United and uniting churches

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Lesslie Newbigin was a leader in the uniting churches movement, as a founding bishop of the Church of South India, and later a moderator of the United Reformed Church.

United and uniting churches are churches formed from the merger or other form of union of two or more different Protestant denominations.

Perhaps the oldest example of a united church is found in Germany, where the Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of Lutheran, United and Reformed churches, a union dating back to 1817 in some parts of Germany (see Prussian Union).

Around the world, each united or uniting church comprises a different mix of predecessor denominations. Trends are visible, however, as most united and uniting churches have one or more predecessors with heritage in the Reformed tradition (either Presbyterian, Congregationalist, or both) and many are members of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.

[edit] Conciliar movement

In the 1950s and 1960s an ecumenical spirit emerged in many churches leading to a conciliar movement known in some circles as Conciliarity. A product of this movement was the Consultation on Church Union (C.O.C.U)]. COCU disbanded formally in 2002 but moved into the Churches Uniting in Christ movement.

[edit] United and Uniting Churches around the world

• Indonesia: Indonesia Christian Church or Gereja Kristen Indonesia, union of GKI East Java, GKI West Java and GKI Central Java in 1988
• Australia: Uniting Church in Australia, the 1977 union of Congregationalist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches
• Bangladesh: Church of Bangladesh
• Canada: United Church of Canada, the 1925 union of Congregationalist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches (including Bermuda [1])
• China: China Christian Council
• Germany: Evangelical Church in Germany, a federation of Lutheran, Reformed, and United churches
• India: Church of North India, the 1970 union of Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Disciples of Christ, Presbyterian, Congregational, and Brethren churches
• India: Church of South India, the 1947 union of Anglican, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian, and Reformed Churches.
• Italy: Union of Waldensian and Methodist Churches, the 1975 union of Waldensian and Methodist Churches
• Jamaica: United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands
• Japan: United Church of Christ in Japan (Nihon Kirisuto Kyōdan)
• Melanesia: United Church in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands
• the Netherlands: Protestant Church in the Netherlands, the 2004 union of the Dutch Reformed Church, the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands
• Pakistan: Church of Pakistan
• Philippines: United Church of Christ in the Philippines [2]
• Thailand: Church of Christ in Thailand
• United Kingdom: United Reformed Church, the 1972 union of Congregationalist and Presbyterian churches in England and Wales, later joined by the Churches of Christ and the Congregational Union of Scotland
• United States: United Church of Christ, the 1957 union of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church. United Methodist Church, the 1968 union of the The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. Another example is the Unitarian Universalist Association, formed from the 1961 union of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America.
• International: International Council of Community Churches

[edit] See also

• Christianity
• Church union
• List of Christian denominations
• Protestantism
• Restoration Movement (related to the Church of Christ)