Charity Registration
All United Reformed churches in England and Wales are required by law to register with the Charity Commission if their annual gross income exceeds £100,000.
Guidance for registering your local URC church with the Charity Commission is provided below.
- Local Church Registration (PDF | 1mb) – updated August 2022
- Approved Governing Document (Word | 15kb)
Excepted Churches
‘Excepted’ charities are those that are not required to register as charities. They are simply exempt from registration requirements and annual reporting. Aside from that, they are governed by the Charity Commission, which has the same authority over them as it has over registered charities.
United Reformed Church charities are “excepted” from registration under the Charities (Exception from Registration) Regulations 1996 (as amended) if their annual gross income is less than £100,000 per year.
Please refer to the guidance provided by the Charity Commission for more details concerning excepted charities: Excepted charities-GOV.UK
Below is a letter that you can download from the Charity Commission. It explains the status of local United Reformed Churches for the benefit of any third parties.