There has been a Christian church on this site since 1669, with the present church dating from 1893. The Ewen Hall, widely used by church and community groups, was opened in 1907. At its heart, though, the church isn’t a building: it’s people. We’re a diverse group of ordinary people who are brought together by a shared faith.
We believe that God created the world; and that Jesus Christ the Son of God gave up his life for us, dying upon a cross in order to reconcile and restore us to God. We believe that Jesus changes lives, bringing forgiveness and a new beginning to all who call on him. We believe that the Holy Spirit, promised by Jesus to all who seek to follow him, is our helper and guide today.
We rejoice in the diversity of gifts and approaches that together make up the community of the church – acknowledging that we’re all at different stages in our journey with God, and that we all have something to offer and something to receive.
Our worship
Worship services at Barnet URC incorporate both offering and receiving. A typical Sunday morning service will begin as we bring to God our praise and thanksgiving. Then we listen for God’s word to us, reading from the Bible and seeking to apply its teachings faithfully as our guide for living today. Once a month we share in Communion – the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper where, in the breaking of bread and the pouring of wine, we remember Jesus’ saving death and resurrection. Lastly, responding to God’s loving grace, we bring to God an offering of our prayer, our resources, and our commitment to share in the Church’s ongoing work and witness.
These various elements are also a feature of our Sunday evening services, which take place generally once or twice per month (sometimes in one of our smaller rooms, and sometimes entirely online).
Our church life
Believing that it is in gathering prayerfully together that we are able most faithfully to discern the mind of Christ for the church, we hold a Church Meeting most months at which matters relating to church life are discussed and decided upon by church members.
A team of Elders is elected from among the membership to share with the Minister in strategic and pastoral oversight of the church.
Our church connections
In 1935 a sister church, now known as St Andrew’s Chesterfield Road URC, was established in the Ducks Island area of Barnet; we continue to share a minister.
Through Churches Together for Chipping Barnet we share with our fellow Christians in witness and service to our local community.
We are a local congregation of the United Reformed Church (within its Thames North Synod). One of the smaller “mainstream” denominations in the United Kingdom (though part of a large global family of Reformed Churches), the URC was formed in 1972 when Congregational and Presbyterian churches in England and Wales came together. Since then two other small denominations have joined: the Churches of Christ (1981) and the Congregational Union of Scotland (2000). It continues to be a trailblazer for Christian unity and prophetic witness.