Emerging from the Reformation in the 16th century, the reformed Churches in France were organised independently and, by force of circumstance,. The first national synod of the Reformed Churches was held in 1559; their first formal confession of faith 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 as in French as the Désert, an allusion to the sufferings of the Hebrews when they wandered in the wilderness following the flight from Egypt. This was associated with mass emigration to other European countries, North America, and South Africa . In 1787, the 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 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 In the 19th century, the Awakening 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 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. At the time of the promulgation of the Separation of Church and State in 1905, which did away with the établissements publics du culte leaving the status of a religious association, there were no less than four groupings of the Reformed Church: the Evangelical Reformed Churches, the United Reformed Churches, the Free Reformed Churches, and the Methodist Church.
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 reformed faith in France distanced itself from stricter Calvinist interpretations. The current Reformed Church adopted liberal currents in reformist 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
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 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 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. The mission service supported reformed churches in Africa and Oceania, primarily those arising from the work of the now defunct Paris Evangelical Missionary Society
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 taken from "...and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed."
