The United Reformed Church (URC) is saddened to share that Gwen Hall, a pioneering lay leader in its life and one of the people central to the union of the Presbyterian Church of England (PCE) and the Congregational Church of England and Wales (CCEW) to create the URC in 1972, passed away on July 12 aged 99.
Gwen, a maths teacher, was the first woman to serve as Chairman of the Council of the CCEW and went on to serve as the first Chairman of the URC’s Church Life Committee. She later served on the URC’s Vocations Committee, Assessment Panel, Treasurership Committee, the URC Trust, as a Governor of the Milton Mount Foundation and the on Congregational Memorial Hall Trust.
Gwen was married to Richard (aka Dick) who was Moderator of the URC General Assembly from 1976-1977. Richard also served as a Moderator for 13 years, first in the London Province of CCEW and then in the Thames North Province of URC (Provinces are now called Synods by the URC). He died in 1990.
The Revd Dr John P Bradbury, General Secretary if the URC, said: “Gwen Hall was a pioneering lay leader in the United Reformed Church (URC) and a passionate advocate for women’s equality in church life.
“Gwen played a central role in the formation of the URC and was instrumental in naming the URC. She was widely respected for her clarity, warmth, and ability to lead with grace and strength. She was committed to equality, challenging traditional roles for women in the church and championing educational and governance roles for laypeople.
“Her legacy is one of courageous leadership, inclusiveness, and deep service to church and community.”
The Revd Prof Stephen Orchard, former Principal at Westminster College Cambridge and Moderator of the URC General Assembly, said: “I first knew Gwen when I was a student in Cambridge. She was relatively newly married to Dick Hall, minister at Emmanuel Church, who had been widowed with a young daughter, Sylvia.
“She was trained at Homerton, where Dick was a governor. Gwen was also a teacher. She was very hospitable to students and I remember the pleasure of having Sunday lunch with the Halls. They also entertained my parents when Linda and I were married in Cambridge by Dick, who was on the point of going to be Moderator of the London Province of the Congregational Church.
“The Congregational Church decided to elect a President for each year, rather than a Chairman, and to appoint a Chairman for a three-year term.
“The first holder was Sir Harold Bancroft, a distinguished local government figure, so it was a pleasant surprise to we younger people when Gwen was appointed to succeed him. She had all the necessary firmness to chair meetings without being bossy.
“Her long life meant that when I was Moderator of the General Assembly, she was leading the procession of dignitaries, protesting that she was not intending to do it for ever!
“I recall travelling back from a meeting at Windermere and sitting in a foursome on the train with Gwen, Rosalind Goodfellow and Betty Onions. As the conversation went on I realised what a powerful trio they were in terms of their connections and their ambitions for the Church.
“They had a particular take on feminism, which meant embracing terms like ‘chairman’ for themselves, rather than looking for alternatives. Language, while important, was a secondary consideration to giving women the same organisational power as men.
“Giving an address at an event at Westminster, long before I became Principal, I recall making the point that the Church would not be the better for ordaining everything that moved, a pardonable exaggeration of the then agenda. Gwen made a point of agreeing with me afterwards. She was a lay woman who felt no need for further recognition in her service for the Church.
“I will remember Gwen as a woman with great clarity of mind. and drive combined with personal warmth.”
The Revd Michael Hodgson, Minister of St Andrew’s URC, Walton, and Weybridge, said: “I met Gwen a few times, but she is also someone I know from her reputation.
“Gwen was Chair of the CCEW at the time of the union to form the URC with the PCE. Perhaps one of the significant points is that she was a woman in a key role in a major denomination in the late 60’s/early 70’s.
“Gwen is another person in the story of the recognition of women as being able to do more than, in her words, arrange flowers and bake cakes for church teas!
“I was nearly 13 when the URC came into being and although I remember some of the discussions, I was at public school with compulsory chapel at school every Sunday.
“There were heated debates in Congregational meetings about the union, with people like Elsie Chamberlain (the Congregational minister and radio broadcaster, 1910-1991), and Margaret Benn, Viscountess Stansgate, (mother of Labour politician Tony Benn), being robustly and vociferously against the union and subsequently being key forces in the establishment of the Congregational Federation.
“I suspect that Gwen, as Chairman had some extremely difficult discussions to chair if plans were to be kept on track. Those discussions were sometimes very heated and bitter.
“I know that people like Roger Tomes, Michael Hubbard, Charles Haigh and Stanley Russell always spoke well of Gwen and respected her contribution to the formation of the URC.
“My congregation’s memories were of Gwen and her late husband Dick at Surrey Congregational Youth Council weekend conferences.”
In 2022, Gwen spoke to Steve Tomkins, Editor of Reform magazine, to mark the URC’s 50th anniversary.
My husband Richard was the Minister of Emmanuel Congregational Church, Cambridge, in 1969, and I’d been doing things with the women and students in the church. There had been pressure within Congregationalism to make women realise that they were equal members of the Church, that women’s meetings were responsible for more than making the tea and doing the flowers.
We set up some educational meetings that involved getting around a bit. Then when Mrs Rider Smith, the woman member of the union committee, retired, John Huxtable asked me if I would be willing to take her place. It was, of course, a great honour to be involved in that.
A lot of the work of the committee was about clarification. The Presbyterians didn’t understand church meetings and Congregationalists didn’t understand eldership. But a good deal of the hard work of ironing out misunderstandings had gone on before I joined.
One of the big things we did while I was on the committee was decide on the name for the new Church. That took a bit of time, but we chose it because of the close link with the Reformation and because of its being the first union between two British Churches since the Reformation. In 1972, parliament had to be involved. We arrived at 10 o’clock at night, in the gallery, with a whole host of people from local churches.
There was a feeling of excitement when we held the two annual assemblies on the same day in May to take the final decision, Presbyterian in Newcastle and Congregational in Westminster Chapel, where I was in the chair. (I believe I was the first and last female Chair of the Congregational Church.)
“The telephone message eventually came from Newcastle to say that Presbyterians were in favour”. As it was, we got our result first, so John Huxtable and I retreated to the hotel for a rest. The telephone message eventually came from Newcastle to say that Presbyterians were in favour, as we had been, so delegates were recalled. It was quite a moment of delight.
I remember the day of the union in October 1972 very, very vividly, but the details are a bit dim. Most of my colleagues are now no longer with us. But certainly Methodist Central Hall was packed to the roof with people for what I suppose was the first joint meeting. It was a real occasion. We had the service of thanksgiving in the afternoon at Westminster Abbey where they rang their bells, which was very nice.
Afterwards, I returned to my previous job of teaching mathematics. Two United Reformed Church provinces in the north of England asked me if I’d be willing to be nominated as the Moderator of General Assembly, but it was very hard to get back into the profession once you left at that time, so I went back to teaching. My husband became Moderator in 1976.
Now I’m, 95, which I never expected to be, and I’m sorry that I can’t get to church, but I do have many very happy memories.