What "Reformed" means
Reformed churches trace their theology to the sixteenth-century Reformation, above all to John Calvin's Geneva. In Britain the tradition arrived early and took root firmly: John Knox carried it home to Scotland, where the Church of Scotland was established on Presbyterian lines, while in England it shaped the Puritans, the Westminster Assembly and generations of dissenting chapels. "Reformed" and "Calvinist" are used almost interchangeably, though many prefer the former as the broader and older term.
At its heart, Reformed theology stresses the sovereignty of God: salvation from first to last is God's gracious work, not a human achievement. The famous five points, remembered by the acronym TULIP, summarise its account of salvation: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace and the perseverance of the saints. Not everyone in a Reformed pew would sign every point with equal enthusiasm, but the centre of gravity, grace before merit, is unmistakable.
Beyond the five points
- Covenant theology. Scripture read as one unfolding story of God's covenants, from Abraham to the new covenant in Christ. This is why most Reformed churches baptise the infants of believers, as children of the covenant.
- The primacy of preaching. The sermon, working carefully through a Bible passage, is the centre of the service, and often its longest element.
- Simplicity in worship. The Reformed instinct is to include in worship only what Scripture warrants. Historically that produced plain buildings, metrical psalms and an absence of images, a heritage still visible in Scottish kirks and Welsh chapels.
- Confessions. The Westminster Confession of Faith, drawn up at Westminster Abbey in the 1640s, remains the doctrinal standard of Presbyterian churches across the world. English Reformed Baptists look to the 1689 Baptist Confession.
Where the Reformed tradition lives in Britain
Scotland
The Church of Scotland, the national kirk, is Presbyterian in government and Reformed in heritage, with congregations in nearly every parish in the land. Alongside it stand the Free Church of Scotland, warmly evangelical and growing in the cities, and several smaller Presbyterian bodies. In parts of the Highlands and islands you can still hear unaccompanied psalm singing, one of the most distinctive sounds in British worship.
England and Wales
The United Reformed Church was formed in 1972 by the union of English Presbyterians and Congregationalists, and today has hundreds of congregations across England and Wales, generally in the moderate mainline mould. A different temperament is found among the Grace Baptist churches and other independent evangelical congregations that hold Reformed doctrine with conviction; Wales adds its own chapel heritage through the Presbyterian Church of Wales, born of the eighteenth-century Welsh revivals. Edinburgh-based publisher the Banner of Truth has quietly fed this constituency for decades with reprints of the Puritans.
Northern Ireland
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is the largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland, with deep Ulster-Scots roots and a strong evangelical wing. Smaller bodies, including the Evangelical Presbyterian and Reformed Presbyterian churches, keep older practices such as exclusive psalmody alive.
What to expect at a service
Expect a service built around the Word: substantial Scripture readings, prayers led from the front, hymns or psalms, and a sermon of perhaps thirty to forty minutes. Communion may be weekly, monthly or quarterly depending on the congregation. Dress and music vary widely, from suits and psalters in a Free Church to a band and jeans in a young Reformed church plant; the theology, not the style, is the family resemblance. Visitors are welcome everywhere, and nobody will single you out.
Frequently asked questions
Is Presbyterian the same as Reformed?
Presbyterian describes government by elders in a connected structure of local and regional courts; Reformed describes the theology. All Presbyterian churches are Reformed, but Reformed theology also thrives in independent and Baptist churches with no presbyteries at all.
Is the Church of England Reformed?
Partly. Its Thirty-nine Articles are clearly Reformed in flavour, but Anglicanism deliberately holds together Reformed, catholic and liberal streams. Individual parishes range from thoroughly Reformed to very much not; see our guide to churchmanship.
Do Reformed churches only sing psalms?
A few do, notably some Free Church and Reformed Presbyterian congregations, and the practice has a stark beauty worth experiencing. Most British Reformed churches sing hymns and modern songs as well.