provide for the setting up of an Appeals Commission in accordance with the Ministerial Disciplinary Process for the hearing of appeals under that Process;
(xxiii) in the absence of any reference into the Disciplinary Process by the appropriate District Council or Synod (the case of any Minister who is a Moderator of Synod being necessarily dealt with under this provision) and where the General Assembly (or Mission Council on its behalf) acting through its Mandated Group as defined in the Disciplinary Process referred to below considers that a Minister is or may not be exercising his/her Ministry in accordance with Paragraph 2 of Schedule E to the Basis of Union, to refer the case of that minister to the Commission Stage of the Disciplinary Process contained in Section O of the Manual of the United Reformed Church and in every such case to suspend the minister concerned pending the resolution of the matter under that Process (for the avoidance of doubt the calling in of the Mandated Group under that Process in order to fulfil its responsibilities marking the commencement of the Disciplinary Process);
(xxiv) to do such other things as may be necessary in pursuance of its responsibility for the common life of the church.
2(5)(B) Once the Disciplinary Process has commenced in the case of any Minister, whether by General Assembly or by one of the other Councils of the Church, the General Assembly shall not exercise its functions in respect of that Minister (save only in the provision of such pastoral care as may be appropriate) until the Process has been duly concluded.
Constitutional Amendments
3.(1) No exercise by the General Assembly of the function of constitutional amendment contained in 2.5.xi shall have effect unless the following procedure has been followed:
(a) The proposal for the amendment shall be made in accordance with the Standing Orders of the General Assembly. (b) The General Assembly shall vote on a motion to approve the proposal which shall require a majority of two-thirds of the members present and voting to pass.
(c) The General Assembly shall, if such motion to approve the proposal is passed, refer the proposal to synods and may, if it deems appropriate, refer the proposal also to district councils and in exceptional cases also to local churches.
(d) The General Assembly shall in making any such reference set a final date for responses to be made, which shall normally be at an appropriate time before the next annual Assembly.
(e) If by such date notice has been received by the General Secretary from more than one third of synods (or, if it has been so referred, more than one third of district councils or more than one third of local churches) that a motion 'that the proposal be not proceeded with' has been passed by a majority of members present and voting at a duly convened meeting of such body, then the Assembly in its concern for the unity of the church shall not proceed to ratify the proposal.
(f) If by such date such notice has not been received, a motion to agree the proposed amendment shall come before the General Assembly at its next meeting. Such a motion shall require a simple majority of the members present and voting to pass. In its concern for mutual understanding within the life of the church, before voting on such a motion the General Assembly shall invite a representative of any synod from which the General Secretary has duly received notification under 3(1)(e) to present the main reasons for its objection.
(g) If such a motion is passed by such a majority the amendment shall have effect.
3.(2) In the case of motions which would have the effect of terminating the separate existence of the United Reformed Church, or of a synod within it, by union with other churches, the voting process to be used shall be not less stringent than in 3 (1) and that process shall be determined by a single vote of the General Assembly which shall require a two-thirds majority of those present and voting to pass. In the case of a proposed union affecting only Scotland or Wales no action will be taken by the General Assembly until a decision in favour of union has been taken by the relevant synod.
Consultation
4. Decisions on the part of any council shall be reached only after the fullest attempt has been made to discover the mind of the other councils or of local churches likely to be affected by the decision.
5. APPEALS
5.(1) No right of Appeal shall lie against the decision of any council of the Church (acting with due authority in the matter) to refer any case to the Assembly Commission, and once such reference has been made that case shall be resolved in accordance with Section O of the Manual of the United Reformed Church and not under Paragraph 5(2) below. Any decision reached in accordance with the Disciplinary Process contained in Section O of the Manual of the United Reformed Church has the status of a decision of the General Assembly and is final and binding.
5.(2) The procedure for dealing with reference and appeals falling outside paragraph 5(1) is as follows:
A local church or any member thereof or elders’ meeting may appeal to the district council upon which the local church is entitled to be represented for the resolution of any dispute or difference and may appeal from any decision of such district council to the synod on which it is entitled to be represented and from any decision of such synod to the General Assembly.
A district council may refer any dispute or difference, whether or not the same shall have come before it on appeal, to the synod on which it is entitled to be represented and may appeal from any decision of the synod by which it is affected, whether or not made on such a reference, to the General Assembly.
A synod may refer any dispute or difference, whether or not the same shall have come before it on a reference or appeal, to the General Assembly.
The decision of the General Assembly on any matter which has come before it on reference or appeal shall be final and binding.
Note The procedure for appeals appears in paragraph 8 of the Rules of Procedure for the conduct of the United Reformed Church.
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