The Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE; German: ''Gemeinschaft Evangelischer Kirchen in Europa'', GEKE) is a fellowship of over 100 Protestant churches which have signed the Leuenberg Agreement. Together they strive for realizing church communion, especially by cooperation in witness and service to the world. Prior to 2003 the CPCE was known as the "Leuenberg Church Fellowship". In membership are most

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

and

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

churches in Europe, the united churches that originated from mergers of those churches, and such pre-Reformation churches as the

Waldensians The Waldensians, also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi, or Vaudois, are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the Poor of Lyon in the l ...

. The European

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

churches joined the CPCE by a common declaration of church fellowship in 1997. The General Secretary of the CPCE is Mario Fischer. The Community's offices are located in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, and are shared with those of the Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria.

History

In 1973, theologians from major European Lutheran and Reformed churches met at the Swiss conference centre Leuenberg (near

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

) and finalized the Leuenberg Agreement or Leuenberg Concord, an

ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

document declaring unity through Jesus Christ. Under this agreement the churches agree on a common understanding of the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

, including elementary agreement on important doctrines including

christology In Christianity, Christology is a branch of Christian theology, theology that concerns Jesus. Different denominations have different opinions on questions such as whether Jesus was human, divine, or both, and as a messiah what his role would b ...

predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby Go ...

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

and justification. They declare church fellowship, understood as pulpit and table fellowship as well as

full communion Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations or Christian individuals that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constit ...

in witness and service. The churches involved were originally joined by an organization called the "Leuenberg Church Fellowship". In 2003 this was renamed the "Community (since 2020: "Communion") of Protestant Churches in Europe" as a sign of growing beyond the Lutheran and Reformed traditions, and now includes several Methodist churches. Since then, the CPCE has started ecumenical dialogue with

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, and Orthodox churches. In 2006, the CPCE published a statute of church constitution, and in 2011 published new guidelines for churches wishing to join. This declaration made clear that "churches wishing to join recognize the ordination and ministry of women ministers in other CPCE churches"."Guidelines" (2011), §6

Member churches

European countries

*Iceland **

Church of Iceland The Church of Iceland (), officially the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland (), is the State religion, national church of Iceland. The church is Christian and professes the Lutheranism, Lutheran faith. It is a member of the Lutheran World ...

*Norway **

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

*Denmark **

Church of Denmark The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church ( , or unofficially ; ), sometimes called the Church of Denmark, is the established, state-supported church in Denmark. The supreme secular authority of the church is composed of ...

** Reformed Synod of Denmark *United Kingdom **

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

** German-Speaking Evangelical-Lutheran Synod in Great Britain **

Presbyterian Church of Wales The Presbyterian Church of Wales (), also known as the Calvinistic Methodist Church (), is a denomination of Protestant Christianity based in Wales. The Calvinistic Methodist movement has its origins in the 18th-century Welsh Methodist revival ...

Methodist Church in Ireland The Methodist Church in Ireland () is a Wesleyan Methodist church that operates across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on an all-Ireland basis. It is the fourth-largest Christian denomination in Northern Ireland. The Irish Met ...

Methodist Church of Great Britain The Methodist Church of Great Britain is a Protestantism, Protestant List of Christian denominations, Christian denomination in Britain, and the mother church to Methodism, Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council. M ...

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; , ) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and the Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), majority of the 19th-cen ...

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...

*Ireland **

Lutheran Church in Ireland The Lutheran Church in Ireland (, ) is a Lutheranism, Lutheran church, operating across the island of Ireland. In 1955 the Lutheran church was re-established in Dublin, with the installation of Pastor Hans Mittorp

Presbyterian Church in Ireland The Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI; ; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Prisbytairin Kirk in Airlann'') is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the Republic of Ireland, and the largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland. ...

*Netherland **

Protestant Church in the Netherlands The Protestant Church in the Netherlands (, abbreviated PKN) is the largest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Netherlands, consisting of historical Calvinism, Calvinist and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. It w ...

** Remonstrant Brotherhood *Luxembourg ** Protestant Church of Luxembourg ** Protestant Reformed Church of Luxembourg *Austria ** Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria ** Reformed Church in Austria *Liechtenstein ** Evangelical Church in Liechtenstein *Germany ** Protestant Church in Germany ** Evangelical Reformed Church in Germany ** Union of Protestant Churches in the EKD ** Conference of Churches on the Rhine ** ** Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany ** Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg ** Pomeranian Evangelical Church ** Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg **

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria () is a Lutheran member church of the Protestant Church in Germany in the German state of Bavaria. The seat of the church is in Munich. The '' Landesbischof'' (bishop) of the church is Heinrich Bedford ...

** Evangelical Church of Bremen ** Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia ** Protestant Church of Anhalt ** Evangelical Church in Central Germany **

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick () is a Lutheran church in the German states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. The seat of the Landesbischof (bishop) is Wolfenbüttel. Its district as a '' Landeskirche'' covers the former Free Sta ...

Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover () is a Lutheran church body ''(Landeskirche)'' in the northern German state of Lower Saxony and the city of Bremerhaven covering the territory of the former Kingdom of Hanover. The seat of the Landesb ...

** Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schaumburg-Lippe ** Church of Lippe ** Evangelical Church of Westphalia **

Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony () is one of 20 member Churches of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD), covering most of the state of Saxony. Its headquarters are in Dresden, and the seat of the bishop (styled Bishop of Saxony) is ...

Evangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck The Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck (; EKKW) is a United Protestant church body in former Hesse-Cassel and the Waldeck part of the former Free State of Waldeck-Pyrmont. Constitution The EKKW is a full member of the Protestant Churc ...

** Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau **

Evangelical Church in the Rhineland The Protestant Church in the Rhineland (; EKiR) is a United Protestant church body in parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Hesse (Wetzlar). This is actually the area covered by the former Prussi ...

** ** Evangelical Church of the Palatinate ** Protestant Church in Baden ** Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg ** Evangelical Reformed Church in Bavaria and Northwestern Germany ** Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania in Exile (Germany) * Switzerland ** Protestant Church of Switzerland ** Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein * France **

United Protestant Church of France The United Protestant Church of France () is the main and largest Protestant church in France, created in 2013 through the unification of the Reformed Church of France and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of France. It is active in all parts of ...

*** Evangelical Lutheran Church of France ***

Reformed Church of France The Reformed Church of France (, ERF) was the main Protestant denomination in France with a Calvinist orientation that could be traced back directly to John Calvin. In 2013, the Church merged with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in France to ...

** Union of Protestant Churches of Alsace and Lorraine *** Protestant Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine *** Protestant Church of Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine * Belgium **

United Protestant Church in Belgium The United Protestant Church in Belgium (VPKB/EPUB) is a minority Christian church in Belgium, where the majority of the population is Catholic. It is the largest Protestant denomination in the country. The name of the church in Dutch is ''Vereni ...

* Spain ** Spanish Evangelical Church * Portugal ** ** Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Portugal * Italy ** Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches *** Waldensian Evangelical Church *** Methodist Church in Italy **

Lutheran Evangelical Church in Italy The Lutheran Evangelical Church in Italy (, , abbreviated CELI or ELKI) is a Protestant denomination in the Lutheran tradition in Italy. Founded in 1949, the CELI/ELKI, which includes both German- and Italian-speaking communities, is a member o ...

* Romania ** Evangelical Lutheran Church of Romania **

Reformed Church in Romania The Reformed Church in Romania (; ) is a Calvinist denomination and the largest Protestant church in Romania. The majority of its followers are of Hungarian ethnicity and Hungarian is the main church language. The large majority of the Church's ...

*** Reformed Diocese of Királyhágómellék *** Reformed Diocese of Transylvania ** Evangelical Church of Augustan Confession in Romania * Greece ** Greek Evangelical Church ** * Croatia ** Evangelical Church in the Republic of Croatia ** Reformed Christian Church in Croatia * Slovenia ** Evangelical Church of Slovenia * Serbia ** Slovak Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Serbia ** Reformed Christian Church in Serbia * Hungary **

Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary (ELCH; ) is a Protestant Lutheran denomination in Hungary. In 2019, there were 176,000 baptized members. The church has three dioceses, with nearly 300 parishes and 500 places of worship in Hungary, and ...

Reformed Church in Hungary The Reformed Church in Hungary (, MRE, ) is the largest Protestant church in Hungary, with parishes also among the Hungarian diaspora abroad. It is made up of 1,249 congregations in 27 presbyteries and four church districts and has a membershi ...

* Slovakia ** Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia ** Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia * Czech Republic ** Czechoslovak Hussite Church ** Church of the Brethren in the Czech Republic ** Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren ** Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession *Poland **

Polish Reformed Church The Polish Reformed Church, officially called the Evangelical Reformed Church in the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Kościół Ewangelicko-Reformowany w RP'') is a historic Calvinistic Protestant church in Poland established in the 16th century ...

Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Republic of Poland () is a Lutheran denomination and the largest Protestant body in Poland with about 61,000 members and 133 parishes. History The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Co ...

*Ukraine ** Reformed Church in Transcarpathia * Russia ** Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asia * Estonia **

Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC; Estonian: ''Eesti Evangeelne Luterlik Kirik'', abbreviated EELK) is a Lutheran church in Estonia. The EELC is member of the Lutheran World Federation and belongs to the Community of Protestant Ch ...

* Latvia **

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (, or LELB) is a Lutheranism, Lutheran Protestant church in Latvia. Latvia's Lutheran heritage dates back to the Protestant Reformation, Reformation. Both the Nazi and communist regimes persecuted the c ...

*Lithuania ** Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lithuania ** Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Church

Other countries

* Argentina ** United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Argentina ** Evangelical Methodist Church in Argentina ** Reformed Church of Argentina * Argentina – Uruguay – Paraguay ** Waldensian Church of the River Plate ** Evangelical Church of the River Plate * Ecuador ** Iglesia Evangélica Luterana del Ecuador (Evangelical Lutheran church of Ecuador)

International churches

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

Central and Southern Europe Central Conference Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

** Germany Central Conference ** Northern Europe Central Conference ** United Methodist church, Nordic and Baltic Area ** United Methodist Church Eurasia Episcopal Area *

Moravian Church The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the original ...

* Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad

Participating churches

* Sweden **

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden () is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.5 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest List ...

** Uniting Church in Sweden (part of the Swedish Free Church Council) * Finland **

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (; ) is a national church of Finland. It is part of the Lutheranism, Lutheran branch of Christianity. The church has a legal position as a national church in the country, along with the Orthodox Church o ...

References

External links

*
A history of the Leuenberg Agreement
{{Authority control International organisations based in Vienna Protestant ecumenism Christian ecumenical organizations 20th-century Lutheranism 20th-century Reformed Christianity 1973 in Christianity 1973 documents Church of Scotland