The word Reformed comes from the days when there were protests at the ways of the church of Rome at that time, hence ‘Protestants’. They decided not to conform, hence ‘Nonconformists’, and they re-formed their ways of worship, hence the ‘Reformed’ church.

A particular plank of the Protestant platform is that we have direct access to God. There is no need for a priest to mediate between God and Mankind. This is called ‘The Priesthood of All Believers’.

In parallel, The Bible, with understanding, is central  to belief and conduct. To symbolise this, in the URC the bible is ceremoniously carried in by an Elder and placed centrally to signal the start of each service of worship. They  read an appropriate verse or two from it as the Call To Worship.

The United Reformed Church is the result of  churches of the Reformed tradition which united. The Congregational Church and the Presbyterian Church of England were two Free Churches  with similar democratic methods and parallel beliefs, so  in an effort to gather churches into one they united in 1972, were soon joined also by the smaller Reformed Churches of Christ, and, more recently, by the Congregational Church of Scotland.

Blending the ways of these traditions, decisions involving each premises and its conduct are made by all the church members at Church Meeting. The Minister and Elders have spiritual care of their groups of members and also conduct the regular business.  They meet in the Elders Meeting.

Before the Union, Broxbourne was a Congregational church. The Presbyterian denomination had Scottish links.

Our new building at Broxbourne was opened in April 1969, shortly before the Union, having moved from the previous Congregational church building, dated 1846, shown, in the middle of Hoddesdon to allow entry there through to a new shopping precinct (The 1846 building was demolished).

Our architect introduced the idea of having the hall downstairs and the sanctuary above in the tent-shaped roof. The sloping walls avoid any echo, which is great for the Hoddesdon Music Club who organise concerts by top-flight classical musicians.

Originally access to the upper floor was by an outside ramp but, in time, this was considered too steep. Problem: How to incorporate a lift into this novel-shaped construction?

Answer: Construct the lift outside on the garden and then build a new frontage around it!

And that is what you see now. It brought with it the addition of a couple of much-used meeting rooms upstairs with their own facilities. Many societies hire our halls and rooms, from bird watchers  to weight watchers. There are also birthday parties. We regret that we are unable to take Sunday bookings, because of use by the Church.

Looking inside upstairs, above the projection screen in the sanctuary is our particular feature of interest , the Cross of Crosses, designed uniquely for this church by a talented local artist. For the extension, a nearby glass-worker donated engravings of this logo on the new glass front doors.