WIDER COUNCILS

The Councils of the United Reformed Church and the Methodist Church

Both the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Churches are conciliar, that is to say, authority lies with councils rather than with individuals, and major decisions are made by Church Meetings, District Councils, Provincial Synods and national Assembly in the United Reformed Church, and Church Meetings, Circuit Meetings, District Synods and the national Methodist Conference. Certain Authority and decisions are delegated to officers, ministers and elders, stewards and so on. Methodist ministers in pastoral charge of united churches are automatically regarded by the URC as URC Ministers. URC Ministers may be regarded similarly by the Methodist Church if so appointed.

Pastoral oversight is exercised by Ministers, Elders, and Lay workers in the local community and by Chairmen (Meth) and Moderators (URC) in the wider church.

Dates of Meetings are announced in the Calendar.

	Church Meetings
Church Meetings	Central Church Meetings are held 5 times a year, usually on a Thursday evening at 7.30pm.
Church Leadership and Elders	Church Leadership Team
	The Church Meeting elects a Church Leadership Team, which includes Elders to serve with the Minister to oversee the spiritual and pastoral life of the church and to make arrangements for the organisation and proper care of finances and fabric. The Church Leadership Team generally meets monthly at 7.30pm.
	District Council
Ipswich and Colchester District Council of the United Reformed Church	All URC churches and united URC/Methodist/Baptist churches within a District are represented by the minister and a serving Elder of the church.
	Synod
Eastern Synod of the United Reformed Church	All URC churches within a Synod are represented by the minister and a serving Elder of the church.
	Assembly
General Assembly of the United Reformed Church	An annual General Assembly is held at various locations and representatives are selected from District Council membership.
	Circuit
Manningtree & Harwich Circuit and Stewards	All local Methodist Churches belong to a Circuit with a Superintendent Minister and Stewards. All churches send representatives to the monthly Circuit Meeting. Central Church belongs to the Harwich and Manningtree Methodist Circuit
	District
Methodist London North-East District	Central Church belongs within the Methodist London North-east District.
	Conference and Connexion
Methodist Conference	Ministers and lay representatives meet annually at the Methodist Conference to make the policy of the Methodist Church of Great Britain. Here ministers are ordained.

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Central Church Meetings are held 5 times a year, usually on a Thursday evening at 7.30pm.

Church Leadership Team

District Council

All URC churches and united URC/Methodist/Baptist churches within a District are represented by the minister and a serving Elder of the church.

Synod

All URC churches within a Synod are represented by the minister and a serving Elder of the church.

Assembly

An annual General Assembly is held at various locations and representatives are selected from District Council membership.

Circuit

All local Methodist Churches belong to a Circuit with a Superintendent Minister and Stewards. All churches send representatives to the monthly Circuit Meeting. Central Church belongs to the Harwich and Manningtree Methodist Circuit

District

Central Church belongs within the Methodist London North-east District.

Conference and Connexion

Ministers and lay representatives meet annually at the Methodist Conference to make the policy of the Methodist Church of Great Britain. Here ministers are ordained.