Reformed churches

The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations historically related by a similar Zwinglian or Calvinist system of doctrine but organisationally independent. Each nation in which the Reformed movement was originally established had its own church government. Several of these local 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.

Form of governance

In contrast to the episcopalian church governance of Lutheran, Anglican or Methodist churches, Reformed churches have three main forms of governance:

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• Presbyterian church governance, e.g. Presbyterian churches
• Synodal church governance, e.g. Dutch Reformed Churches, Swiss Reformed churches
• Congregationalist church governance, e.g. Congregationalist churches

A sub-family of the Reformed churches, called Reformed Baptist churches, adheres to modified Reformed confessions, and have Baptist views of the sacraments and of church government. Many Reformed Christians do not consider Reformed Baptists to be truly Reformed.

Related Topics:
Reformed Baptist - Baptist - Sacrament

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