The Reformed Churches were started by Zwingli, in opposition to Luther (although I am not too sure what they disagreed about - although they govern themselves differently from the Lutherans) and were national churches. The Reformed Church in Scotland was called Presbyterian. When the Hungarian Reformed Church came to America, they were amalgamated into the German Reformed Church, although they got given a Synod of their own - the Magyar Synod. Elizabeth C user917826@aol.com wrote: > My Heck family attended mostly German Reformed Churches in the 1800s both in RI where they first appeared and in Brookyn where my gggrandmother and her first husband George Pfeiff (from Hannover, Hesse Cassel) settled. It is my understanding that there are many similarities between the German Reformed Churches and our Presbyterian Churches. In fact, many of the descendants from my family line became Presbyterian, > > I need to add, however, that my Maria Heck's younger brother, Johann Georg Heck, stayed in Rhode Island, married Mary A. Donahue and became Roman Catholic. > > Maria Heck came to the US in 1860 with her widowed father,her brother, and two other sisters, Kathrina (Katy) Heck Dettenborn and Magdalena Heck Braun. All the girls ended up living in Brooklyn. > > Johann Georg Heck Sr. had migrated from Gros-Karben to Kirschiembolanden, in Bayern and married there. He was a tailor. His ancestors in Gros-Karben had originally been shepherds. > > Bev W > > > >

Zwingli is associated with the Reformation in Switzerland more than in Germany. At any rate, "Reformed" refers to churches in the Calvinist tradition. The German Reformed Church in the US eventually merged, through several stages, with the German Evangelical Synod into the Evangelical and Reformed Church. That, in turn, merged with the Congregationalist Church and is today the United Church of Christ. Many of the UCC's present congregations have a German background. American Presbyterians are theologically similar, but have their ethnic roots in Scotland and among the Scots-Irish. On Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 4:45 PM, Elizabeth Cunningham <drybones@netreach.net > wrote: > The Reformed Churches were started by Zwingli, in opposition to Luther > (although I am not too sure what they disagreed about - although they > govern themselves differently from the Lutherans) and were national > churches. The Reformed Church in Scotland was called Presbyterian. > When the Hungarian Reformed Church came to America, they were > amalgamated into the German Reformed Church, although they got given a > Synod of their own - the Magyar Synod. > > Elizabeth C > > user917826@aol.com wrote: > > My Heck family attended mostly German Reformed Churches in the 1800s both > in RI where they first appeared and in Brookyn where my gggrandmother and > her first husband George Pfeiff (from Hannover, Hesse Cassel) settled. It > is my understanding that there are many similarities between the German > Reformed Churches and our Presbyterian Churches. In fact, many of the > descendants from my family line became Presbyterian, > > > > I need to add, however, that my Maria Heck's younger brother, Johann > Georg Heck, stayed in Rhode Island, married Mary A. Donahue and became Roman > Catholic. > > > > Maria Heck came to the US in 1860 with her widowed father,her brother, > and two other sisters, Kathrina (Katy) Heck Dettenborn and Magdalena Heck > Braun. All the girls ended up living in Brooklyn. > > > > Johann Georg Heck Sr. had migrated from Gros-Karben to Kirschiembolanden, > in Bayern and married there. He was a tailor. His ancestors in Gros-Karben > had originally been shepherds. > > > > Bev W > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > HESSE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > -- Joseph M. Smith 10612 Glenwild Rd. Silver Spring, MD 20901