Reformed church

Any of several Protestant groups strongly influenced by Calvinism.

They are often called by national names (Swiss Reformed, Dutch Reformed, etc.). The name was originally used by all the Protestant churches that arose out of the 16th-century Reformation but was later confined to the Calvinistic churches of continental Europe, most of which use a Presbyterian form of church government. The Calvinistic churches of the British Isles became known as Presbyterian churches (see Presbyterianism).

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▪ Christianity

      any of several major representative groups of classical Protestantism (Protestant Heritage) that arose in the 16th-century Reformation. Originally, all of the Reformation churches used this name (or the name Evangelical) to distinguish themselves from the “unreformed,” or unchanged, Roman Catholic church. After the great controversy among these churches over the Lord's Supper (after 1529), the followers of Martin Luther (Luther, Martin) began to use the name Lutheran as a specific name, and the name Reformed became associated with the Calvinistic (Calvinism) churches (and also for a time with the Church of England (England, Church of)). Eventually the name Presbyterian, which denotes the form of church polity used by most of the Reformed churches, was adopted by the Calvinistic churches of British background. The modern Reformed churches thus trace their origins to the Continental Calvinistic churches that retained the original designation. The Reformed and Presbyterian churches are treated jointly in the article Reformed and Presbyterian churches.

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