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((Use dmy dates|date=August 2023))
((Short description|Main Protestant denomination in France until merger in 2013))
((For|the former church in Königsberg|French Reformed Church (Königsberg)))
((more citations needed|date=December 2011))
((Infobox Christian denomination
|name = Reformed Church of France
|image = Reformed Church of France.svg
|caption = Logo of the Reformed Church of France. The script in the left side of the bush reads, "''Exode III.2 Flagror Non Consumor''" (Exodus 3:2 Burning, yet not consumed)
|main_classification = [[Protestant]]
|orientation = [[Calvinist]]
|polity = [[Presbyterian polity|Presbyterian]]
|founded_date = 1559; merged in 2013 with the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in France]] to form the [[United Protestant Church of France]]
|founded_place =
|separated_from = [[Catholic Church]]
|parent =
|merger = 
|separations = 
|associations = [[World Alliance of Reformed Churches]],<br />[[World Council of Churches]],<br />[[Protestant Federation of France]]
|congregations =
|members = 300,000 at the time of merger
|footnotes =
|website = [https://www.eglise-protestante-unie.fr/ https://www.eglise-protestante-unie.fr/]
))
The '''Reformed Church of France''' (((lang-fr|Église réformée de France)), '''ERF''') was the main [[Protestant]] [[religious denomination|denomination]] in France with a [[Calvinist]] orientation that could be traced back directly to [[John Calvin]]. In 2013, the Church merged with the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in France]] to form the [[United Protestant Church of France]].<ref>((Cite web|url=http://glasgowchurches.org.uk/french-churches-from-lutheran-and-reformed-traditions-unite/|title=Glasgow Churches Together))</ref>

The church was a member of the [[Protestant Federation of France]] (''Fédération protestante de France''), the [[World Communion of Reformed Churches]] and the [[World Council of Churches]].

The church had approximately 300,000 members at the time of merger, distributed in a somewhat unequal fashion throughout French metropolitan territory, with the exception of [[Alsace-Moselle]] and the [[Pays de Montbéliard]], as the [[Protestant Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine]] brings together most of the local [[Calvinist]]s there. The church consists of 400 parishes, organised in 50 presbyteries (''[[consistory (Protestantism)|consistoires]]'') and eight administrative regions.

==History==
===Background to formation===
((See also|Huguenots))
[[File:Protestant France.svg|thumb|Areas controlled and contested by Huguenots are marked purple and mauve on this map of modern France.]]
Emerging from the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] in the 16th century, the [[reformed churches]] in France were organised independently and, by force of circumstance, [[wikt:clandestinely|clandestinely]]. The first national synod of the Reformed Churches was held in 1559; the first formal confession of faith, the [[Gallic Confession|Confession of La Rochelle]], was composed in 1571. Recognised but restricted by the [[Edict of Nantes]] in 1598, the last official synod met in 1659; subsequently, the churches were suppressed in France by the [[Edict of Fontainebleau]] of 1685, which revoked the Edict of Nantes.

The revocation of the Edict of Nantes began a period of systematic state persecution known in [[French language|French]] as the ''Désert'' (wilderness), an allusion to the sufferings of the Hebrews when they [[The Exodus|wandered in the wilderness]] following the flight from Egypt. This was associated with mass [[emigration]] to other European countries, North America, and South Africa (''les pays de Refuge''). In 1787, the [[Edict of toleration|Edict of Versailles]], issued by [[Louis XVI of France]], ended most legal discrimination against non-Roman Catholics – including Huguenots. In 1802, the church was recognised in accordance with the [[Organic Articles]] (''les Articles organiques'') which followed [[Napoleon Bonaparte]]'s [[concordat]] with the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. This permitted a local and non-national organisation of the church, which did not reflect its traditional organisation (synods, participation of lay members in the pastoral organisation of the Church, etc.)

In the 19th century, the Awakening (''le Réveil'') and other religious movements influenced the French and European Reformed churches; this was also accompanied by division within French Protestantism. In 1871 the Reformed congregations in German-annexed Alsace and the newly formed ''[[Bezirk Lothringen]]'' of [[Lorraine (region)|Lorraine]] were separated from the Reformed Church in what remained of France. The consistorial districts of the conquered territories then formed the still-existing [[Protestant Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine]] (EPRAL). At the time of the promulgation of the [[1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State|Separation of Church and State in 1905]], which did away with the ''établissements publics du culte'' (religious [[statutory corporation]]s) leaving the status of a [[religious association]], there were no less than four groupings of the Reformed Church: the Evangelical Reformed Churches (''les Églises réformées évangéliques''), the United Reformed Churches (''les Églises réformées unies''), the Free Reformed Churches (''les Églises réformées libres''), and the Methodist Church (''l'Église méthodiste'').

===The Reformed Church of France today===
The horrors of the [[First World War]], combined with new departures in theology (in particular the thought of [[Karl Barth]]), allowed for a partial restoration of a national grouping: the Reformed Church of France (''L’Église Réformée de France'', ÉRF), established in 1938. However, some Reformed congregations preferred not to merge and form [[National Union of Independent Reformed Evangelical Churches of France|their separate union]] since. The ÉRF is the largest of the four French Protestant churches and is in full communion with the other three (which are also members of the [[World Council of Churches]]): the Evangelical Lutheran Church of France (''l'Église évangélique luthérienne de France'') and in Alsace-Moselle the EPRAL and the Lutheran [[Protestant Church of Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine]].

In June 2012, it was announced that the Reformed Church of France and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of France would unite to form the [[United Protestant Church of France]] (Eglise Protestante unie de France or EPUF).<ref>((Cite web|url=http://www.protestantnews.eu/europe/16641|title = Offer to sell domain: Protestantnews.eu))</ref><ref>((Cite web |url=http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5665 |title=Archived copy |access-date=14 June 2012 |archive-date=12 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312045610/http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5665 |url-status=dead ))</ref>

==Beliefs==
The 30th General [[Synod]] held 1872-1873 was the first national [[synod]] held in 213 years. The General Synod arrived at a new confession of faith, the main principles of which were rejected by a significant minority. The official practice of the Calvinist faith in France distanced itself from stricter interpretations. The current Reformed Church adopted liberal currents in Calvinist theology including [[pietism]], [[neo-Lutheranism]], [[Methodism]], social Christianity, etc. The opportunities, substance and limits of theological pluralism are set out in the 1936 Declaration of Faith (which is read at the opening of all synods, adherence to which is required of all pastors licensed to preach and the laity who express membership of the Calvinist church)

==Organisations and relations==
The church was organised according to a [[Presbyterian]] synodal system, with an annual national [[Synod]], composed mainly of representatives from each of the eight administrative regions with equal numbers of clergy and laity in attendance. The president of the National Council (''Conseil national'') was elected every three years by the Synod.

===Sister denominations and fraternal relations===
The Reformed Church in France was involved in the work of other Protestant churches in France, through its membership of the [[Protestant Federation of France]] (''Fédération protestante de France'')

In 2005, Pope Benedict sent a message to the national synod of the Reformed Church of France, which thanked the Pontiff for this "gesture of consideration".

===Missions===
In common with other churches, the Reformed Church in France operated a missionary service (''le Défap''). The mission service supported reformed churches in Africa and Oceania, primarily those arising from the work of the now defunct [[Paris Evangelical Missionary Society]] (''Société des missions évangéliques de Paris'')

===Theological seminaries===
Training for the ministry took place in the Institut Protestant de Théologie, which formed part of the Protestant theology faculties of the Universities of Paris and Montpellier.

===Universities, colleges, and schools===
The church also operated a distance education programme for lay members called Théovie.

==Symbols==
Until recently, the [[Huguenot cross]] was not an official symbol of the Reformed Church of France. Rather it has served as a sign of popular recognition. The official logo of the former reformed churches was the "[[burning bush]]". A new logo of the Reformed Church of France was adopted, a stylised representation of the burning bush with the Huguenot cross as an insert and the Latin phrase ''Flagror Non Consumor'' (I am burned, I am not consumed) taken from Exodus 3:2,<ref>((bibleverse|Exodus|3:2|KJV)) King James Version (Oxford Standard, 1769)</ref> "...and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed."

==See also==
((Portal|Reformed Christianity))
*[[Camisard]]
*[[John Calvin]]
*[[Huguenots in South Africa]]
*[[French Australian]]

==References==
((Reflist))

==External links==
*[http://www.eglise-reformee.fr/ Official website] ((in lang|fr))

((Authority control))

[[Category:Reformed denominations in France|France]]
[[Category:Christian denominations founded in France]]
[[Category:Members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches|France]]
[[Category:Members of the World Council of Churches|France]]
[[Category:History of Protestantism in France]]

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