Free church
A free church is any
In Scandinavia, free churchpersons would include Protestant Christians who are not communicants of the majority national church, such as the Lutheran Church of Sweden.[3]
In England, where the
History
This section possibly contains original research. (October 2016) |
In the
Free churches also evolved in the US supported by the official separation of church and state, while much of Europe maintains some government involvement in religion and churches via taxation to support them and by appointing ministers and bishops etc., although free churches have been founded in Europe outside of the state system.[4][5]
By denomination
Anglicanism
One church in England in the
Presbyterianism
Some churches in Scotland and Northern Ireland, mainly of the splinter off
English dissenters and nonconformists
In England and Wales in the late 19th century the new terms "free churchman" and "Free Church" started to replace "dissenter" or Nonconformist.[7]
Free Methodist Church
Among the Methodist Churches, calling a church "free" does not indicate any particular relation to a government. Rather the Free Methodist Church is so called because of three, possibly four, reasons, depending on the source referenced. The word "Free" was suggested and adopted because the new church was to be an anti-slavery church (slavery was an issue in those days), because pews in the churches were to be free to all rather than sold or rented (as was common), and because the new church hoped for the freedom of the Holy Spirit in the services rather than a stifling formality. However, according to World Book Encyclopedia, the third principle was "freedom" from secret and oathbound societies (in particular the Freemasons).
Radical Pietism
Denominations belonging to the
By country
United States
In the United States, because of the
Germany
In Germany, Protestant churches outside the
China
Pew Research Center estimated in early 2010s that China has 35 million
Sweden
In Sweden, the term free church (Swedish: frikyrka) often means any Christian Protestant denomination that is not part of the Church of Sweden, which was the Swedish state church up to 1 January 2000. This includes Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists, etc.[11]
List of denominations bearing the name "Free Church"
Canada
Europe
- Evangelical Lutheran Free Church
England
Germany
- Evangelical Lutheran Free Church (Germany)
- Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church
- Union of Evangelical Free Church Congregations in Germany
- Altapostolische Kirche (see Old Apostolic Church)
Hong Kong / China
- Evangelical Free Church of China (based in Hong Kong)
Iceland
- Reykjavík Free Church
- Hafnarfjordur Free Church
Japan
Malaysia
Northern Ireland
Norway
Scotland
- Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900)
- Free Church of Scotland (post-1900)
- Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland (post-1893)
- Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
Singapore
South Africa
Switzerland
Ukraine
- Baptists in Ukraine
- Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine
- Shtundists
United States
- Lutheran Free Church, 1897 to 1963
- Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, 1962–present
- Evangelical Covenant Church
- Evangelical Free Church of America
See also
- Free Presbyterian Church (disambiguation)
- Free Church Federation
- Separation of church and state
- Powers Church, in Steuben County, Indiana, near Angola, also known as Free Church and listed as that on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)
- Evangelical Free Church of America, Southbridge, Massachusetts, NRHP-listed
- First Congregational Free Church, Oriskany Falls, New York, NRHP-listed
- Free Church Parsonage, Rhinecliff, New York, NRHP-listed
- Free Church of the Good Shepherd, Raleigh, North Carolina, NRHP-listed
- Independent Catholicism
Notes
- ^ ISBN 978-0-89869-701-8.
In England, the term has been applied to Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Methodists, Quakers, and Baptists. There has also been a Free church tradition in Scotland relative to the established Church of Scotland, which is Presbyterian; and in Sweden, Norway and Denmark relative to the established Lutheran churches in those countries.
- ^ The Swedish-American Historical Quarterly. The Society. 1986. p. 104.
Waldenström was also impressed by the size and vitality of the city, but his eyes, as a temperance and free-churchman, were drawn even more to "the unbelievably large number of taverns..."
- ^ The Diamond Jubilee Story of the Evangelical Free Church of America. Free Church Publications. 1959. p. 46.
The Swedish Methodist church began at this time and is also classified as a "free church."
- ^ Project Canterbury: The Free Church Movement
- ^ What "Free Church" means and Why Churches should be Free, 1857
- ^ The Pilgrim"s Progress by John Bunyan- HarperCollins
- ^ Owen Chadwick, The Victorian Church, Part One: 1829–1859 (1966) p 370
- ^ ISBN 9781598842043.
- ISBN 978-3-319-15680-4.
- ^ Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population, Appendix C: Methodology for China, p98, Pew Research Center
- ^ "frikyrka – Uppslagsverk – NE.se". www.ne.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 16 January 2022.