A united church, also called a uniting church, is a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

formed from the merger or other form of

church union Church union is the name given to a merger of two or more Christian denominations. Such unions may take on many forms, including a united church and a federation. United churches {{main, United and uniting churches A united church is the resu ...

of two or more different

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Christian denominations. Historically, unions of Protestant churches were enforced by the state, usually in order to have a stricter control over the religious sphere of its people, but also other organizational reasons. As modern Christian

ecumenism Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

progresses, unions between various Protestant traditions are becoming more and more common, resulting in a growing number of united and uniting churches. Examples include the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...

(1925), the

Church of North India The Church of North India (CNI) is the dominant united Protestant church in northern India. It was established on 29 November 1970 by bringing together the Protestant churches working in northern India. It is a province of the worldwide Anglica ...

(1970), the

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

(1977), the

Protestant Church in the Netherlands The Protestant Church in the Netherlands ( nl, de Protestantse Kerk in Nederland, abbreviated PKN) is the largest Protestant denomination in the Netherlands, being both Calvinist and Lutheran. It was founded on 1 May 2004 as the merger of the ...

(2004), and the

United Protestant Church of France The United Protestant Church of France (french: Église protestante unie de 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 o ...

(2013). Since the mid-20th century, and the rise of

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

worldwide,

mainline Protestant The mainline Protestant churches (also called mainstream Protestant and sometimes oldline Protestant) are a group of Protestant denominations in the United States that contrast in history and practice with evangelical, fundamentalist, and charis ...

ism has shrunk. Among others, Reformed (Calvinist),

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

, and

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

churches have merged, often creating large nationwide denominations. In some countries,

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

and/or

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

denominations have also merged. The phenomenon is much less common among

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

nondenominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

and charismatic churches as new ones arise and many of them remain independent of each other. Perhaps the oldest official united church is found in Germany, where the

Evangelical Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheranism, Lutheran, Continental Reformed church, Reformed (Calvinism, Calvinist) and united and uniting churches, United ( ...

is a federation of Lutheran, United ( Prussian Union) and

Reformed churches Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the Christian theology, theological tradition and forms of Christianity, Christ ...

, a union dating back to 1817. The first of the series of unions was at a synod in

Idstein Idstein () is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt (Old Town) it is part of the ''Deutsche Fachwerkstraße'' ...

to form the

Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau The Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau (german: Evangelische Kirche in Hessen und Nassau, EKHN) is a United Protestant church body in the German states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. There is no bishop and therefore no cathedral. One of it ...

in August 1817, commemorated in naming the church of Idstein Unionskirche one hundred years later. Around the world, each united or uniting church comprises a different mix of predecessor Protestant denominations. Trends are visible, however, as most united and uniting churches have one or more predecessors with heritage in the Reformed tradition and many are members of the

World Alliance of Reformed Churches The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) was a fellowship of more than 200 churches with roots in the 16th-century Reformation, and particularly in the theology of John Calvin. Its headquarters was in Geneva, Switzerland. They are now merged ...

Conciliar movement

In the 1950s and 1960s an ecumenical spirit emerged in many churches in the United States, leading to a

conciliar movement Conciliarism was a reform movement in the 14th-, 15th- and 16th-century Catholic Church which held that supreme authority in the Church resided with an ecumenical council, apart from, or even against, the pope. The movement emerged in response to ...

known in some circles as

Conciliarity Conciliarity is the adherence of various Christian communities to the authority of ecumenical councils and to synodal church governance. It is not to be confused with conciliarism, which is a particular historical movement within the Catholic Ch ...

. A product of this movement was the

Consultation on Church Union The Consultation on Church Union (COCU) was an effort towards church unity in the United States, that began in 1962 and in 2002 became the Churches Uniting in Christ. It was a significant part of the Christian movement towards ecumenism. This eff ...

(COCU). The COCU disbanded formally in 2002 but moved into the Churches Uniting in Christ movement.

United and uniting churches around the world

* Australia:

, the 1977 union of the

Congregational Union of Australia The Congregational Union of Australia was a Congregational denomination in Australia that stemmed from the Congregational Church in England as settlers migrated from there to Australia. Congregational Churches existed in all states and territo ...

Methodist Church of Australasia The Methodist Church of Australasia was a Methodist denomination based in Australia. On 1 January 1902, five Methodist denominations in Australia – the Wesleyan Methodist Church, the Primitive Methodists, the Bible Christian Church, the Unite ...

, and

Presbyterian Church of Australia The Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCA) is the largest Presbyterian denomination in Australia. (The larger Uniting Church in Australia incorporated about two-thirds of the PCA in 1977.) History Beginnings When captain James Cook lande ...

churches. * Bangladesh:

Church of Bangladesh The Church of Bangladesh is a united Protestant church formed by the union of various Protestant churches in Bangladesh, principally the Anglican and Presbyterian denominations. The Church of Bangladesh is a member of the Anglican Communion and Wor ...

, established in 1974 as a union of

and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

churches. * Canada:

, the 1925 union of Congregationalist,

Methodist Church (Canada) The Methodist Church was the major Methodist denomination in Canada from its founding in 1884 until it merged with two other denominations to form the United Church of Canada in 1925. The Methodist Church was itself formed from the merger of four ...

, and a majority of the Presbyterian Church in Canada (including Bermuda). * Czech Republic:

Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (ECCB) ( cs, Českobratrská církev evangelická; ČCE) is the largest Czech Protestant church and the second-largest church in the Czech Republic after the Catholic Church. It was formed in 1918 in C ...

, formed in 1918 in Czechoslovakia through the unification of the Protestant churches of the

and Reformed (Calvinist) confessions. However, the ECCB has deeper roots in the

Czech Reformation The Bohemian Reformation (also known as the Czech Reformation or Hussite Reformation), preceding the Reformation of the 16th century, was a Christian movement in the late medieval and early modern Kingdom and Crown of Bohemia (mostly what is n ...

: in the

Utraquist Utraquism (from the Latin ''sub utraque specie'', meaning "under both kinds") or Calixtinism (from chalice; Latin: ''calix'', mug, borrowed from Greek ''kalyx'', shell, husk; Czech: kališníci) was a belief amongst Hussites, a reformist Christia ...

Hussite Church The Czechoslovak Hussite Church ( cs, Církev československá husitská, ''CČSH'' or ''CČH'') is a Christian church that separated from the Catholic Church after World War I in former Czechoslovakia. Both the Czechoslovak Hussite Church and Mor ...

(1431–1620) and in the Unity of Brethren aka

Moravian Church The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...

(1457–1620). * France:

, formed in 2013 through the unification of the

Reformed Church of France The Reformed Church of France (french: Église réformée de 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 Evangel ...

and the

Evangelical Lutheran Church of France Evangelical Lutheran Church in France was a Lutheran denomination in France until its 2013 merger with the Reformed Church of France to form the United Protestant Church of France. It had 100,000 members at the time of the merger. It covered all o ...

. * Germany: Ten united church bodies within the

from unions of Lutheran and Reformed churches:

Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia The Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (german: Evangelische Kirche Berlin-Brandenburg-schlesische Oberlausitz, EKBO) is a United Protestant church body in the German states of Brandenburg, Berlin and a part of Saxony ( ...

, the

Evangelical Church in the Rhineland Protestant Church in the Rhineland (german: Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland; 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 th ...

, the

Evangelical Church of Westphalia The Protestant Church of Westphalia (german: Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen, EKvW) is a United Protestant church body in North Rhine-Westphalia. The seat of the praeses (german: Präses, the head of the church) is Bielefeld. The EKvW emerged ...

(all of them are successors of the Prussian Union of Churches), the

Evangelical Church of Anhalt The Evangelical Church of Anhalt (''Evangelische Landeskirche Anhalts'') is a United Protestant member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany. Its seat is in Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt, in the former duchy of Anhalt. The Evangelical ...

, the

Protestant Church in Baden The Protestant Church in Baden (german: link=no, Evangelische Landeskirche in Baden; i.e. Evangelical Regional Church in Baden) is a United Protestant member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), and member of the Conference of Church ...

, the

Evangelical Church of Bremen The Evangelical Church of Bremen (german: Bremische Evangelische Kirche) is a United Protestant member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. The seat of the church is in Bremen. It is a full member of ...

, the

Evangelical Church in Central Germany The Evangelical Church in Central Germany (German: ''Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland''; ''EKM'') is a United church body covering most of the German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia and some adjacent areas in Brandenburg and Saxony. ...

, the

Evangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck The Evangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck (german: Evangelische Kirche von 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. Constituti ...

and the

Evangelical Church of the Palatinate Evangelical Church of the Palatinate (german: Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz (Protestantische Landeskirche)) is a United Protestant church in parts of the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, endorsing both Lutheran and Calvinist o ...

(Protestant State Church). * India:

, the 1970 union of Anglican, Methodist,

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

Disciples of Christ The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...

, Presbyterian, Congregational, and the

Church of the Brethren The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren (german: link=no, Schwarzenauer Neutäufer "Schwarzenau New Baptists") tradition that was organized in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Germa ...

churches. * India:

Church of South India The Church of South India (CSI) is a united Protestant Church in India. It is the result of union of a number of mainline Protestant denominations in South India after independence. The Church of South India is the successor of a number of Pr ...

, the 1947 union of Anglican, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian, and Reformed churches. * Indonesia: Indonesia Christian Church or ''Gereja Kristen Indonesia'', union of GKI East Java, GKI West Java and GKI Central Java in 1988, and the

Indonesian Gospel Tabernacle Church Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesia ...

. * Italy:

Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches The Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches ( it, Unione delle Chiese Metodiste e Valdesi) is an Italian united Protestant denomination. It was founded in 1975 upon the union of the Waldensian Evangelical Church (a Calvinist church with pre ...

, the 1975 union of

Waldensian Evangelical Church The Waldensian Evangelical Church (''Chiesa Evangelica Valdese'', CEV) is a Protestant denomination active in Italy and Switzerland that was independent until it united with the Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy in the Union of Methodist and ...

and the

Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy The Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy ( it, Chiese Evangelica Metodista in Italia), known also as Italian Methodist Church (''Chiese Metodista Italiana''), is a Protestant church in the Methodist tradition active in Italy that was independent ...

. * Jamaica:

United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands The United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands is a united church formed on 1 December 1965 as the "United Church of Jamaica and Grand Cayman" by bringing the Protestant denominations "Presbyterian Church in Jamaica" and "Congregational Union ...

, the 1965 union of Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Disciples of Christ churches. * Japan:

United Church of Christ in Japan The United Church of Christ in Japan (UCCJ; ja, 日本基督教団 ''Nihon Kirisuto Kyōdan'', or ''Kyōdan'' for short) is the largest Protestant denomination in Japan. It is a union of thirty-three diverse Protestant denominations forcibly me ...

, the 1941 union of thirty-three Protestant denominations. * Kiribati:

Kiribati Uniting Church The Kiribati Uniting Church (KUC) (until 2014 the Kiribati Protestant Church and earlier, the Gilbert Islands Protestant Church) is a united Protestant Christian denomination in Kiribati. With approximately 25,000 members,

, a union of several Protestant denominations in Kiribati, including Congregationalists, Evangelicals, Anglicans, and Presbyterians. * Melanesia:

United Church in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands The United Church in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands is United church in Methodist and the Reformed tradition. It was formed in 1968 by merging the efforts of the London Missionary Society (operating exclusively in Papua), the relatively ma ...

, a United church in the Methodist and the Reformed tradition * Netherlands:

, the 2004 union of the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

, the

Reformed Churches in the Netherlands {{Infobox Christian denomination , name = Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Dutch ''Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland'') , image = , caption = , main_classification = Protestant , orientation = Calvinist , polity = Presbyterianism , ...

, and the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands The Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Evangelisch-Lutherse Kerk in het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) was a denomination in the Netherlands which under that name existed from 1818 to 2004. In 2004, the denomination ...

. * Pakistan:

Church of Pakistan The Church of Pakistan is a united Protestant Church in Pakistan, which is part of the Anglican Communion and a member of the World Communion of Reformed ChurchesDatabase (9 February 2006)"Sialkot Diocese of the Church of Pakistan" Reformed Onl ...

, the 1970 union of Anglicans, Scottish Presbyterians (

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

), Methodists, and Lutherans. * Philippines:

United Church of Christ in the Philippines The United Church of Christ in the Philippines (Tagalog: ''Ang Nagkaisang Iglesia ni Cristo sa Pilipinas''; Ilokano: ''Nagkaykaysa nga Iglesia Ni Cristo iti Filipinas'') is a Christian denomination in the Philippines. Established in its present f ...

, a merger of the Evangelical Church of the Philippines, the Philippine Methodist Church, the Disciples of Christ, the

United Evangelical Church The United Evangelical Church is a splinter group from the Evangelical Association History It was formed in 1891 when some members of the Evangelical Association left to form the new church. The schism was caused by the autocratic administration ...

and several independent congregations. * Sweden:

Evangelical Free Church in Sweden The Evangelical Free Church in Sweden ( sv, Evangeliska frikyrkan is a Baptist Christian denomination in Sweden. The headquarters is in Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capit ...

, the 2002 union of the

Örebro Mission The Örebro Mission ( sv, Örebromissionen) was a Protestant denomination in Sweden. It was founded in Örebro in 1892 by Baptist pastor John Ongman and was part of the Baptist Union of Sweden until 1936. In 1997, the denomination became part o ...

, the

Free Baptist Union The Free Baptist Union (Swedish: ) was a Swedish Baptist denomination that began in 1872, when Baptist preacher was expelled from the Baptist Union of Sweden, after having been accused of heresy. The Free Baptist Union gained followers mainly ...

and the Holiness Union. * Sweden:

Uniting Church in Sweden Uniting Church in Sweden ( sv, Equmeniakyrkan) is a united Protestant denomination in Sweden. History It was established on 4 June 2011 by the merger of the United Methodist Church, Baptist Union of Sweden, and Mission Covenant Church of Swede ...

, the 2011 union of the

Baptist Union of Sweden The Baptist Union of Sweden ( sv, Svenska Baptistsamfundet) is the oldest of several Baptist bodies in Sweden. The first-known Baptist church in Sweden was organized on September 21, 1848, in Vallersvik, where a group of people committed the firs ...

, the Swedish branch of the

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

, and the

Mission Covenant Church of Sweden The Mission Covenant Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska Missionskyrkan), founded in 1878, was a Swedish evangelical free church. It was the second-largest Protestant denomination in Sweden, after the national church, the Church of Sweden. In 2011, t ...

. * Thailand:

Church of Christ in Thailand The Church of Christ in Thailand (C.C.T.) ( Thai: สภาคริสตจักรในประเทศไทย) is a Protestant Christian association. It is the largest Protestant denomination in Thailand and is considered to be the lar ...

* United Kingdom:

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. Origins and history The United Reformed Church resulte ...

, the 1972 union of the

Congregational Union of England and Wales The Congregational Union of England and Wales brought together churches in England and Wales in the Congregational tradition between 1831 and 1966. The Congregational churches emerged from the Puritan movement, each church operating independently ...

and the Presbyterian Church of England, later joined by the Churches of Christ (Europe) and the

Congregational Union of Scotland The Congregational Union of Scotland was a Protestant church in the Reformed tradition. The union was established in 1812, by 53 churches in Scotland. Its aim was to conduct missions in Scotland, and to support the existing Congregational churche ...

. * United Kingdom:

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; gd, An Eaglais Shaor Aonaichte, sco, The Unitit Free Kirk o Scotland) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and ...

, formed in 1900 by the union of the

United Presbyterian Church of Scotland The United Presbyterian Church (1847–1900) was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination. It was formed in 1847 by the union of the United Secession Church and the Relief Church, and in 1900 merged with the Free Church of Scotland to form the Unit ...

(or UP) and the majority of the 19th-century Free Church of Scotland. * United States:

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...

, the 1957 union of the two previously united churches:

Congregational Christian Churches The Congregational Christian Churches were a Protestant Christian denomination that operated in the U.S. from 1931 through 1957. On the latter date, most of its churches joined the Evangelical and Reformed Church in a merger to become the United ...

and the

Evangelical and Reformed Church The Evangelical and Reformed Church (E&R) was a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. It was formed in 1934 by the merger of the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) with the Evangelical Synod of North America (ESNA). A ...

. * United States:

, the 1968 union of the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

and the

Evangelical United Brethren Church The Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) was a North American Protestant church from 1946 to 1968. It was formed by the merger of the Evangelical Church (formerly the Evangelical Association, founded by Jacob Albright) and the Church of the ...

. * United States:

Unitarian Universalist Association Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, both P ...

, the 1961 consolidation of the

American Unitarian Association The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Uni ...

and the

Universalist Church of America The Universalist Church of America (UCA) was originally a Christian Universalist religious denomination in the United States (plus affiliated churches in other parts of the world). Known from 1866 as the Universalist General Convention, the name ...

References

{{Reflist Church organization

Conciliar movement

United and uniting churches around the world

See also

References