Reformed churches

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Reformed churches

The Reformed churches are a group of Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
Protestant denominations

Christian denomination

A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity.Worldwide, Christians are divided, often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions....
formally characterized by a similar Calvinist

Calvinism

Calvinism is a theology system and an approach to the Christian life that emphasizes the rule of God over all things. It was developed by several theologians, but it bears the name of the French Protestant Reformation John Calvin because of his prominent influence on it and because of his role in the confessional and ecclesiastical debates t...
system of doctrine, historically related to the churches that first arose especially in the Swiss Reformation led by Huldrych Zwingli

Huldrych Zwingli

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Encyclopedia

The Reformed churches are a group of Christian

Christian

Christian denomination

Calvinism

Huldrych Zwingli

Huldrych Zwingli was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Old Swiss Confederacy patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenaries, he attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly centre of Renaissance humanism....
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.

History

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

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe. It is thought to have begun in 1517 with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses and may be considered to have ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648....
.

Form of doctrine

Reformed doctrine is expressed in various confessions

Reformed Christian confessions of faith

Reformed Christian confessions of faith are documents of the faith of various Reformed churches. The Reformed churches express their consensus of faith in various creeds....
. 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
Scots Confession

The Scots Confession is a Confession of Faith written in 1560 by six leaders of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland. The Confession was the first Subordinate Standard for the Protestantism church in Scotland....
(1560),
Three forms of Unity

Heidelberg Catechism
Heidelberg Catechism

The Heidelberg Catechism is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Reformed churches Christian doctrine....
(1563),
Belgic Confession
Belgic Confession

The Confession of Faith, popularly known as the Belgic Confession, is a doctrinal standard document to which many of the Reformed churches subscribe....
(1566),
Canons of Dordrecht (1619),

Second Helvetic Confession (1566)
Westminster Standards

Westminster Confession of Faith
Westminster Confession of Faith

The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith, in the Calvinist theological tradition. Although drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly, largely of the Church of England, it became and remains the 'subordinate standard' of doctrine in the Church of Scotland, and has been influential within Presbyterian churches world...
(1646)
Westminster Shorter Catechism
Westminster Shorter Catechism

The Westminster Shorter Catechism was written in the 1640s by England and Scotland Divine s. The assembly also produced the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Larger Catechism....
(1649)
Westminster Larger Catechism
Westminster Larger Catechism

The Westminster Larger Catechism along with the Westminster Shorter Catechism is a central catechism of Calvinism in the England tradition throughout the World....
(1649)

Form of governance

In contrast to the episcopal polity

Episcopal polity

Episcopal polity is a form of Ecclesiastical polity which is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop ....
of the Anglican and many Lutheran and Methodist churches, Reformed churches have two main forms of governance:

Presbyterian polity
Presbyterian polity

Presbyterian polity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply....
or Synodal government
Synod

A synod is a council of a Ecclesia , usually a Christianity church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. An ecumenical council is so named because it is a synod of the whole church ...
- rule by assemblies of ordained officers.
Congregationalist polity
Congregationalist polity

Congregationalist polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of church governance in which every local church congregation is independent, Ecclesiastical polity Sovereignty, or "autonomy." Among those major Protestantism Christianity traditions that employ congregationalism are those Congregational Churches known by the "Cong...
, e.g. Congregationalist churches

The Reformed Church in Hungary

Reformed Church in Hungary

The Hungarian Reformed Church is a key representative of Christianity in Hungary, being numerically the second-largest denomination in Hungary after the Roman Catholic Church, and the biggest denomination among ethnic Hungarians in Romania....
, 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

Polish Reformed Church

The Polish Reformed Church, officially called the Evangelical Reformed Church in the republic of Poland is a historic Protestant church in Poland established in the 16th century, still in existence today....
are the only Churches in the Reformed Tradition to have retained the office of Bishop.