One shared faith,
different ways of living church life
After the lineages, the practices. This table shows tendencies: within a single family, customs and wordings can vary. A church’s name does not tell you everything about its life.
| Family | Who receives baptism? | How is the Lord’s Supper understood? | Organisation and worship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lutherans | Children and adults; God’s gift precedes the believer’s response. | Real presence of Christ, who gives himself with the bread and the wine. | Councils and synods; bishops in some churches. Liturgy and congregational singing. |
| Reformed | Children and adults; a sign of the covenant and of grace. | For Calvin, communion with Christ through the Spirit. Emphases vary between streams. | Local councils and synods. Preaching and Bible reading at the heart of worship. |
| Anglicans | Children and adults, with a profession of faith and guidance and support in the Christian life. | Eucharist; a range of evangelical and Anglo-Catholic emphases. | Bishops, clergy and synods. Common liturgical prayer, with varied practices. |
| Mennonites | On personal profession of faith; the mode varies between communities. | Remembrance of Christ and communion of the church, bound up with reconciliation between brothers and sisters. | Responsibility of the community and its ministers. Discipleship, peace and service. |
| Baptists | On personal profession of faith, generally by immersion. | A meal of remembrance and communion; conditions of admission may vary. | Autonomous local church, with pastors and a council. Cooperation within unions. |
| Free Evangelical Churches (UEEL) | In the UEEL, on profession of faith; a baptism received in childhood may be recognised. | The Lord’s Supper celebrated by the community; frequency and admission vary. | Churches of professing believers, local councils and shared life within a union of churches. Preaching and witness. |
| Brethren assemblies | In the CAEF, believers’ baptism by immersion; some Darbyite streams differ. | The breaking of bread is central, often weekly. Admission varies between assemblies. | Collegial leadership by elders. Participation of several members; varied customs. |
| Methodists | Children and adults in the Methodist tradition; diversity between unions. | A means of grace: Christ nourishes the faith of the community. | Churches linked by conferences or synods. Singing, training and social commitment. |
| Pentecostals | Believers’ baptism, generally by immersion; distinct from baptism in the Spirit. | Remembrance of Christ’s death and fellowship between believers. | Varied organisations. A prominent place for praise, prayer and spiritual gifts. |
| Vie et Lumière | By immersion, for adults who confess their faith; this is the only form they accept. | Remembrance of Christ’s death and fellowship between believers, in the Pentecostal tradition. | Pastors and preachers from Traveller communities. Large gatherings (Nevoy) and itinerant missions in summer. |
| Churches with roots in migration | Most often believers’ baptism by immersion; churches with Reformed, Lutheran or Methodist roots in the Global South also baptise children. | According to the family of origin: a meal of remembrance and communion, or a sacrament. | Often autonomous, around a pastor and a council; unions, the CNEF or independence. Extended praise, prayer, languages of origin. |
| Catch The Fire | Believers’ baptism by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. | One of the two ordinances instituted by Christ, together with baptism. | Relational network: autonomous local churches, supported by the network. Praise, prayer for individuals, emphasis on the Father’s love. |
| Seventh-day Adventists | On profession of faith, by immersion, after biblical preparation. | Remembrance and communion with Christ; foot-washing accompanies the celebration. | Local churches linked in federations and unions. Sabbath worship, on Saturday. |
| Contemporary networks and ministries — presented in the appendices; they are not families in the same sense as those above | |||
| CMFI / CMCI | By immersion; its confession of faith makes it a step required of every disciple. | The confession of faith affirms the Lord’s Supper without spelling out how it is understood. | A leader of the ministry and his team; “no human spiritual head”, Christ being the head of the Church. Prayer, discipleship, church planting. |
| Hopesland | By immersion, a “public testimony” of the believer’s commitment. | The public texts consulted do not specify how it is understood. | An association (2025) and a network of partner communities, organised according to the “five ministries” of Ephesians 4:11. Gifts of the Spirit, healing, deliverance. |
| Ellel Ministries | Not applicable: Ellel is a ministry serving the churches, not a church; baptism is a matter for each participant’s own church. | Its statements of faith do not mention it; Ellel refers each participant to their local church. | Training and prayer centres (in France, Saint-Laurent-du-Pont), open to Christians from various churches. Inner healing, deliverance, discipleship. |
Believers’ baptism concerns a person who confesses their own faith; it is not reserved for adults alone. The word “sacrament” is usual among Lutherans, the Reformed, Anglicans and Methodists; several evangelical circles prefer “ordinance”. Finally, the churches born of migration and the charismatic renewals may belong to several families: their diversity cannot be confined to a single line.
Sources and scope of the table
The pages of the journey give the context of each family. This table brings their practices side by side without presenting any one union as representative of all the others. For the recent networks and the ministries presented in the appendices, it relies on their own statements of faith: when a cell indicates that the texts do not specify a point, this is a silence of the public sources, not an absence of practice. Jehovah’s Witnesses are presented separately, because they do not share the common Trinitarian faith. To know a local church, its confession of faith and its leaders remain the most precise sources.
Further reading: Musée protestant — Baptism among Protestants (in French) · Lutheran World Federation — Lutheran identity · Church of England — The Thirty-Nine Articles, especially XXV to XXVIII · Regards protestants — The Reformed (in French) · FEEBF — Confession of faith and organisation (in French) · UEEL — Texts of the Union (2021, in French) · CAEF / Servir — Salvation, baptism and the Lord’s Supper (in French) · Mennonite World Conference — Shared Convictions · United Methodist Church — Understanding baptism · Adventist Church — Fundamental beliefs, baptism and the Lord’s Supper (in French) · Musée protestant — The Gypsy Evangelical Mission of France (in French) · Catch The Fire Boulder — What We Believe (confession of one church in the network) · CMCI Sud France — Confession of faith (in French) · Hopesland Ministries — Who we are (in French) · Ellel Ministries — About · Jehovah’s Witnesses — Why dedicate yourself to God and be baptised? (in French) · Jehovah’s Witnesses — The Lord’s Evening Meal (in French).
Online guide · church families and key points · 2026 edition40 / 49