Church of Brethren (Czech Republic)
Church of Brethren (Czech: Církev bratrská) is an evangelical free church in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Free Reformed Church was formed in 1882 by merging the Free Evangelical Church of Czech and Free Reformed Church. In 2011 there was a 10,000 members of the church in the Czech Republic. The church is member of International Federation of Free Evangelical Churches.
| Church of Brethren | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Evangelical Anabaptist Bohemian |
| Polity | Congregationalist |
| Associations | International Federation of Free Evangelical Churches Conference of European Churches |
| Headquarters | Prague, Czech Republic |
| Origin | 1880 |
| Merger of | Czech Free Evangelical Church and Free Reformed Church |
| Official website | portal.cb.cz |
History
Free Reformed Church (later: Brethren Church) was formed in 1882 by merging the Czech Free Evangelical Church (established in 1868 near Náchod) and Free Reformed Church, which was founded in 1880 from the operation of Boston Mission Board missionaries in Prague. After 1918, the church rejected the merger with the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren and name itself Czech Brethren, to manifest the spiritual heritage of the original Unity of Brethren. In 1951, after the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état, the Slovak Association Blue Cross and the Society of awakened Christians in Těšín with predominantly Polish members were merged with the church. In the 1967, the church adopted new name Brethren Church because of large numbers of non-Czech members. In 1993, the church along with Czechoslovakia split into two separate churches.