Before World War I, the Reformed Christian Church in Serbia (Szerbiai Református Keresztén Egyház in Hungarian) was part of 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 ...

. In the period of the Reformation, Rev Sztáray planted 120 Calvinist congregations in the region. In the period of the Ottoman Empire, regions of

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

were part of the empire and some villages were destroyed. After the Turks were defeated, Hungarian Calvinists emerged from

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and ...

and

Szentes Szentes is a town in south-eastern Hungary, Csongrád county, near the Tisza river. The town is a cultural and educational center of the region. Notable people * Árpád Balázs (born 1937), classical music composer * János Bácskai 1954. novemb ...

. In 1898, a whole Catholic village converted to the

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 ...

faith because the Catholic church refused to celebrate the mass in the

Hungarian language Hungarian () is an Uralic language spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighbouring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Outside Hungary, it is also spoken by Hungarian ...

. After World War I, this part of Hungary was connected to

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

. In 1933, the Reformed Church in Yugoslavia was founded. At that time, among Hungarians, there were

German 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 **Ge ...

Calvinist congregations; the Germans arrived in this region in the 18th century. After World War II, the Germans were forced to leave the country. There are Czech-speaking and a remnant of German speaking congregations, which had suffered during the Communist regime. A number of congregations separated when Croatia become independent to form the Reformed Christian Church in Croatia. The church affirms the Apostles Creed, Athanasian Creed, Nicene Creed, 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 ...

, just like the official confessions of the Hungarian Reformed Church. The Reformed Hungarian speaking minority lives in predominantly in the northern part, especially in

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

. The Reformed Christian Church in Serbia had 17,000 members in almost 50 congregations composed in two presbyteries, served by 19 pastors in 2006. The headquarters of the church is Feketić (Bácsfeketehegy in Hungarian). The bishop is István Csete szemesi. 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 ...

References

External links

Church website
{{Christianity in Serbia Reformed denominations in Europe Protestantism in Serbia Members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches