Editing Reformed Christianity (section)

== Branches ==
The Reformed tradition is historically represented by the [[Continental Reformed|Continental]], [[Presbyterian]], [[Evangelical Anglican|Reformed Anglican]], [[Congregationalist church|Congregationalist]], and [[Reformed Baptist]] denominational families.

Reformed churches practice several forms of [[ecclesiastical polity|church government]], primarily [[presbyterian polity|presbyterian]] and [[Congregational polity|congregational]], but some adhere to [[episcopal polity|episcopal]] polity. The largest interdenominational association is the [[World Communion of Reformed Churches]] with more than 100 million members in 211 member denominations around the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wcrc.ch/theology/ |title=Theology and Communion |work=World Communion of Reformed Churches |access-date=5 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220021929/http://wcrc.ch/theology/ |archive-date=20 December 2013  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://wcrc.ch/wcrc-member-churches/ |title=Member Churches |work=World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) |publisher=World Communion of Reformed Churches |access-date=5 December 2013  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140412134752/http://wcrc.ch/wcrc-member-churches/ |archive-date=12 April 2014}}</ref> Smaller, conservative Reformed associations include the [[World Reformed Fellowship]] and the [[International Conference of Reformed Churches]].

=== Continental ===
{{Main|Continental Reformed Protestantism}}
"Continental" Reformed churches originate in [[continental Europe]], a term used by English speakers to distinguish them from traditions from the [[British Isles]]. Many uphold the [[Helvetic Confessions]] and [[Heidelberg Catechism]], which were adopted in Zurich and Heidelberg, respectively.<ref name="Schaff1898">{{cite book |last1=Schaff |first1=Philip |title=History of the Christian Church: Modern Christianity; the Swiss Reformation, 2d ed., rev |date=1898 |publisher=C. Scribner's & Sons |page=222 |language=en}}</ref> In the United States, immigrants belonging to the continental Reformed churches joined the [[Dutch Reformed Church]] there, as well as the Anglican Church.<ref name="Conkin1995">{{cite book |last1=Conkin |first1=Paul Keith |title=The Uneasy Center: Reformed Christianity in Antebellum America |date=1995 |publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]] |isbn=978-0-8078-4492-2 |language=en |quote=Partly because of clustered patterns of settlement and intense ethnic and linguistic identities, Reformed German and Dutch congregations resisted the lure of assimilation, although many Dutch Reformed Christians in the Hudson Valley joined Anglican congregations. |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/uneasycenterrefo0000conk}}</ref>

=== Presbyterian ===
{{Main|Presbyterianism}}
[[Presbyterian]] churches are named for their order of government by assemblies of [[Elder (Christianity)|elders]], or ''presbyters''. They are especially influenced by [[John Knox]], who brought Reformed theology and polity to the [[Church of Scotland]] after spending time on the continent in [[John Calvin|Calvin's]] [[Geneva]]. Presbyterians historically uphold the [[Westminster Confession of Faith]].

=== Congregational ===
{{Main|Congregationalism}}
Congregationalism originates in [[Puritanism]], a sixteenth-century movement to reform the [[Church of England]]. Unlike the Presbyterians, Congregationalists consider the local church to be rightfully [[Autonomy|self-ruled]] by their own officers, not higher ecclesiastical courts. The [[Savoy Declaration]], a revision of Westminster, is the primary [[confession of faith|confession]] of historic Congregationalism.<ref>{{cite book |title=Puritans and Puritanism in Europe and America |year=2006 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |language=en |isbn=978-1-57607-678-1 |page=534}}</ref> Evangelical Congregationalists are internationally represented by the [[World Evangelical Congregational Fellowship]]. Christian denominations in the Congregationalist tradition include the [[United Church of Christ]], the [[National Association of Congregational Christian Churches]] and the [[Conservative Congregational Christian Conference]] in the United States, [[Evangelical Congregational Church in Argentina]] and [[Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches]] in the United Kingdom, among others.

=== Anglican ===
{{Further|Evangelical Anglicanism}}
Though Anglicanism today is often described as a separate branch from the Reformed, historic Anglicanism is a part of the wider Reformed tradition. The foundational documents of the Anglican church "express a theology in keeping with the Reformed theology of the Swiss and South German Reformation."<ref name="Jensen2015">{{cite web |last1=Jensen |first1=Michael P. |title=9 Things You Should Really Know About Anglicanism |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/nine-things-you-should-really-know-about-anglicanism/ |publisher=[[The Gospel Coalition]] |access-date=3 February 2020 |language=en |date=7 January 2015}}</ref> The Most Rev. Peter Robinson, [[presiding bishop]] of the [[United Episcopal Church of North America]], writes:<ref name="Robinson2012"/>
{{blockquote|Cranmer's personal journey of faith left its mark on the Church of England in the form of a Liturgy that remains to this day more closely allied to Lutheran practice, but that liturgy is couple to a doctrinal stance that is broadly, but decidedly Reformed. ... The 42 Articles of 1552 and the [[39 Articles]] of 1563, both commit the Church of England to the fundamentals of the Reformed Faith. Both sets of Articles affirm the centrality of Scripture, and take a [[Monergism|monergist]] position on Justification. Both sets of Articles affirm that the Church of England accepts the doctrine of predestination and election as a 'comfort to the faithful' but warn against over much speculation concerning that doctrine. Indeed a casual reading of the Wurttemburg Confession of 1551,{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=751}} the Second Helvetic Confession, the Scots Confession of 1560, and the XXXIX Articles of Religion reveal them to be cut from the same bolt of cloth.<ref name="Robinson2012">{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=Peter |title=The Reformed Face of Anglicanism |url=http://theoldhighchurchman.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-reformed-face-of-anglicanism.html |publisher=The Old High Churchman |access-date=3 February 2020 |language=en |date=2 August 2012}}</ref>}}

=== Baptist ===
{{Main|Reformed Baptists}}
Reformed or ''Calvinistic'' [[Baptist]]s,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heritage Baptist Church – A Brief History of Reformed Baptists |url=https://www.reformedbaptist.org/who-we-are/a-brief-history-of-reformed-baptists |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=www.reformedbaptist.org |language=en-US}}</ref> unlike other Reformed traditions, exclusively practice [[believer's baptism]]. They observe congregational polity like the Congregationalists. Their primary confession is the [[1689 Baptist Confession of Faith]], a revision of the [[Savoy Declaration]] of the Congregationalist Church, but other Baptist Confessions are also used.<ref name="Hicks2017">{{cite web |last1=Hicks |first1=Tom |date=30 March 2017 |title=What is a Reformed Baptist? |url=https://founders.org/2017/03/30/what-is-a-reformed-baptist/ |access-date=3 February 2020 |publisher=Founders Ministries |language=en}}</ref> Not all Baptists are Reformed. Some Reformed Baptists accept Reformed theology, especially [[Five Points of Calvinism|soteriology]], but do not hold to a specific confession or to [[covenant theology]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Masonheimer |first1=Phylicia |title=Every Woman a Theologian |date=February 2, 2023 |publisher=Thomas Nelson |isbn=978-0-7852-9222-7 |page=98}}</ref>