Reformed churches

Part of a series on Calvinism (see also Portal)

John Calvin
Background Christianity St. Augustine The Reformation Five Solas Synod of Dort
Distinctives Five Points (TULIP) Covenant Theology Regulative principle
Documents Calvin's Institutes Confessions of faith Geneva Bible
Influences Theodore Beza John Knox Huldrych Zwingli Jonathan Edwards Princeton theologians
Churches Reformed Presbyterian Congregationalist Reformed Baptist Anglican
Peoples Afrikaners Huguenots Pilgrims Puritans Scots

The Reformed churches are a group of Christian Protestant denominations formally characterized by a similar Calvinist system of doctrine, historically related to the churches which first arose especially in the Swiss Reformation led by Huldrych Zwingli and soon afterward appeared in nations throughout Western and Central Europe. Each nation in which the Reformed movement was originally established had its own church government. Several of these national churches have expanded to worldwide denominations and most have experienced splits into multiple denominations. Commitment to teaching the original Calvinism usually continues to be reflected in their official definitions of doctrine, but in some cases is no longer necessarily typical of these churches. A 1999 survey found 746 Reformed denominations worldwide.

1 History
2 Form of doctrine
3 Form of governance
4 Reformed Churches worldwide
5 See also
6 External links

History

The first Reformed churches were established in Europe in the 1500s, in the wake of the Protestant Reformation.

Form of doctrine

Reformed doctrine is expressed in various confessions. A few confessions are shared by many denominations. Different denominations use different confessions, usually based on historical reasons. Some of the confessions still commonly in use are (with year of writing):

French Confession (1559),
Scots Confession (1560),
Three forms of Unity
- Heidelberg Catechism (1563),
- Belgic Confession (1566),
- Canons of Dordrecht (1619),
Second Helvetic Confession (1566)
Westminster Standards
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1646)
- Westminster Shorter Catechism (1649)
- Westminster Larger Catechism (1649)

Form of governance

In contrast to the episcopal polity of the Anglican and many Lutheran and Methodist churches, Reformed churches have two main forms of governance:

Presbyterian polity or Synodal government - rule by assemblies of ordained officers.
Congregationalist polity, e.g. Congregationalist churches

The Reformed Church in Hungary, as well as its sister church in Romania and daughter church in the United States (Hungarian Reformed Church in America), and the Polish Reformed Church are the only Churches in the Reformed Tradition to have retained the office of Bishop.

Protestantism
The Reformation History Pre-Reformation Movements Waldensians · Lollards · Hussites Reformation churches Anabaptism · Anglicanism (via media) · Calvinism · Lutheranism · Zwinglianism · Polish Brethren Post-Reformation movements Baptists · Congregationalists · Pietism · Puritanism · Methodism · Unitarianism · Universalism Great Awakenings Pentecostalism · Revivalism · Evangelicalism Disciples of Christ Restorationism Adventism · Restoration Movement