Evangelical Reformed Church in Lithuania

Evangelical Reformed Church in Vilnius

The Evangelical Reformed Church in Lithuania - Unitas Lithuaniae (Lithuanian: Lietuvos evangelikų reformatų Bažnyčia - Unitas Lithuaniae ) dates back to the Reformation .

Today it has about 7000 members, which corresponds to 0.2% of the total population of Lithuania .

history

Evangelical Reformed Church in Kėdainiai

Evangelical Reformed Church in Biržai

The first Reformed service in Lithuania was held in Vilnius in 1553 . The founding date of the Church in Lithuania is December 14, 1557, when the first Reformed Synod was held in Vilnius in what was then the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . The Lithuanians sent representatives to the Polish-Lithuanian general synod, but administered themselves. The Latin abbreviation Unitas Lithuaniae goes back to this early period.

In addition to being open to Polish influences, the Church also accepted Reformed refugees from France ( Huguenots ), Scotland (followers of John Knox ) and other countries and was a multilingual community.

In 1565, before Fausto Sozzini opposed the Trinity in Poland , the anti-Trinitarian Lithuanian Brotherhood split off from the Evangelical Reformed Church. The church was further weakened by war and the Counter-Reformation , but it had around 10,000 members until World War II . During the Soviet rule (since 1944) the training of pastors was forbidden, the last one died in 1982. Until 1992 a Lutheran pastor took over. Even after Lithuania regained independence, the Reformed Church was shaken by crises. In 2001 the Synod restored the church order, but in the same year a fundamentalist splinter group (Sinodo Kolegija) split off.

organization

Huguenot cross - a symbol of the Reformed

The largest of the eleven parishes is located in Biržai , a center of the Reformation in Lithuania, followed by the parishes in Vilnius , Kaunas and Papilys . There are smaller parishes in Kėdainiai , Klaipėda , Nemunėlio Radviliškis near Biržai, Panevėžys , Salamiestis near Kupiškis , Šiauliai and Švobiškis ( Pasvalys district ). In accordance with reformed customs, parish autonomy is capitalized. Smaller parishes are only led by a parish council, with larger parishes a presbytery (seniūnai) is added.

The annual synod is responsible for the overall church leadership. Its members are the reformed clergy ( ordination of women is also common), the (non-spiritual) curators and other delegates from the congregations. There is a consistory as the administrative authority for the time between the individual synods .

The synod elects a general superintendent as chairman. His office corresponds to that of a bishop . The first superintendent was Simonas Zacijus (approx. 1507–1591), the current one is Rimas Mikalauskas.

The Evangelical Reformed Church in Lithuania is a member of the World Community of Reformed Churches and the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe .