The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a

federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

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 ...

Church of Switzerland. The PCS is not a church in a theological understanding, because every member is independent with its own theological and formal organisation. It serves as a legal umbrella before the federal government and represents the church in international relations. Except for the Evangelical-Methodist Church, which covers all of Switzerland, the member churches are restricted to a certain territory. The president of the PCS is Rita Famos.

History

The

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

spread primarily into the cities of Switzerland, which was then composed of loosely connected cantons. Breakthroughs began in the 1520s in Zurich under

Huldrych Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a Swiss Christian theologian, musician, and leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swis ...

, in Bern in 1528 under

Berchtold Haller Berchtold Haller (c. 149225 February 1536) was a German Protestant reformer. He was the reformer of the city of Bern, Switzerland, where the Reformation received little to none opposition. Haller was born at Aldingen in Württemberg. After schooli ...

, and in Basel in 1529 under Johannes Oecolampadius. After the death of Zwingli in 1531, the Reformation continued. The French-speaking cities

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

and

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

changed to the Reformation ten years later under William Farel and

John Calvin John Calvin (; ; ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French Christian theology, theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformers, reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of C ...

coming from France. The Zwingli and Calvin branches had each their theological distinctions, but in 1549 under the lead of Bullinger and Calvin they came to a common agreement in the

Consensus Tigurinus The ''Consensus Tigurinus'' or Consensus of Zurich was a Protestant document written in 1549 by John Calvin and Heinrich Bullinger. The document was intended to bring unity to the Protestant churches on their doctrines of the sacraments, parti ...

(Zürich Consent), and 1566 in 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 ...

. The German Reformed ideological center was Zurich, while the French-speaking Reformed movement bastion was Geneva. A feature of the Swiss Reformed churches in the Zwinglian tradition is their historically very close links to the cantons, which is only loosening gradually in the present.. In cities where the Reformed faith became leading theology, several confessions were written, some of them: *''The 67 Articles of Zurich'' *''Theses of Berne 1528'' *''Berne Synodus 1532'' *''Confession of Geneva 1537'' *''Second Helvetic Confession'' written by Bullinger in 1566 In the mid-19th century, opposition to liberal theology and interventions by the state led to secessions in several cantonal churches. One of these secessionist churches still exists today, the Evangelical Free Church of Geneva, founded in 1849, while two others reunited with the Swiss Reformed Church in 1943 and 1966. An important issue to liberal theologians was the

Apostles' Creed The Apostles' Creed (Latin: ''Symbolum Apostolorum'' or ''Symbolum Apostolicum''), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith". "Its title is first found c.390 (Ep. 42.5 of Ambro ...

. They questioned its binding character. This caused a heated debate. Until the late 1870s, most cantonal reformed churches stopped prescribing any particular creed. In 1920 the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches ('', ', '' - SEK-FEPS), with 24 member churches - 22 cantonal churches and 2 free churches (Free Church of Geneva and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland), was formed to serve as a legal umbrella before the federal government and represent the church in international relations.

Social issues

The ordination of women is allowed in all member churches. As with most mainline European denominations, the Protestant Church in Switzerland has many member churches that permit prayer services or blessings for same-sex civil unions. As early as 1999, the Reformed churches in St. Gallen, Fribourg, and Lucerne had allowed church celebration services for same-sex couples. The Reformed Church in Aargau has also permitted prayer services of thanksgiving to celebrate a same-sex civil union. The Reformed Church of Vaud, in 2013, also permitted prayer services as a way for same-sex couples to celebrate their civil union. Other member churches that allow either prayer services or blessings for same-sex union are the churches in Bern-Jura-Solothurn, Schaffhausen, Tessin, Thurgau, and Zürich. Like many European Protestant denominations, several of the Swiss Reformed churches have openly welcomed gay and lesbian members to celebrate their civil unions within a church context. As early as 1999, the Reformed Churches in St. Gallen, Fribourg, and Lucerne had permitted prayer and celebration services for same-sex couples to recognize their civil unions. Since then, the Reformed Church in Aargau has also allowed for prayer services to celebrate same-sex couples. To date, seven other Swiss Reformed churches, including Bern-Jura-Solothurn, Graubünden, Schaffhausen, Ticino, Thurgau, Vaud, and Zürich, have allowed the

blessing of same-sex unions The blessing or wedding of same-sex marriages and same-sex unions is an issue about which leaders of Christian churches are in ongoing disagreement. Traditionally, Christianity teaches that sexual practices between men and sexual practices bet ...

for same-sex civil unions. In August 2019 with the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Zürich the first church of the Swiss Reformed Church allowed the blessing of same-sex marriages and the Swiss Reformed Church allowed blessing of same-sex marriages for their member churches.Kirchenbund.de: Rat des Kirchenbundes befürwortet die Öffnung der Ehe für gleichgeschlechtliche Paare (german)
August 29, 2019

Members of the communion

Organizationally, the Reformed Churches in Switzerland remain separate,

cantonal The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...

units. The German churches are more in the Zwinglian tradition; the French more in the

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

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 ...

(Swiss part)

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Protestantism in Switzerland 01 Members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches Members of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches Members of the World Council of Churches

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...