Who Are We?

Along with all Christians, we seek to follow Jesus in our lives. We come together on Sundays and at other times to praise God, find out more about Him from the Bible, and learn from each other. We cannot promise that we are a perfect church, but one that endeavours to work together to help our community and ourselves discover the mind and spirit of Jesus Christ in all human life and relationship. We started as Rayleigh Congregational Church in 1910. In 1972 we became Christ Church, Rayleigh, United Reformed Church. Our centenary year is 2010.We come from a variety of backgrounds, some have been brought up in Rayleigh and often in this church, others come from further afield or have not been Christians for very long. We seek to make all welcome.

What Is The URC?

The United Reformed Church (URC) was originally formed in 1972 by the union of the Congregational Church and the Presbyterian Church of England. It’s commitment to the visible unity of the whole Christian church is expressed through a series of unions over the past 35 years, which has brought together English Presbyterians, English, Welsh and Scottish Congregationalists and members of the Churches of Christ. It was the first (and is still the only) union of Churches across traditional denominational lines in England since the Reformation. The URC now consists of more than 1600 congregations throughout Britain, representing a community totalling some 100,000 people, served by around 800 ministers, both men and women, paid and unpaid. Although one of the smaller mainstream denominations in Britain, the URC plays a dynamic and challenging part in the country’s Christian life. It seeks to work with Christians of all traditions. It is committed to theological and cultural diversity. The URC is part of the world-wide Reformed communion - the largest strand in Protestantism, with some 70 million members.

This Church Aims:

to promote and nourish faith in God, to tell of His love, and by working together, to share God’s love with the community and wider world.