Free Churches and Sects

While according to the Prussian king the acceptance of the new church union was to be a voluntary matter, in the hands of his bureaucracy it was treated as a governmental order and pressure was actually brought on ministers and congregations to accept it. The three hundredth anniversary of the Confession of Augsburg, June 25, 1830, was considered a proper occasion to push forward the final acceptance of the United church. Cabinet orders of April 4 and 30, 1830, proposed that the anniversary be celebrated by a common celebration of the Lord's Supper by Lutherans and Reformed, and that the Union ritual of the Breaking of Bread be used.

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The nineteenth century saw a marked increase in sectarianism in Germany; many of these churches were the result of contacts with groups in the United States.

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Regulation and practices varied among the states, but while the Free churches and the sects did not enjoy all the rights and privileges of the Land churches or of the Catholic church, they nevertheless were not persecuted. Their ministerial acts were usually recognized by the state, and they had freedom of worship within their meeting places. They might not always be permitted to use a bell or conduct public processions, restrictions which were prevalent in Prussia, but they had the essential freedoms of propagandizing their faith and making converts. Children from Free church and sectarian families normally attended the Protestant religious classes in the public schools.