The Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania or latin: "Unitas Lithuaniae"; polish: "Jednota Litewska" ( lt, Lietuvos evangelikų reformatų bažnyčia) is a

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 ...

denomination in Lithuania which uses

presbyterian polity Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") 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 ...

History

The church was founded on December 14, 1557, during the Synod of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

. The General synod met annually in Lithuania from that date. Started with 2 later grew to six districts Synods. The church's Latin name is the " Unitas Lithuaniae " shortly UL. It sent its representatives to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. But the UL was an independent denomination. The parish network covered all parts of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The first superintendent was Szymon Zacjusz. In 1565, the anti-

trinitarian The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the Fa ...

Lithuanian brotherhood separated from the Calvinist church. Parishes were in Vilnius,

Biržai Biržai (, known also by several alternative names) is a town in northern Lithuania. Biržai is famous for its reconstructed Biržai Castle manor, and the whole region is renowned for its many traditional-recipe beer breweries. Names The nam ...

, Švobiškis (Pasvays region); Nemunėlio Radviliškis (Biržai region); Salamiestis (Kupiškis region)

Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population is 23,667. Its old town dates to ...

Slutsk Slutsk ( officially transliterated as Sluck, be, Слуцк; russian: Слуцк; pl, Słuck, lt, Sluckas, Yiddish/Hebrew: סלוצק ''Slutsk'') is a city in Belarus, located on the Sluch River south of Minsk. As of 2022, its population i ...

Dzyarzhynsk Dzyarzhynsk or Dzerzhinsk, formerly Koidanova or Koydanava ( be, Дзяржы́нск, Dziaržynsk, formerly , ; russian: Дзержи́нск, Dzerzhinsk, formerly , ; pl, Kojdanów; yi, קוידאַנאָוו, Koydanov; lt, Kaidanava), in t ...

(Koydanava), Zabłudów and later in Izabelin ( be, Ізабэлін). Before World War II, the church had 10,000 believers; in 2012 it had approximately 7,000 in 14 congregations. In 1922 the denomination become a member of the

World Communion of Reformed Churches The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Chris ...

Theology

The church adheres to the Sandomierz Confession (Confessija Sandomierska) (1570),

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 ...

(1562), Heidelberg Catechism (1563). These are in Lithuanian and Polish language. The Sandomierz Confession was based on the Second Helvetic Confession and adopted by the Polish-Lithuanian General Synod, and was approved later by the Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania. The Great Gdansk Agenda (1637) is a liturgical book approved and adopted by the Unitas Lithuaniae.

International organisations

The church is a member of the

and has fraternal relationships with 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 ...

, the

Church of Lippe The Church of Lippe (german: link=no, Lippische Landeskirche) is a Reformed (Calvinist) member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany that covers what used to be the Principality of Lippe. Seat of the church administration is Detmold. The ...

. Denominational member of the

World Reformed Fellowship The World Reformed Fellowship (WRF) is an ecumenical Christian organization which promotes unity between confessional Calvinist churches around the world. History The World Fellowship of Reformed Churches was formed in 1994 by the Presbyterian ...

Churches

In Lithuania, churches can be found in

, Papilys, Kaunas, Nemunėlio Radviliškis, Švobiškis,

Šiauliai Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Names Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different la ...

Panevėžys Panevėžys (; Latin: ''Panevezen''; pl, Poniewież; yi, פּאָנעװעזש, ''Ponevezh''; see also other names) is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2011, it occupied with 113,653 inhabitants. As defined by Eurostat, the population ...

, Salamiestis, Kelmė.

References

External links