The Calvin Synod is an acting conference of the

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 approximatel ...

, composed entirely of Reformed, or

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

congregations of Hungarian descent. Unlike much of the UCC, the Synod is strongly conservative on doctrinal and social matters, and many members of the "Faithful and Welcoming Movement," a renewal group acting to move the UCC in a more orthodox direction, belong to this body.

Origin

Hungarians began to emigrate to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

toward the end of the 19th century. Like other immigrants of Protestant faith, they brought their Bibles, catechisms and hymnals with them, in order to pray and worship in their native language. Some congregations were independent, and some become affiliated with the

German Reformed Church German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law * ...

, the Reformed Church in America and the Presbyterian Church (USA). The attempts to create an independent denomination failed at first. However, the independent churches formed a Classis (the equivalent of a presbytery in Anglo-Saxon

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) in 1896, relating to the

Reformed Church in Hungary The Reformed Church in Hungary ( hu, Magyarországi Református Egyház, MRE) is the largest Protestant church in Hungary, with parishes among the Hungarian diaspora abroad. Today, it is made up of 1,249 congregations in 27 presbyteries and fou ...

. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the Hungarian Reformed Church was no longer able to provide money to the American immigrant congregations. The Reformed Church in Hungary assigned its Classis churches to the

in the U.S, then known as the Reformed Church in the United States (not the same denomination as the current one by that name, however). The RCH and the Classis signed the

Tiffin Tiffin is an Indian English word for a type of meal. It refers to a light breakfast or a light tea-time meal at about 3 p.m., consisting of typical tea-time foods. In certain parts of India, it can also refer to the midday luncheon or, in s ...

Agreement in 1921. Under the terms of the agreement, despite the formally presbyterian structure of the RCUS, the Classis congregations were given relative autonomy to practice their own traditions without outside interference. Several congregations, though, rejected this effort and created the free-standing

Hungarian Reformed Church in America The Hungarian Reformed Church in America is a mainline Reformed Protestant church in the United States that serves people of Hungarian ancestry. The church has approximately 6,080 members. History After World War I, Hungarian people began to co ...

. The Classis churches were organized into a non-geographical separate RCUS synod, the Magyar, similar to those previously provided for German-speaking congregations in the Midwestern U.S. and urban areas in the Northeast. In 1934 the

Evangelical Synod of North America The Evangelical Synod of North America, before 1927 German Evangelical Synod of North America, in German ''(Deutsche) Evangelische Synode von Nord-Amerika'', was a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States existing from the mid-19th c ...

and the RCUS united. The new group was known as 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 ...

and incorporated

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

doctrine, as well as Reformed. Although the Magyar Synod rejected the Lutheran doctrines brought from the ESNA and maintained its commitment to stricter, more dogmatically Calvinistic theology, the E&R Church continued to honor the Tiffin Agreement and opted to allow the Synod to keep its distinctive teachings within the general framework of the new denomination. Even though the Synod was the sole E&R synod to disapprove of the merger of the

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 ...

with the E&R Church to become the UCC, officials of the new denomination chose to continue the RCUS and E&R arrangement and exempt the Synod from the mandated geographical realignments of CC conferences and E&R synods into UCC entities, in the early 1960s. The only change that occurred was the renaming of the Magyar Synod to the Calvin Synod. The Synod has consistently rejected the UCC's predominantly (if not exclusively) liberal theological and political stances, especially its recent acceptance of

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

as an acceptable Christian lifestyle. When the 2005 General Synod passed a resolution calling for the equality of same-sex couples with those of traditional male-female marriages, the few Synod congregations that were actively participating in UCC functions outside the Synod discontinued doing so and re-directed their loyalties, along with their sister churches, toward the

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

-based F&W organization. As of 2013, the Synod's future in the UCC is still uncertain. In 2019, the Calvin Synod joined the Hungarian Reformed Church.

Statistics

The Synod has four classes, Classis East, Classis West, Classis Lakeside and Classis Central. The Synod reported 33 churches and some 4,000 members in 2006. According to the synod website there are 25 congregations in four classes. The bishop is the Rev. Csaba Krasznai. In 2012 the Calvin Synod’s Conference Council the members of the Council established the Vision and Church Growth Committee. It was requested and approved by the Calvin Synod Conference.

Doctrine

* Heidelberg Catechism *

Second Helvetic Confession The Helvetic Confessions are two documents expressing the common belief of the Calvinist churches of Switzerland. History The First Helvetic Confession ( la, Confessio Helvetica prior), known also as the Second Confession of Basel, was drawn up in ...

External links

*Official website
Calvin Synod

References

{{Presbyterian and Reformed denominations in the United States Reformed denominations in the United States United Church of Christ

Origin

Statistics

Doctrine

External links

See also

References