Welcome to Bury St. Edmunds United Reformed Church, Whiting Street, Bury St. Edmunds.
We are a United Reformed Church (URC). The URC was formed in 1972 from the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches (and other small church denominations have joined since). We are a mainstream protestant church, similar in many ways to the Methodists and Baptists. The reformed tradition believes that the Word of God, through the Bible and God’s Spirit, is our guide. It is a partnership between ministers and lay people (everyone else), all having equal access to God.
Our services are fairly informal and we welcome anyone who is seeking spiritual guidance or support or simply wants to find out what we do. Parts of the service (prayers and some hymns) are centred on the praise and worship of God and other parts (sermon/talk, Bible readings, and some hymns) help us to understand God and how we should respond to God and the world, with all its problems.
People are free to participate or not participate in any part of the service, according to their own beliefs and comfort zones.
Safeguarding in Whiting St. U.R.C.
Safeguarding in the United Reformed Church is underpinned by Jesus’ command to his followers to love one another, so this church aspires to be a loving community, offering a welcoming environment in which people can flourish, safe from harm. We have developed a policy which is designed to encourage the development of good practice in work with children, young people and the elderly in Bury St. Edmunds United Reformed Church. It is designed to protect all of us from neglect or physical, emotional or sexual abuse while we are in the care of the church. It stresses the responsibility of all workers to be alert to signs of abuse and provides for a prompt and effective reporting procedure should abuse be suspected, disclosed or discovered. The policy is also intended to protect those who work with children and the elderly, and to enable the church to fulfil its “duty of care”.