Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church. Presbyterian churches derive their name from the presbyterian form of church government by representative assemblies of elders. Many Reformed churches are organised this way, but the word Presbyterian, when capitalized, is often applied to churches that trace their roots to the Church of Scotland or to English Dissenter groups that formed during the English Civil War.
Presbyterianpolity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply. Groups of local churches are governed by a higher assembly of elders known as the presbytery or classis; presbyteries can be grouped into a synod, and presbyteries and synods nationwide often join together in a general assembly. Responsibility for conduct of church services is reserved to an ordained minister or pastor known as a teaching elder, or a minister of the word and sacrament.
The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 104,921 members. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed Church.
The Christian Reformed Church in North America is a Protestant Calvinist Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. Having roots in the Dutch Reformed Church of the Netherlands, the Christian Reformed Church was founded by Dutch immigrants in 1857 and is theologically Calvinist.
The Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland is a non-creedal Christian denomination, which maintains a great emphasis on individual conscience in matters of Christian faith.
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARPC), as it exists today, is the historical descendant of the Synod of the South, a Synod of the Associate Reformed Church. The original Associate Reformed Church resulted from a merger of the Associate Presbytery and most of the Reformed Presbytery in Philadelphia in 1782. The northern Synods eventually merged with the forebears of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Because of its 1782 date of origin, it is one of the oldest of the United States' theologically and socially conservative denominations.
The Canadian and American Reformed Churches (CanRC) is a federation of Protestant Reformed (Calvinist) churches in Canada and the United States, with historical roots in the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands.
The Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) is a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. The present RCUS is a conservative, Calvinist denomination. It affirms the principles of the Reformation: Sola scriptura, Solus Christus, Sola gratia, Sola fide, and Soli Deo gloria. The RCUS has membership concentrated in the Midwest and California.
The Protestant Reformed Churches in America is a Protestant denomination of 33 churches and over 8,000 members.
Reformed Churches of New Zealand is a Calvinist denomination in New Zealand. The denomination is constituted of 22 member churches, the first seven of which were formed in 1953. Total membership as of 2023 stands at 3,530.
The Heritage Reformed Congregations (HRC) is a Reformed denomination in the United States and Canada influenced by the tradition of English Puritanism and the Dutch Nadere Reformatie.
The Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands is a Protestant church in the Netherlands.
The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) (Dutch: Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (vrijgemaakt)) was an orthodox Calvinist federation of churches. This church body arose in 1944 out of the so-called Liberation (Vrijmaking) from the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, when many pastors and members refused to go along with the General Synod's demand to hold to "presumed regeneration of infants" at their baptism. Klaas Schilder played an important role in the Liberation. There are currently 270 affiliated local congregations with a total of about 120,000 members in 2016.
The Restored Reformed Church is a Calvinist denomination in the Netherlands. It was founded in 2004, from congregations which made up the orthodox-reformed wing of the Dutch Reformed Church; they had previously been part of groups named Het Gekrookte Riet and the still existing Gereformeerde Bond within the Dutch Reformed Church. The Church has grown steadily since its founding.
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) is a Presbyterian church with congregations and missions throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, and Chile. Its beliefs—held in common with other members of the Reformed Presbyterian Global Alliance—place it in the conservative wing of the Reformed family of Protestant churches. Below the Bible—which is held as divinely inspired and without error—the church is committed to several "subordinate standards," together considered with its constitution: the Westminster Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms, along with its Testimony, Directory for Church Government, the Book of Discipline, and Directory for Worship.
The Presbyterian Church of Pakistan Operation Office 6 Empress road, Lahore is the largest Presbyterian, Reformed denominations is the second largest Protestants in Pakistan. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of United Presbyterian Church of Pakistan (1855-1993) and Council of Churches of Lahore.
The United Presbyterian Church of Pakistan is the second-largest Presbyterian, Reformed denominations and the third-largest Protestant denomination in Pakistan. It was formed in 1968 by churches that split from the United Presbyterian Church of Pakistan (1855-1993).
The Reformed Churches in South Africa is a Christian denomination in South Africa that was formed in 1859 in Rustenburg. Members of the church are sometimes referred to as Doppers.
The Kosin Presbyterian Church in Korea, also called Korea-pa, is an Evangelical Reformed and Presbyterian denomination in the Republic of South Korea. Although, congregations have spread all over North America and in many other countries.
For the current denomination, founded in 1968, dissenting from this, see United Presbyterian Church of Pakistan
