Christian Evangelical Church of Romania

Under the influence of foreign Plymouth Brethren missionaries active in Romania in the late 19th century, a group of "free Christians" was founded in Bucharest in 1899.

[2] Also known as "Darbyites" after John Nelson Darby, the British 19th century founder of their movement, the group was outlawed in the 1920s and was accused of spreading communist ideas.

[1][2][3] In 1950, soon after the advent of the Communist regime, the Christian Evangelicals had 600 churches; a large number of smaller ones were officially closed following a state ruling that they must have at least twenty members, but many of them probably continued to meet quietly.

Local and regional officials of the Department of Religious Affairs viewed as responsible for allowing these unofficial gatherings to take place were also fired.

[2][6] Members see as their forerunners those who thought the church had lost its ability to preach the Gospel after Constantine the Great's Edict of Milan proclaimed religious toleration for Christians in 313 AD.

Their focus is on the supreme importance of inner religious life; perceiving the world to be corrupt, they look forward to the premillennial era.

The church stresses a strong focus on the Bible and spontaneous divine leading in its services rather than carefully orchestrated worship.

[3] At the local level, each church or "gathering" has at least twenty adult members and is led by two to five "elders" or presbyters, who also function as preachers of the Gospel.

[2] Since 1949, it has edited Calea Credinţei ("The Path of Faith"), as well as the magazine Ecouri creştine ("Christian Echoes"),[2] expressing its pietistic orientation to life.