United and uniting churches
For churches within the Unitarianism movement, see
Unitarianism.
United and uniting churches are churches formed from the merger or other form of union of two or more different Protestant denominations.
Perhaps the oldest example of a united church is found in Germany, where the Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of Lutheran, United and Reformed churches, a union dating back to 1817 in some parts of Germany (see Prussian Union). The first union was at a synod in Idstein to form the Protestant Church in Nassau in August 1817, commemorated in naming the church of Idstein Unionskirche 100 years later.[1]
Around the world, each united or uniting church comprises a different mix of predecessor denominations. Trends are visible, however, as most united and uniting churches have one or more predecessors with heritage in the Reformed tradition (either Presbyterian, Congregationalist, or both) and many are members of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.
Conciliar movement
In the 1950s and 1960s an ecumenical spirit emerged in many churches in the United States of America, leading to a conciliar movement known in some circles as Conciliarity. A product of this movement was the Consultation on Church Union (COCU). COCU disbanded formally in 2002 but moved into the Churches Uniting in Christ movement.
United and Uniting Churches around the world
- Australia: Uniting Church in Australia, the 1977 union of Congregationalist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches
- Bangladesh: Church of Bangladesh
- Canada: United Church of Canada, the 1925 union of Congregationalist, Methodist, and a majority of Presbyterian churches (including Bermuda [1])
- China: China Christian Council, founded in 1980 as an umbrella organization for all Protestant churches in the People's Republic of China
- Czech republic: Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, formed in 1918 in Czechoslovakia through the unification of the Protestant churches of the Lutheran and Reformed confessions. However, the PCCB has deeper roots in the Czech reformation: in the Utraquist Hussite Church (1431–1620) and in the Unity of Brethren aka Moravian Church (1457–1620).
- Germany: Evangelical Church in Germany, the 1948 federation of 10 Lutheran, 2 Reformed, and 11 United church bodies, the latter 11 are the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia, Pomeranian Evangelical Church, Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony, Evangelical Church of Westphalia (all the five are successors of the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union), Evangelical State Church of Anhalt, Evangelical State Church of Baden, Bremian Evangelical Church, Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau, Evangelical Church of Hesse-Kassel and Waldeck and Evangelical Church of the Palatinate (Protestant State Church).
- Hong Kong: Hong Kong Christian Council, the ecumenical body of Christian churches, organizations and institutions in Hong Kong, founded in 1954 [2]
- India: Church of North India, the 1970 union of Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Disciples of Christ, Presbyterian, Congregational, and the Church of the Brethren churches
- India: Church of South India, the 1947 union of Anglican, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian, and Reformed Churches.
- Indonesia: Indonesia Christian Church or Gereja Kristen Indonesia, union of GKI East Java, GKI West Java and GKI Central Java in 1988
- Italy: Union of Waldensian and Methodist Churches, the 1975 union of Waldensian and Methodist Churches
- Jamaica: United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands
- Japan: United Church of Christ in Japan (Nihon Kirisuto Kyōdan)
- Melanesia: United Church in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands
- the Netherlands: Protestant Church in the Netherlands, the 2004 union of the Dutch Reformed Church, the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Pakistan: Church of Pakistan, the 1970 union of Anglicans, Scottish Presbyterians (Church of Scotland), Methodists, and Lutherans.
- Philippines: United Church of Christ in the Philippines
- Sweden: Evangelical Free Church (EFK), the 2002 union of the Örebrö Mission, the Free Baptists in Sweden and the Holiness Union.
- Thailand: Church of Christ in Thailand
- United Kingdom: United Reformed Church, the 1972 union of Congregationalist and Presbyterian churches in England and Wales, later joined by the Churches of Christ and the Congregational Union of Scotland. United Free Church of Scotland.
- United States: United Church of Christ, the 1957 union of the two previously united churches:Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church. United Methodist Church, the 1968 union of the The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. (Also see Churches Uniting in Christ.)
- International: International Council of Community Churches, International Council of Unitarians and Universalists
See also
References