The Hungarian Reformed Church (HRC) or Hungarian Reformed Communion () is a global fellowship of

continental Reformed Continental Reformed Christianity or Continental Reformed Protestantism is a part of Reformed Christianity within Protestantism that traces its origin to continental Europe. Prominent subgroups are the Dutch Reformed, Swiss Reformed, French Hug ...

denominations historically related to the Reformed Church of Hungary. The purpose of the organization is to maintain unity among Hungarian Reformed churches in different countries and to give joint representation of denominations in international organizations of Reformed denominations.

History

From the

Dissolution of Austria-Hungary The dissolution of Austria-Hungary was a major political event that occurred as a result of the growth of internal social contradictions and the separation of different parts of Austria-Hungary. The more immediate reasons for the collapse of the ...

, after the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the members of the Reformed Church of Hungary were spread over several countries. In each of these, Hungarian reformeds organized themselves as a new national denomination. On May 22, 2009, 6 of the Hungarian Reformed denominations (

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 ...

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 Church in Transcarpathia, Reformed Christian Church in Serbia, Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia and Reformed Church in Slovenia) decided to form a Hungarian Reformed Communion, also called the Hungarian Reformed Church. In the same year, the Hungarian Reformed Church in America joined the organization. In 2013, the Reformed Christian Church in Croatia was accepted as a member. In 2019, the Calvin Synod (United Church of Christ) was accepted as a member and in 2024, the Hungarian Reformed Church in Australia also joined.

Doctrine

All denominations part of the communion subscribe to the

Second Helvetic Confession The Helvetic Confessions are two documents expressing the common belief of Reformed Christianity, Reformed churches, especially in Switzerland, whose primary author was the Swiss Reformed theologian Heinrich Bullinger. The First Helvetic Confessi ...

and

Heidelberg Catechism The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), one of the Three Forms of Unity, is a Reformed catechism taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Reformed Christian doctrine. It was published in 1563 in Heidelberg, Germany. Its ...

as a faithful expression of biblical doctrines, such as the Reformed Church of Hungary. Likewise, they differ from the other reformed denominations in that they call those responsible for a church jurisdiction "bishop".

Members

Communion members are:

References

{{Reflist, 3 International bodies of Reformed denominations