Albania • Reformed Church in Durrës mission of the PCA • Emmanuel reformed church in Tirana
Armenia • Congregational Churches in Armenia
Belarus •
Belarusian Evangelical Reformed Church Belgium •
United Protestant Church in Belgium Bulgaria •
Union of Evangelical Congregational Churches in Bulgaria Croatia • The
Reformed Christian Calvinist Church in Croatia was part of the Hungarian Reformed Church. It is a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. • The
Protestant Reformed Christian Church in Croatia is an
Anglican church which split from the Reformed Christian Calvinist Church in Croatia in 2001.
Cyprus •
Greek Evangelical Church • Trinity Community Christian Fellowship in Larnaca, Cyprus
Czech Republic •
Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren •
Church of the Brethren in the Czech Republic or
Evangelical Brethren Church in the Czech Republic - Czech Republic and Slovakia
Denmark •
Reformed Synod of Denmark •
German Reformed of Copenhagen •
Reformed Congregation in Fredericia Finland • Christ Church of Oulu
France In France, the Calvinist Protestants were called
Huguenots. The
Reformed Church of France survived under persecution from 1559 until the
Edict of Nantes (1598), the effect of which was to establish regions in which Protestants could live unmolested. These areas became centers of political resistance under which the Calvinist church was protected until 1628, when
La Rochelle, the Protestant center of resistance to
Louis XIII, was overrun by a French army blockade. After the Protestant resistance failed, the Reformed Church of France reorganized, and was guaranteed toleration under the
Edict of Nantes until the final revocation of toleration in 1685 (
Edict of Fontainebleau). The periods of persecution scattered French Reformed refugees to England, Germany, Switzerland,
Netherlands,
Africa (especially South Africa), and
America.
Louis XVI granted an
edict of toleration. Freedom of religion came with the
French Revolution.
Napoleon organized state controlled French Reformed church with the
Organic Articles in 1802. A free (meaning, not state controlled) synod of the Reformed Church emerged in 1848 and survives in small numbers to the present time. The French refugees established French Reformed churches in the Latin countries and in America. The first Calvinist churches in France produced the
Gallic Confession and French Calvinist confession of faith, which served as models for the
Belgic Confession of Faith (1563). Today, about 300,000 people are members of the Reformed Church of France (now
United Protestant Church of France). There is also the smaller
Protestant Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine and the more conservative
National Union of Independent Reformed Evangelical Churches of France (the name of the denomination was changed in 2009). The
Malagazy Protestant Church in France is a Calvinist denomination whose members come from
Madagascar. The
Union of Free Evangelical Churches in France is another denomination.
Germany The German Reformed Church (
Reformierte Kirche) forms, together with German
Lutheran and
united Protestant churches, the umbrella named
Protestant Church in Germany (German:
Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland) or EKD. The
member churches of EKD were formerly the Protestant
state churches in German states before the
separation of religion and state in 1919. EKD represents, alongside Catholicism, Germany's "mainstream" religious bodies. The German Reformed Church, unusually, does not trace its origins back to Zwingli or Calvin, but rather to
Philipp Melanchthon, Luther's best friend and closest ally. After Melanchthon's death in 1560, extremist Lutherans (from whom Luther had previously distanced himself) accused Melanchthon's successors in the "
Philippist" cause of
Crypto-Calvinism and mercilessly persecuted and sometimes killed them in several states, especially
Saxony. Other states, such as
Hesse(-Cassel), remained openly Philippist and Calvinist. Only during the time of Calvin (1509–1564) himself did genuinely Calvinist influences enter the German Calvinist faith; even today, it remains more Philippist than Calvinist. In the German Empire (1871–1918) some states were Lutheran, some Reformed. King
Frederick William III of Prussia united both major Protestant confessions in his domains into the
Prussian Union of churches in 1817, allowing congregations to maintain Lutheran or Calvinist confession, or declare their union, also in
Bremen (1877),
Hesse-Cassel (1817), and
Hesse-Darmstadt (1832) Reformed and Lutherans form a union merely in administration. Some states saw unions of Reformed and Lutherans to a united confession, such as
Anhalt (1820 in
Anhalt-Bernburg, 1827 in
Anhalt-Dessau, and 1880 in
Anhalt-Köthen),
Baden (1821),
Nassau (1817) and Bavarian
Palatinate (1848), while Lutherans in other states (
Bavaria proper,
Hamburg,
Hanover,
Lübeck, the
Mecklenburgs,
Oldenburg,
Saxon Duchies,
Saxony,
Schaumburg-Lippe,
Schleswig-Holstein, and
Württemberg) did not followed suit. The German Reformed Church's finest hour arguably occurred during the Third Reich (1933–1945): although by far not all Calvinist clergy and their flocks opposed the Nazis, the Reformed Church dominated the
Confessing Church resistance against Hitler. As of 2009, German Protestants come in four different guises, all under one national umbrella, but differentiated by region (
Landeskirche, usually regions smaller than the
states): • Lutheran • Calvinist, namely
Evangelical Reformed Church in Bavaria and Northwestern Germany (comprising Reformed congregations in all areas, where Lutherans and Reformed did not unite, but Lippe), and
Church of Lippe • Administration-United - in these churches, each parish is either Lutheran, Reformed or united Protestant, and so is the congregation and the Pastor, but all share the same administration • Consensus-United - there is no difference even at the parish level In Germany, as of 2009, roughly 25 million Germans (less than one-third of the entire population, slightly more than half of German Christians) are Protestant. Of these, less than 2 million are Calvinist. The main coordinating body for Calvinist churches in Germany is the
Reformed Alliance. Smaller, separate denominations include the
Evangelical Old-Reformed Church in Lower Saxony, the
Union of Evangelical Reformed Churches in Germany, and the episcopally governed
Free Reformed Churches of Germany.
Great Britain and Ireland The churches with Presbyterian traditions in the United Kingdom have the
Westminster Confession of Faith as one of their important
confessional documents. •
United Reformed Church (URC) in the United Kingdom is the result of the union of
Presbyterian,
Congregational and
Church of Christ churches • Several hundred Congregational churches opted to remain outside the initial 1972 union, forming the
Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches and the
Congregational Federation. Some congregations were gathered into the
Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches whilst others are now wholly independent without any national affiliation. • The
Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales has currently 17 congregations • The
International Presbyterian Church has English and Korean congregations in Great Britain and missions in Romania, Italy and Armenia and in other parts of the world. •
Metropolitan Tabernacle-a famous independent Reformed Baptist congregation pastored by Spurgeon -not a denomination In Wales, there are the
Union of Welsh Independents, which is another congregational body. The
Presbyterian Church of Wales is one of the biggest Christian denomination in Wales. In Scotland, presbyterianism was established in 1560 by John Knox who studied in Geneva and planted Calvinism in his home country. The presbyterian churches in the Canada, Australia, New Zealand trace their origin back primarily from Scotland. The
Presbyterian churches in Scotland, including: • The
Church of Scotland, the
established, national church in Scotland •
Free Church of Scotland •
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) •
United Free Church of Scotland •
Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland •
Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland •
Associated Presbyterian Churches •
Didasko In Ulster, Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland spread the Calvinist faith in the 17th century. • The
Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland • The
Presbyterian Church in Ireland serves the whole of the island • There are also other churches with smaller flocks, notably in
Northern Ireland • The
Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster • The
Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Ireland •
Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland •
Congregational Union of Ireland A group of churches called
Newfrontiers began in England and also exists elsewhere in the world. This group tends to hold to Calvinist theology, but is also
charismatic in its experience.
Anglicanism Historically, the
Church of England upheld both Lutheran and Calvinist doctrines. Several continental Calvinist theologians moved to England to aid with the doctrinal and liturgical developments there, including
Martin Bucer,
Peter Martyr, and
Jan Łaski. Especially Calvinistic distinctions of the Church of England include the division of the
Ten Commandments after the Calvinist numbering (rather than the Lutheran or Catholic division), the iconoclastic reforms of
Edward VI and
Elizabeth I, and the Eucharistic doctrine of
Receptionism. The Church of England so took part in the
Synod of Dort, and monarchs since the
Glorious Revolution have sworn in the coronation oath to protect the “true profession of the Gospel, and the Protestant Reformed religion established by law.” However, the ascendency of
William Laud to the archbishopric saw a periodic suppression of pro-Calvinist clergymen under
Charles I, and the
Oxford Movement of the 19th century sought to further distance the Church of England from its Calvinistic ties. Because of the political success of
Anglo-Catholicism there have been a few conservative Reformed movements which have left the Church of England: • The
Free Church of England • The
Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion • The
Church of England (Continuing) Greece •
Greek Evangelical Church • Congregational Churches in Greece
Hungary The
Reformed Church in Hungary, Transylvania and southern Slovakia is one of the largest branches of the Calvinist movement. The Reformed Church is the second largest church in Hungary, it has 4 seminaries in the country (Debrecen, Papa, Budapest, Sarospatak). The Hungarian Reformed Church adopted the
Heidelberg Catechism and the
Second Helvetic Confession as a definition of their teaching, together the Ecumenical creeds of the Christian Church:
Athanasian Creed,
Nicene Creed, Chalcedon, and the common creed ("
Apostles' Creed"). The Hungarians organised the Calvinist church in 1557 in the Synod of Csenger and adopted the Second Helvetic Confession in 1567 in
Debrecen. The Hungarian Reformed Church maintains educational institutions, almost 80 primary schools, 28 high schools, 47 nurseries and several vocational schools and the Bethesda Hospital. There are diaconal institutions and conference centres. In 2001, more than 1.6 million people in Hungary identified as members of the Hungarian Reformed Church. Of that number, about 600,000 are considered active members, in 1,249 congregations. The HRC has 27 presbyteries, four districts and a General Synod. In Romania, 700,000 people identified as Calvinist in 800 congregations, nearly all of them ethnic Hungarians living in Transylvania. There is the more theologically conservative
Reformed Presbyterian Church of Central and Eastern Europe, which has approximately 25 congregations in Hungary,
Slovakia,
Romania and
Ukraine. Like the mainline Hungarian Reformed church, from which it split in 1997, the church adheres to the
Second Helvetic Confession and the
Heidelberg Catechism, but it has also adopted the
Westminster Confession, and
Shorter and
Larger Catechisms. The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Central and Eastern Europe maintains the
Károlyi Gáspár Institute of Theology and Missions, located in
Miskolc, Hungary. There is a mission church of the
Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches in
Diósd, near
Budapest.
Italy • The
Waldensian Evangelical Church This is an Italian historical
Protestant denomination. After the Protestant Reformation, the small church absorbed Calvinist theology, under the influence of
Guillaume Farel, and became the Italian branch of the European Calvinist churches. In 1975, the Waldensian Church (around 45,000 members, plus some 15,000 affiliates in Argentina and Uruguay) joined forces with the Italian
Methodist Church (5,000) to form the Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches. It is member of both the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the World Methodist Council, due to its nature of a united church. • The
Evangelical Reformed Baptist Churches in Italy This is a
Reformed Baptist denomination. As a member of the
World Reformed Fellowship, this network of churches recovers the
Calvinist tradition of
Pietro Martire Vermigli and
Girolamo Zanchi. • The
Presbyterian Church in Italy This is a mission of the
Presbyterian Church of Brazil in Italy. •
Presbyterian and Reformed Church in Italy Latvia •
Reformed Church in Latvia Liechtenstein •
Evangelical Church in Liechtenstein Lithuania •
Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Church Luxemburg •
Protestant Church of Luxembourg •
Protestant Reformed Church of Luxembourg Macedonia •
Union of Evangelical Congregational Churches in Macedonia Netherlands The Dutch Calvinist churches have suffered numerous splits, and there have been some subsequent partial re-unions. Currently there are at least nine existing denominations, including (between brackets the Dutch abbreviation): •
Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PKN) formed in 2004 from the union of • the
Dutch Reformed Church (NHK), • the
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (GKN), • and the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands (ELK); • a notable Calvinist group within the PKN is the
Reformed Association •
Christian Reformed Churches (CGK) •
Dutch Reformed Churches (NGK) formed in 2023 from the union of •
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) (GKV) •
Netherlands Reformed Churches (NGK) •
Reformed Congregations (GG) •
Old-Reformed Congregations in the Netherlands (OGGiN) •
Old-Reformed Congregations (unconnected) •
Reformed Congregations in the Netherlands (GGiN) •
Reformed Congregations in the Netherlands (unconnected) •
Restored Reformed Church (HHK) •
Continued Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (VGKN) •
Reformed Churches (GK) formed in 2024 from the union of •
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Restored) • Reformed Churches the Netherlands •
Korean Reformed Church in the Netherlands •
Covenant of Free Evangelical Congregations in the Netherlands - member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches •
Moluccan Evangelical Church (GIM) •
Indonesian Christian Church in the Netherlands (GKIN) Since the Reformation, the Netherlands, as one of the few countries in the world, could be characterised as a mainly Calvinist state. Until the first half of the 20th century, a majority of the Dutch (about 55%) were Calvinist and a large minority (35-40%) were Catholic. Because of large-scale secularisation during the 20th century, these percentages dropped dramatically. Today only 15-20% of the Dutch (about 2.5 million people) is Calvinist, while 25-30% is Catholic. About 45% is non-religious. Today many orthodox Calvinist Christians in the Netherlands cooperate with Evangelicals in organizations such as the '
Evangelische Omroep' (Evangelical Broadcasting Company), the 'Evangelische Hogeschool' (Evangelical College), and the political party 'ChristenUnie' (
ChristianUnion) Dutch emigrants and missionaries brought Calvinist churches to many other countries outside Europe, including Canada, United States, South Africa, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand.
Norway • First Presbyterian Church of Norway
Poland •
Polish Reformed Church •
Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches in Poland Portugal •
Evangelical Reformed Church in Portugal •
Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Portugal •
Christian Presbyterian Church in Portugal •
Union of Evangelical Congregational Churches in Portugal •
Renewed Presbyterian Church in Portugal - mission of the
Renewed Presbyterian Church in Brazil •
St. Andrews Church, Church of Scotland in Lisbon
Romania The
Reformed Church in Romania consist of two dioceses. These are: •
Reformed Diocese of Királyhágómellék •
Reformed Diocese of Transylvania In
Transylvania, the Calvinist faith took root in the 16th century. In 1564, a Synod was held in Nagyenyed (today
Aiud) when the Calvinist and Lutheran churches separated. This date is the founding date of the Reformed Diocese of Transylvania.
Partium (today partially
Crișana) used to be a separated geographical area from Transylvania, also ruled by Hungarian/Transylvanian princes. In this region was founded the Királyhágómellék Reformed District.
Transylvania was part of Hungary until 1920. The Confessions of these churches are the
Apostles Creed, the
Heidelberg Catechism. In the church buildings, especially in smaller villages, the men and women sitting separated and the children and those who were not yet married were sitting in the church choir or gallery. The believers are predominantly (95%)
Hungarian, so the worship language is also Hungarian. It has 800 congregations and 700,000 members. • Evangelical Reformed Church of Romania A Romanian mission of the
United Reformed Churches in North America was founded in Bucharest in 2016.
Russia • Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches in Eurasia •
Molokans •
Reformed Fundamental Church in Russia •
Union of Evangelical Reformed Churches in Russia • Hundreds of Presbyterian Congregations are existing in Russia, which are the fruit of the Korean Presbyterian denominations from South Korea.
Serbia •
Reformed Christian Church in Serbia was also part of The Reformed Church in Hungary till 1920 •
Protestant Reformed Christian Church in Serbia Slovakia Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia was part of the Reformed Church in Hungary until the end of World War I. In 1993, a theological seminary was opened in
Komárno. Cathechial schools are in Kosice and Komarno. In
Slovakia, 110,000 Calvinists were recorded. and the Lausanne Free Church. A total of 2.4 million Swiss are members of Calvinist churches, according to the 2000 census, which corresponds to 33% of the population. The past decades show a rapid decline in this proportion, coming from 46% in 1970.
Ukraine •
Reformed Church in Transcarpathia It is the oldest Protestant community in
Ukraine, established during the 16th century. 70-75% of Transcarpathian Hungarians are followers of the
Calvinist faith. The church currently has three dioceses with about 120,000 - 140,000 members and is itself a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. •
Evangelical Reformed Church in Transcarpathia •
Union of Evangelical Reformed Churches of Ukraine •
Ukrainian Evangelical Reformed Church •
Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ukraine This church was started by missionaries of the Presbyterian Church in America and has 12 congregations and missions with 11 ordained national pastors; it maintains a
Calvinist seminary in
Kyiv. ==Oceania==