Evangelical Reformed Churches in Switzerland
The Evangelical Reformed churches in Switzerland are Reformed churches (mostly - with the exception of the cantons Neuchâtel and Geneva - regional churches ) in Switzerland .
history
The churches are historically based on the teachings of Huldrych Zwingli and Johannes Calvin (the German-speaking churches are more influenced by Zwingli, the French-speaking churches more by Calvin). In the historically reformed cantons (e.g. Bern , Vaud and Zurich ) and in the denominational cantons (e.g. Aargau , Graubünden and St. Gallen ) they go back to the Reformation , while in the historically Catholic cantons (e.g. B. Lucerne , Zug , Ticino and Valais ) Protestant communities mostly only emerged in the 19th century.
The Protestant agenda of the reformed state churches of the cantons was replaced in 1858 by the Swiss Conference of Churches . In 1920 the cantonal churches merged to form the Swiss Evangelical Church Federation. Through him, the cantonal churches are involved in ecumenical organizations, including the Community of Evangelical Churches in Europe , so that the break with the Lutheran churches has not existed since 1973. The Federation of Churches, to which the Evangelical Methodist Church belonged from the beginning , has been called Evangelical Reformed Church Switzerland since the beginning of 2020 .
Doctrine and denominational expression
Since neither the Confessio Helvetica prior of 1536 nor the Second Helvetic Confession of 1561 (printed in 1566) applied to all cantons, the Consensus Helveticus of 1674 became the first common confession of the Swiss Reformed Churches. However, it was gradually abolished by the cantonal churches as early as the 18th century. Since the 19th century, the Evangelical Reformed churches in Switzerland have been largely shaped by liberal theology and no longer have a binding creed.
The churches see themselves as «free of denial». The creeds of the old church are not included in most of the liturgies of the Reformed parishes in Switzerland. There is no official denominational teaching. In earlier times, however, the Reformed churches of the Old Confederation had tried to formulate confessions.
Around the middle of the 19th century, with the dispute between the Apostles and the Reformed regional churches in German-speaking Switzerland, a renewed dispute over the creed arose . Liberal theologians rejected the apostolic creed as "catholic". In 1868 a revised liturgy was introduced in Zurich; In Thurgau, the abolition of the Apostolicum was decided in 1874, which led to the separation of a Free Evangelical Congregation. In the 1870s there were also violent clashes in Basel and Bern. Theological liberalism prevailed completely in German-speaking Switzerland; around 1880 the Apostolicum was no longer compulsory in most regional churches. A large part of the Swiss national churches are still liberal today, with an evangelical minority each.
The ordination of women has been practiced since the 1970s in all the country's churches. Some regional churches have also been offering blessing services for homosexual couples since the 1990s, but this has also led to sharp internal contradictions. In August 2019, the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches endorsed the marriage of same-sex couples and recommended that their member churches implement this.
Divine service in the Reformed churches is not tied to a specific form; its center lies in the preaching , in baptism and the Lord's Supper . While the regional churches no longer prescribe liturgies as mandatory, cantonal liturgies continued to be drawn up, such as the Zurich Liturgy of 1969, which was also included in the hymnbook of the Evangelical Reformed churches in German-speaking Switzerland .
Baptism is usually given to children. It can also be donated later, but is not a requirement for membership. The number of Reformed baptisms donated annually fell from 40,000 (1960) to 14,500 (2012). Likewise, the lack of confirmation is not an obstacle to church membership.
The Lord's Supper is celebrated as a memorial meal on high feast days, but also on other occasions, depending on the parish or regional church.
organization
All reformed Swiss national churches are synodally organized. Pastors and church administrators (also called parish councils, church councils, parish councils or similar, depending on the regional church) are democratically elected by the members of the parish, the regional church parliament ( synod ) by the denominational members of the canton. Church (council) presidents (supreme head of the cantonal church executive) are “primi inter pares” (first among equals), and therefore have no higher spiritual dignity than the other members of the church or synodal council; there is no bishopric.
The local communities are financially independent; church administration and pastors are in charge; essential decisions are made by the parish assembly.
A special characteristic of the Swiss Reformed churches in the originally Reformed cantons is their historically close ties to the state, which is otherwise rare in Reformed churches. Most of the Reformed churches, at least in Zurich , Bern , Basel , Geneva and Neuchâtel , came into being during the Reformation through the decision of a republican city council, who knew the people behind them and who actively campaigned for the Reformation. Church and state were not understood as the opposition of two empires, but as a mutually beneficial symbiosis. If necessary, both the pastor and the government could and should correct the pastor. B. in the Bern Synodus of 1532.
This historical connection between church and state led to a cultural imprint that today has a certain life of its own that no longer depends on attitudes towards the Reformed Church - even a long-established Jewish, Catholic or agnostic banker in Zurich can relate to the “Zwinglian” typical of Zurich Identify sobriety ”or“ Protestant work ethic ”.
Since all church affairs in Switzerland are regulated at the cantonal and not at the federal level, each canton has its own legal basis for the relationship between church and state; the range of variation ranges from state-paid pastors to the complete separation of church and state. The general tendency is towards granting the regional churches the greatest possible autonomy while maintaining their status under public law.
All of the Reformed Cantonal Churches in Switzerland belong to the Evangelical Reformed Church in Switzerland .
literature
Web links
Footnotes
- ^ Heinz Rüegger: Evangelical Reformed Churches. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- ^ A b cf. Rudolf Gebhard: Apostolikumsstreit. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . January 27, 2011 , accessed May 23, 2017 .
- ^ Cf. Reformed Churches Bern-Jura-Solothurn / Eglises réformées Berne-Jura-Soleure: Confessions. Retrieved May 23, 2017 .
- ↑ according to theologinnen.ch : First ordination of women in Zurich in 1918 (then only again in 1963). 1956–1969 Introduction of full women's pastoral office in the Evangelical Reformed Cantonal Churches.
- ↑ «In 1996 a working group set up by the St. Gallen Council of Churches published a sensational report. The six pastors advocated the blessing of homosexuals. [...] The St. Gallers finally agreed on a compromise that has been in effect in most regional churches since then: the pastors are free to organize blessing celebrations for homosexual couples - but these rituals should be liturgically different from weddings. " (Simon Hehli: Reformed people fear a church division, NZZ , March 23, 2015). "The Reformed Church of Zurich [supports] the registration of same-sex partnerships and also offers church blessings for such couples." ( Homosexual Blessing: What Do Reformed, Christian Catholics, and Jews Say? Catholic Media Center, February 16, 2015).
- ↑ Kirchenbund.de: Council of the Federation of Churches advocates opening up marriage to same-sex couples , August 2019
- ↑ Simon Hehli: Callers in the desert of faith. Many people no longer need the churches for their soul's salvation . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, September 2, 2015, p. 12.