The Unaffiliated Congregational Churches Charities
Purpose of the Trust
In 1972 the majority of Congregational churches in England and Wales joined with the Presbyterian Church of England to form the United Reformed Church. A significant number of Congregational churches chose not to join. Instead they joined the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches (EFCC formed in 1967), the Congregational Federation Federation (CF formed in 1972), or chose to remain independent of all groupings, not affiliating to anything. The assets of the Congregational Union of England and Wales had to be divided up to cover these four situations. In 1977 a Charity Commission scheme was set up named the Unaffiliated Congregational Churches Charities (registration number 273854) so that the Unaffiliated Churches could have a share of the assets. The nine Trustees were composed of three nominated by the committee of EFCC, three nominated by the Council of the CF and three from the Unaffiliated Churches appointed by the nominated trustees. In practice the nominated Trustees appoint three Trustees elected by the Unaffiliated Churches.
Grants are available to Unaffiliated Churches for a variety of needs, such as building repairs, support for ministry and training.
The Trustees meet three times a year in March, June, and November to consider applications. Applications should be submitted on the grant application form (link below) to the Executive Officer.
In honour of the longest serving Trustee, the late Mr Dewi Rowlands of Ruabon Congregation Church, the Trustees have established the Dewi Rowlands Bursary to fund research into aspects of Congregationalism. The first award was made in 2017 to Dr Peter Humphreys. The subject is “The Rise and Fall of English and Welsh Congregationalism in Liverpool (1777-2017)”. The 2019 award was made to Joe Nockels to research the Congregational Pilgrims in Leiden in 1609.
Applications for the award are invited (click the link below for details).
Contact:
E-mail: unconchurchar@gmail.com
Links
1977 Charity Commission Scheme
UCCC Grant Application Form (PDF)
UCCC Grant Application Form (Microsoft Word .docx)
