English ReformationThe English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Reformation, a religious and political movement that affected the practice of Christianity in Western and Central Europe. Ideologically, the groundwork for the Reformation was laid by Renaissance humanists who believed that the Scriptures were the only source of Christian faith and criticized religious practices which they considered superstitious.
ConfirmationIn Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on of hands. Catholicism views confirmation as a sacrament. The sacrament is called chrismation in the Eastern Christianity. In the East it is conferred immediately after baptism. In Western Christianity, confirmation is ordinarily administered when a child reaches the age of reason or early adolescence.
Congregational churchCongregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs. Congregationalism, as defined by the Pew Research Center, is estimated to represent 0.5 percent of the worldwide Protestant population; though their organizational customs and other ideas influenced significant parts of Protestantism, as well as other Christian congregations.
Infant baptismInfant baptism (or paedobaptism) is the practice of baptising infants or young children. Infant baptism is also called christening by some faith traditions. Most Christians belong to denominations that practice infant baptism. Branches of Christianity that practice infant baptism include Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Oriental Orthodoxy. Among Protestants, several denominations practice infant baptism including Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Methodists, Nazarenes, Moravians, and United Protestants.
