Church of the Brethren (Czech Republic)
From the beginning, it was formed under strong Calvinist and evangelical influences.In 1951, after the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état, the Slovak Association of the Blue Cross and the Society of awakened Christians in Těšín with predominantly Polish members merged with the church.The church is based upon semi-independent congregations, made up of members, who elect their own representatives into the council of elders ("staršovstvo").Each congregation is also administered by an ordained pastor, and is subject to all the binding documents of the whole church.[6] Officially, the church includes features of both Congregationalist and Presbyterian polities.