ABOUT

What do we believe?

The United Reformed Church is a tradition that believes in personal conviction and being a community.

We’re like most mainstream Christian Churches in that we believe in the Trinity (Creator, Child, and Comforter) and that the Bible is the place where we find guidance and inspiration. We also believe in consensus which means that we make all our important decisions together as a congregation at regular congregational meetings.

We believe God is still talking and that sometimes we need to change how we talk about and practice our faith. We have a proud history - we have been ordaining women for over 100 years and were the first member of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland to allow churches to offer same-sex marriage.

We are more interested in what unites us rather than what divides us. As a result, you’ll find many different opinions about faith and belief with people within our congregation.

Meet Our Minister! Rev. Chris Dowd

I grew up in Australia in a socially and theologically conservative community but when I left home to go to university, I realised that faith is a very complicated thing and easy answers are rarely satisfactory.

After immigrating to the UK in 1995, I worked for a consulting firm before opening my own in 1998. I provided large-scale public consultations and training and development for the public sector until 2008. During this time, I became a self-supporting minister who planted two congregations for a small American denomination that I had joined in Australia.

In 2008 I became Free Church Chaplain at Aston University, an ecumenical post sponsored by the United Reformed Church. The URC became my spiritual home, so I transferred denomination to become a minister of Word and Sacrament in the United Reformed Church in 2013, I spent two years at Westminster College finishing my doctorate. In 2015 I took up my first post in Hull.

In late 2019 I arrived at Wylde Green with my partner Will, our 2 dogs, and a flock of chickens. I’m looking forward to working with this large, energetic congregation.

My hope is that we build on our vision of reaching out and welcoming in. For me, this means making church a positive force for good whether it is about how we talk about God or showing God’s care for all people.

THE TEAM

Here are some of the amazing people that help make our Church the best it can be! We are an elected team of trustees who work with Chris to run the church.